It would certainly seem that 2012 has started where last year left off:

Occupier confidence is weak across all sectors leading to fragile demand;

Retail continues to remain under threat  (although perhaps by not as much as some doomsayers predicted);

Secondary stock is failing to sell;

There is a distinct lack of debt finance;

New development is hampered by an uncertain planning regime;
 
The banks are once again calling the shots;
 
And if you are not in central London you are dead.
 

Sound familiar? Well there is an upside.

Four years in to this trough and we have all become battle hardened.  

Real estate businesses will continue to adapt to the challenges they face and while it will be difficult to make a buck opportunities will exist.  

Just look at the number of new niche firms sprouting up throughout the UK and the increasing popularity of asset classes such as student accommodation, hotels, data centres and senior living.

And after all this is the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

We may not turn the corner this year but we are getting closer. 

The company has takenSuite3in Air, the penthouse office space on the top floor of Broad Gate. The suites, which are accessed by a dedicated private lift, have panoramic views over the city centre and access to a rooftop terrace. Highcross has let the 2,397 sq ft suite to Poole Resourcing on a ten-year lease.

Ian Cundale, managing director, Poole Resourcing, said: “After eight years in serviced offices elsewhere in the city, we wanted to find premises that give us flexibility for growth. Although there are plenty of interesting deals out there, we chose Broad Gate not only because there is room for us to expand in line with the market, but also because it’s a fine-looking building in an excellent location.”

Iain Taylor, senior asset manager at Highcross adds: “Poole Resourcing’s new office suite in Air is among the most prestigious in the city centre, offering an exceptional working environment, with the potential to expand in the future. Following this latest letting, two Air penthouse office suites remain available, offering 3,400 and 3,900 sq ft of office space.”

The 300,000 sq ft Broad Gate office and retail development includes 168,750 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, with office space available from 3,400 sq ft to 153,447 sq ft.  At the centre, is a full-height atrium, intersected by glazed walkways connecting the upper floors.

Agents for Broad Gate are Colliers, DTZ and Savills.

Highcross has let 3,328 sq ft at its Toronto Square office scheme in Leeds to international specialist insurer, Hiscox.

The company, which has taken the ground-floor suite on a five-year lease, has relocated its Leeds office, which employs around twenty staff. Toronto Square, which is sited in the city’s legal and financial district, has attracted eight new companies, taking more than 30,000 sq ft in total, during the past year.

To mark its arrival at Toronto Square, Hiscox installed a sculpture from its own extensive modern art collection at the office scheme. The Pitchfork, a three-meter high, tubular steel sculpture by Michael Craig-Martin, is on show in the Toronto Square courtyard.

The 90,000 sq ft Toronto Square office building provides high specification, flexible office space, with the added benefit of award-winning environmental credentials.

Highcross Senior Asset Manager, Iain Taylor comments: “Hiscox is the latest in a series of companies which have decided to relocate their Leeds’ offices to Toronto Square over recent months. We are very pleased to welcome the company to the building and delighted that they have marked their arrival with the installation of this spectacular sculpture.”

Agents for Toronto Square are CB Richard Ellis and Knight Frank.

-ends-

The retailer has taken the 22,875 sq ft property on a 15-year lease at a rent of £240,187 pa.

Proteus Property represented Family Bargains.

-Ends-

The retailer has taken the 2,067 sq ft property on a 10-year lease at a rent of £60,000 pa.

Fawcett Mead represented Card Factory.  

-Ends-

The £8m development will include a six-screen multiplex cinema, four restaurant buildings, three residential flats, and public amenity space. The cinema will be the first ever in St Neots and will also be available for use by local theatre groups. It is scheduled to be open by Easter 2013.

Chris Goldsmith, managing director at Turnstone Estates, commented: “This consent paves the way for a much-needed leisure facility in St Neots. The cinema and restaurants will cater for all ages and breathe life in to the town after the shops have closed for the evening.”

Turnstone Estates is advised by Januarys, Wareing & Partners and DH Barford & Co. The architect is JWA Architects. 

-ends-

 Harper Dennis Hobbs has been appointed to find buyers for the remaining 72 vacant leasehold stores which are all fully fitted prime units across the UK. The stores for sale include sites from Andover to Wrexham.

 -ENDS-

Vodafone has taken the 2,900 sq ft store at 85 Northbrook Street after previous tenant Ann Summers surrendered its lease for a reverse premium. The store has now been let on a new 15 year lease, with five yearly upward only rent reviews, and a rent free period of 6 months. Vodafone will pay a rent of £95,000 pa for the new store.

Landlord Jesus College, Oxford was represented by Kitchen LaFrenais Morgan. Vodafone was represented by Colliers International and Ann Summers was represented by Charles Palmer Property.

 -Ends-

The event, which will be held at Newbury Racecourse on March 27, has already attracted entries from 35 local schools and is on target to beat last year’s total of 860 finishers.

It is the sixth year running, excuse the pun, that Porterfield has sponsored the event.

The event is organised by Nick Bull and his assistants from Team Kennet athletics club and is the largest of its kind in the region.

The Italian Government has purchased the freehold of the 13,843 sq ft Harp House in Farringdon Street, EC4 for an undisclosed sum after obtaining planning consent for its use advised by CBRE.

The purchase represents a  move away from the traditional location of embassies and consulates in the West End and reflects the increasing convergence of the diplomatic, legal and financial worlds.

The Italian Consulate is currently based at Eaton Place Belgravia and hopes to be in its new home by July 2012 post refurbishment.

Nigel Harrison of Harrison Leggett said “this represents the culmination of long period of work trying to purchase a new Consulate building to replace the original building which is now too small . Farringdon Street is a prestigious location easily accessible to the Italian Community across London and the large Italian Community in Bedford who can utilise the Thameslink line to Blackfriars”