Good morning,
Meta has said it will sublet much of its European HQ in Dublin, following a wave of redundancies that shrank its workforce by 11,000 staff. “As part of the review of our sites globally, we have decided to sublet the Triton Square office and the final phase of the Ballsbridge campus,” the social media giant said.
Meanwhile, EG met up with U+I’s Richard Upton, fresh from “making places with a bunch of misfits” in France, that have “more tattoos than tools in their toolbox”. “It is so much more powerful to be bothered, to have a purpose,” he says. “And actually, you know what? I’ve done alright out of it. It really does create value that you can share. If you can be bothered.”
BioMed Realty has appointed William Clarke, a director in Savills’ Cambridge team, to lead the leasing of its 120-acre Granta Park.
Real estate consultancy Rapleys has bought London-based surveying firm Aston Rose in what its team said is its largest deal yet.
And Morrisons has struck a £220m sale and leaseback deal that will allow it to accelerate the expansion of Morrisons Daily, its convenience store chain.
Frasers Group plans to invest £600m in Coventry after buying the CBS Arena.
And shareholder returns at Berkeley have fallen by three-quarters over the past six months. Total shareholder returns for the six months to the end of October amounted to £133m, a marked fall from the £486m returned to shareholders over the same period in 2021.
As the season of strikes continues, hotels, restaurants and pubs expect to lose £1.5bn as more than a third of their festive bookings are cancelled.
While “very serious concerns about potential criminality” surround the Unite union’s hotel development in Birmingham, according to a pair of new reports.
The chancellor will today outline his plan to overhaul finance rules, in a bit to shore up the UK’s status as an international finance hub. He is making the announcement in Edinburgh, and dubbing the plans the “Edinburgh Reforms”, in a bid to distance them from his predecessor’s “Big Bang 2.0” rhetoric.
The one-bedroom city-centre flat is making a comeback, largely because renters can’t afford anything bigger.
And as Meta ditches space, Twitter appears to be diversifying into hotels. After new owner Elon Musk told staff they have to work all hours, beds have started to appear in its San Francisco HQ. That’s one way to stop people working from home!
Meanwhile, our latest letter from Leeds looks at how the BTR boom is changing the city. And it is about far more than just housing, writes Shoosmiths’ Judy Fawcett.
Fancy owning a tropical island? How about 106 of them? Developmental rights for an entire Indonesian archipelago are due to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s in New York. There is no reserve price, but it will cost you $100,000 just to bid.
And finally, are you looking for the perfect Christmas present for the person who has every thing? Are they a Regency superfan? Do they already have all the Jane Austen books, the movies, the TV adaptations? Did they lust after Mr Darcy and swoon over Bridgerton? Do they already live in a Georgian house in Bath? So, how about an entire square of Georgian houses? Bath’s Beaufort Square is up for sale, having been owned by the charity St John’s Foundation since it was built in 1730. The price tag of £18.5m may seem a bit steep for a Christmas present, but the deal also includes another row of Georgian houses by the park and a period block of apartments near the abbey. A total of 41 properties – that’s enough to create your own Regency film set! Of course, if they aren’t that into Austen, you could just get them that entire Indonesian archipelago…
