Morgan’s Ascot explosion
Tales of champagne-fuelled society events in boom times are two a penny in the property world. And for someone who likes to take a more measured approach, Cushman & Wakefield partner Juliette Morgan found herself inadvertently, and entirely accidentally, entering into the real estate spirit en route to Ascot last week. Morgan, who is also Tech City’s head of property, broke with her more down-to-earth traditions and decided to go all out and share a bottle of champagne with her guests on the train to the event. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the bottle had undergone a fair amount of jostling on her journey to Waterloo and when she went to open it the contents exploded – racing car driver style – over the entire first-class carriage in all their Royal Enclosure finery. Much apologising and dabbing of top hats and tails ensued as the three-quarters of the bottle that had not ended up on the walls, windows and fellow passengers was hastily shared out among the sodden, and in some cases stony-faced, victims. “I can’t believe I actually showered people in champagne,” said a suitably mortified Morgan. “That is just too horrendous.”
Don’t panic unless you’re a VIP
Full credit to AXA Real Estate and Lipton Rogers for the impressive list of amenities on offer at the new Pinnacle, EC2, rechristened as 22 Bishopsgate and unveiled last week. The proposed tower will feature everything from a medical centre to a library, concierges advising on fashion and fitness, and an innovative goods delivery system designed to reduce the risk to cyclists from HGVs. But one amenity not mentioned in the press release and which was on show at the consultation – again, full marks to the team behind it for actually publicising the fact they were hosting one – was the panic room, helpfully pointed out by a guide on site. Sadly, the emergency refuge won’t have room to host all 12,000 of the building’s occupiers he revealed, “Just the important ones.”
Not paid to eat sandwiches
Another fact picked up while perusing
22 Bishopsgate was that one of the first tasks for the building’s new owners immediately after completion of the deal was a major clean-up operation. Apparently, the previous owners’ contractors had downed tools so hastily when they discovered there was no more money that there were still half-eaten lunches dotted about the place when it was reopened three years later.
Defecation denunciation
Anyone familiar with the West End’s social scene will be no stranger to exotic – often past the point of enjoyment – food and drink. Thus, when the Candy brothers’ Omni Capital invited Diary to a reception featuring the “exclusive” Kopi Luwak coffee in the Rolex store at One Hyde Park, SW1, our ears naturally pricked up. The pricey drink, made with coffee beans already digested once by a civet cat and then excreted, had myriad faeces-related jokes flung at it by the attendees, who appeared to be more rambunctious than the type of guest the coffee suppliers were used to catering for. They were visibly offended at the (admittedly rather crude) gags being made loudly about the coffee, which Diary is far too polite to repeat. Perhaps we should all work on having more of a… filter?
Horseplay in Aldgate
The centrepiece of Berkeley Homes’ Goodman’s Fields project in Aldgate, E1, came galloping into town on 25 June when six bronze horses were unveiled at the 1,038-home scheme. The static steeds, designed by artist Hamish Mackie, were commissioned by Berkeley as a cultural nod to the history of the site, which once housed London’s livery horses.
Invest big down under
In the ever so slightly edited words of Crocodile Dundee: “That’s not a land deal, this is a land deal.” If you are looking to go big in the land investment market, South Australian cattle family business S Kidman and Co has put up for sale the largest private stretch of real estate in the world. The A$325m (£160m), 8,880-square-mile plot known as Anna Creek is three-quarters of the size of England and is attracting interest from farmers and pension funds, although resistance has already emerged from locals to any foreign government entities harvesting the opportunity.
Bus lane boos
An unusually well-dressed pack of sightseers descended on London Bridge this month as South Bank specialist Union Street Partners treated a select group to an open-top bus ride around its stomping ground. Some 50 investors, developers and owner-occupiers got on board for a whistle-stop tour, beer in hand, of the South Bank’s major sites. However, in an unusual complaint for those used to London’s roads, the audience found itself booing in protest as the bus sped along uncommonly traffic-free streets. It must be a sign of a healthy development market when there are too many sites to point out when racing along at 20mph.
