Regional office take-up soars
Regional office take-up is at its highest recorded level, according to DTZ, standing at 5.9m sq ft in the past year. A total of 1.2m sq ft of grade-A space was leased in the first half of 2015, 35% above the long-run average. Birmingham posted the strongest take-up, followed by Leeds and Manchester.
Granada Studios plans go in
Allied London has submitted plans for a 190,000 sq ft scheme as part of its £1.3bn St John’s Village redevelopment of the ITV Granada Studios site in Manchester. The Simpson Haugh & Partners-designed plan comprises 80,000 sq ft of offices, 57 flats and 36,500 sq ft of shops near Grape Street.
Green light for Battersea tower
Barratt London has won consent for a 135-home tower at 12-14 Lombard Road, Battersea, SW11. The 28-storey tower at Lombard Wharf was designed by Patel Taylor to represent a series of rotating discs. Completion is scheduled for 2017.
Headache for Walkie Talkie
The City of London Corporation is to inspect the sky garden at Land Securities’ and Canary Wharf Group’s Walkie Talkie, EC3, to determine whether it should be reconfigured. City planners are concerned that the layout of the area on the top three floors of the building differs substantially from the original planning application. The owners have proposed minor amendments but said a complete revamp would require a lengthy closure.
London land sales on a high
The sale of development land in London has reached the highest quarterly level since 2007, according to CBRE. The agent said £1.8bn of land was traded in Q2 2015, bringing the total for the year to £2.9bn, with foreign investors accounting for 73% of that investment.
