London around the market – May 2016

London’s biggest deals for April* 1. White Collar Factory, EC1 29,407 sq ft Tenant: Capital One 2. 1 Queen Caroline Street, W6 20,700 sq ft Tenant: A+E Networks 3. 236 Gray’s Inn Road, WC1 20,271 sq ft Tenant: undisclosed 4. 15 Bonhill Street, EC2 16,594 sq ft Tenant: undisclosed 5. 1 Queen Caroline Street, W6 13,000 sq ft Tenant: Kambi *At time of going to press. Source: EGi research Significant March deals City deal of the month: Cannon Place, EC4 Type of deal Sale withdrawn Size 418,000 sq ft Seller Hines Price £500m Louisa Clarence-Smith, EG’s City reporter, says: This month’s City deal has to be the one which didn’t complete. Taiwanese life insurance giant Fubon ended proceedings to buy Hines’s Cannon Place for around £500m after it failed to secure regulatory approval to complete the deal. The collapse was the latest negative landmark in a tough 2016 for a relatively slow City market. Fubon had been under offer to buy the trophy building since December. Hines said it was now in discussions with an alternative buyer. CBRE and Savills are joint agents on the building. West End deal of the month: 37-41 Mortimer Street, W1 Type of deal Sale Size 23,800 sq ft Seller Great Portland Estates Buyer Guy Ivesha, Cain Hoy and private investors Price £26.9m Shekha Vyas, EG’s West End correspondent, says: Great Portland Estates has sold 37-41 Mortimer Street, W1, for £26.9m. The 23,800 sq ft office was bought by Guy Ivesha with Cain Hoy and other investors. The property is vacant, with consent for B1/A1/A3 use on the ground floor and basement. The deal has bucked the trend for the cooling West End investment market. Great Portland Estates has capitalised on strong demand for stock in the area. Vacant possession also paves the way for a comprehensive refurbishment to attract tenants at competitive rents. Headline rents for the West End are between £150-£180 per sq ft. Savills advised GPE. People, politics and peculiarities Jackson onboard at TfL Cushman & Wakefield’s William Jackson has been poached by the public sector, he’ll be helping TfL with the Crossrail 2 property strategy. Deloitte departures April was full of stories about what is happening to some of the Deloitte Real Estate team following “risk and regulatory and SEC issues”. The accountancy firm bought Drivers Jonas in 2010 to create Deloitte Real Estate. London-focused transfers included Savills taking on the City investment team and Gerald Eve taking the City and West End leasing teams. More than 600 fee earners in DRE remain with the firm. Runway ramifications Talking of TfL, the agency has waded into the London airports debate, saying the transport and infrastructure improvements needed should Heathrow get an extra runway have been severely underestimated. Call-ins called out As the new mayor gets comfortable at City Hall, questions were raised last month as outgoing mayor Boris Johnson deferred a decision about Bishopsgate Goodsyard and whether the mayor’s call-in powers pushed the balance of power too far from London’s borough’s elected councillors. Visitors on the slide Low visitor numbers at Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture at the Olympic park have resulted in a whizzy rethink. A slide has been incorporated to attract more visitors, which, it is claimed, is the longest and tallest in the world. Who said art wasn’t fun? Fine first quarter Central London take-up for Q1 was up 6.8% on Q1 2015, according to EG London Offices Market Analysis. All eyes are now on Q2 performance as Brexit nerves begin to bite Top spot for Cushman Cushman & Wakefield rocketed to the top of the EG LOMA agents’ league table for Q1, taking nearly a quarter of the market share. Record breakers Shop rents in Covent Garden and Bond Street have reached record levels in Q1 according to BNP Paribas Real Estate. All change at Millbank Westminster City Council gave permission for the conversion of Millbank Tower from offices to residential and a hotel. Reduced volume Brexit fears have cooled central London investment activity with volumes for Q1 down on the previous quarter and on a par with Q1 2015 Plummeting permissions Planning permissions granted for new-build homes have plummeted, according to research by Stirling Ackroyd.