The beeb’s great expectations
Landlords and developers not currently affiliated with the BBC should probably think about getting in touch. Yet another period drama has made use of a landlord’s London property. The BBC transformed the interior of SEGRO’s 43,000 sq ft Greenford Park, west London, into a Victorian neighbourhood for new period drama Dickensian. The main street was the biggest set built for British television and more than 100 crew members created 15 working fireplaces and 112 doors. Shed heads will be forgiven for not recognising the surroundings, but it just goes to show how much can happen in a warehouse.
Rising damp
What is JLL UK chief executive Guy Grainger doing in a lake? And, more importantly, who put him there? Find out at www.propertytriathlon.com .
Bette noire
It’s often said that property touches everyone. But there are some people you don’t expect to see getting involved in a London planning issue. No telling who in the Estates Gazette team follows The Divine Miss M on Twitter, but needless to say they were a little surprised to see warbler extraordinaire and actress Bette Midler telling off London mayor Boris Johnson for giving the go-ahead to British Land’s contentious scheme at Blossom Street in Spitalfields, E1 (see p36 for more). Worth making a song and dance about?
Million pound convenience
Elsewhere in Spitalfields, a former public toilet has gone on the market for a steaming £1m. The underground property has already been converted into a nightclub but, at just 600 sq ft, and a price tag more than three times higher than its value in 2000, the idea that this basement is a bargain could be considered loo-dicrous.
Off their trolley
Readers will know Diary does not judge, and it especially does not judge childish acts. So when we heard that a well-known agent had received a black eye from falling off a trolley in a supermarket – a trolley they had been freewheeling on the back of – we were full of nothing but sympathy. A sympathy that even extended to the fact it was a Waitrose trolley.
Comfort eating at Downing St
Ever wondered what David Cameron makes for dinner? The PM has contributed a recipe to Strutt & Parker’s charity cookbook, Food with Heart, in aid of Gre at Ormond Street Hospital. Cameron was apparently so taken with the artwork for the dish that a framed print of the recipe (spicy Italian sausage pasta) currently hangs in 10 Downing Street… Diary didn’t ask if the sausages were pork-based.
Holy property deal, Batman!
The Farmiloe Building in Farringdon, EC1, better known to fans of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy as Gotham City police department, has been sold for an undisclosed sum. Thankfully the Hollywood director has no plans to add more films to the franchise, as new owner Standard Life Investments wants to redevelop it into contemporary office and warehouse space, though there may be a few fans of the caped crusader who would love to be the new occupiers.
Zuckerberg’s remote working policy
The folk who work at Facebook’s London offices are clearly committed to their daily duties. Diary has learnt that the temptation to embrace the mobility of laptop working is so fierce that ‘lapstops’ have been installed outside the loos. Presumably statuses can still be updated on smartphones, should the urge be so strong.
