Faisal’s top of the pops
We’re not sure Faisal Durrani, Cluttons’ international research and business development manager, is best placed to judge the singing talents of fledgling pop stars the world over. But he shares a name with someone who is: the man responsible for Beyoncé’s stratospheric career. It turns out that he shares a name with the Crazy In Love singer’s former manager – a fact that has caused much confusion among the swathes of pop star wannabes who have been flooding Durrani’s (that’s of Cluttons rather than Beyoncé fame) inbox in the hope he will discover their potential for superstardom. We do hope he lets any would-be divas down gently.
Make space for showbusiness
Plenty of landlords toy with the idea of tenant engagement. Some go so far as to stage the odd event on their office estates to keep corporate clients happy. In Hong Kong they take it to the next, excruciating, level.
Swire Properties has devoted an entire floor of its prime 68-storey tower in Hong Kong East to provide space for tenants to indulge their artistic side. The theory is that large tenants employ thousands of budding singers, actors and artists who would be much happier employees if only they were given the space to express themselves.
On a recent tour of the building, EG was lucky enough to be invited to see this tenant engagement in action. Half an hour of white-Lycra-clad accountants, bankers and lawyers making robotic bleeping noises and walking backwards around a stage later, we weren’t feeling so lucky after all and, at the risk of causing offence, made our excuses and left.
There are undoubtedly things UK propcos can learn from their Far Eastern counterparts – but Diary hopes that staging two-hour conceptual art performances isn’t one of them.
Double trouble
Rumours abound on the London market about the effect of the Investment Property Forum’s double-dipping guidelines on agent behaviour. But if one recent example is to be believed, it seems some firms are taking it more seriously than others. One firm, let’s call it Agent A, is rumoured to have admitted to a client recently that it was representing another investor in the same bidding process for a trophy London office building. The investor, naturally perturbed, took its business elsewhere – let’s call it Agent B. Agent B submitted a bid for this investor and everyone was happy. Or they were until the investor found out that Agent B was submitting bids for at least three other investors on the same building, and unlike Agent A, it did not feel it worth sharing the information.
Rank opinions
The famous Irish hospitality clearly doesn’t extend to those in the property industry, at least not as far as taxi drivers are concerned. One Dublin cabbie subjected Diary to a lengthy rant about how developers were robbing the country blind and how they were “the worst people on earth” before asking what his passenger did for a living. The rest of the journey passed in awkward silence.
Silverburn welcomes Badgers
An unusual visitor made a sneaky midnight trip to Glasgow’s Silverburn shopping centre and was caught in the act on CCTV. A badger was spotted sniffing around inquisitively by the post office at the back of the centre before scuttling off towards nearby woodland. The badger poses no great threat, but Ian Hutchinson of the Scottish badger’s species protection agency advises that anyone who comes across one of the nocturnal beasts at night should “leave it alone and walk quietly away”. Silverburn general manager David Pierotti said: “This is probably the strangest visitor we’ve had at the centre since our doors opened eight years ago, but what a pleasant surprise. Of course, the badger is welcome back any time.”
JLL calls the tune
Investors need to face the music in the regions, according to JLL. At the firm’s annual Big 6 cities presentation at BAFTA this week JLL director Colin Finlayson said investment performance was all about ABBA. In property terms, that means grade-A buildings in grade-B locations and grade-B buildings in grade-A locations. Attendees were treated to a snippet of the Swedish ‘70s pop legends’ hit The Winner Takes It All to hammer home the point. However, a single ABBA tune was a far cry from the first Big 6 presentation of 10 years ago – back then, admitted lead director Jeremy Richards, they had a pop song from a local band for each city.
