Any councillor with a seat on a planning committee knows the importance of focusing on the details. Those hundreds of pages and PDFs on the latest landmark application aren’t going to read themselves. At Tower Hamlets’ latest development committee meeting, councillor James King thought he had spotted something noteworthy in media giant Time Out’s plans for a 12-kitchen food market in Spitalfields. Presented with the chance to question the applicant on the proposals, King asks: “Will there be takeaway units and takeaway provision from this development?” “It’s a quite straightforward response: no,” replies Time Out’s representative. King goes in for the kill. “OK, I was looking at the site plan, the ground floor site plan. There is a take-out…“ He pauses, squints at the laptop in front of him. “Oh. Oh no, that says ‘Time Out counter’. OK. So there’s no takeaways. Fine. OK. That was my question.” Cue much sniggering from the room. The committee voted to defer a decision on the scheme to allow another site visit. King might want to use some of that time getting a laptop with a larger screen.
Palace’s capital idea
Just two weeks ago the new team at Palace Capital had a brilliant idea. Founder and chief executive Neil Sinclair had left after shareholder agitation, and those self-same shareholders were eager for some better returns. The board had a cunning plan. It would sell the £250m REIT’s industrial and retail warehouse kit for around £50m and plough the proceeds into brown offices. After a bit of clever refurbishment and some nifty asset management, it would be sitting on some of the best-rated workspaces in the regions. How’s that for a slice of fried gold? The announcement hit the markets like a firecracker on 4 July, Independence Day. But barely a fortnight later another announcement followed. Feedback from the shareholders suggested this was not a great idea. So much so that three members of the board have now quit. The new strategy appears to be to sell pretty much everything and return the cash to the shareholders – which is definitely a much easier way to realise value than a long-term repositioning. Maybe next time, run it by the shareholders first. But who to sell it all to? Well, there is this new outfit in town. Pristine Capital? Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Its owner is one Neil Sinclair…
U-turn if you want to
There were U-turns at the Palace of Westminster this week. In the race to become the next Tory leader and prime minister, former levelling-up minister Kemi Badenoch had positioned herself as the candidate who wouldn’t lie to you. Not about the economy, not about “woke nonsense”, not about the environment. In fact, she proudly said that committing the nation to being net-zero by 2050 was “unilateral economic disarmament”, vowing to axe it if elected. But what is this? When asked by COP26 president Alok Sharma at the environment hustings if she was committed to net-zero by 2050, Badenoch apparently confirmed that she was. Oh, right. All a misunderstanding then. Nope – because just hours later she was talking to the press, explaining the target was “a red herring” that she would delay for perhaps 20 years. Badenoch is now out of the running to be PM, but she could well be in line for a cabinet post. Let’s just hope it isn’t environment secretary.
Enter the third dimension
As the cost-of-living crisis makes it ever harder for people to get on the housing ladder, it is inevitable that some will look to innovative alternatives. One that is catching the popular imagination is 3D-printed homes. Apparently, according to 3D-printing expert Hubs.com, 3D-printed houses are the most searched for 3D-printed innovations on Google in the past 12 months, with more than 76,000 searches a month. The small town of Pulaski, Virginia, is set to become home to 200 such houses over the next five years and tech company Alquist 3D claims it is capable of printing a three-storey, 1,000 sq ft home in less than 22 hours. But we are concerned that most searches are by the 2.2m people who bought their own 3D printer last year. It might take a little longer to print a house with that.
Up and flex
Some business leaders really do live out their values. And it seems Christophe Garnier, co-founder of flex office platform Upflex, is really into the no-strings lifestyle. Last year, he and his family moved to San Diego, keen to live close to some of California’s best surfing breaks. “We wanted to try it out, so we got a seven-month lease,” he confides. That lease ran out last month. “So we are technically homeless.” But this is how Garnier likes it. The family has spent the past month visiting relatives in Europe and future plans are still not fixed. Perhaps California again, perhaps London, perhaps Spain… Does he plan to buy somewhere soon? Diary asks. “Yes,” he says with rock-hard certainty. “I want to buy an RV and go on a tour of the western US.” He paints the picture of waking up in a different place each day, in the mountains, by the coast, the constantly changing scenery. Ah, the joy of flex.
