East of England around the market

Around the market – East of England (six months to end August) ONE THE SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE Deal type Funding agreement Developer Brookgate Funder Orchard Street Investment Management Size 130,000 sq ft offices; 13,000 sq ft retail/P> Value £80m Chosen by Will Heigham, partner and head of office agency, Bidwells (Cambridge) For me, one of the most significant deals in the UK, outside London, is the funding of One The Square, Cambridge, to provide office and retail space on a speculative basis. Orchard Street Investment Management agreed to fund Brookgate’s development on behalf of the Railways Pension Fund. Construction starts in January 2015, with practical completion due in November 2016. This deal signals the return of speculative development to the city. Four other schemes are under consideration and will come forward in the next six months: Cambridge Research Park, Cambridge Science Park, Capital Park and Academy House. In total, around 300,000 sq ft of speculative office construction will be coming out of the ground in 2015. We also see evidence that speculatively developed buildings are attracting interest – proven by the fact that Brookgate is in talks with some occupiers to prelet space at One The Square. CENTURY HOUSE & SUN BUILDINGS, PRINCES STREET, IPSWICH Deal type Assignment of lease/sale of property Lessor Baldwin & Swalwell Commercial Developments Vendor Jointly owned by several banks Lessee/purchaser Attwells Solicitors Size 12,500 sq ft across two buildings Chosen by Vanessa Penn, managing director, Penn Commercial (Ipswich) One of the most significant office moves in Ipswich was the letting of Century House and the acquisition of Sun Buildings, adjacent properties in Princes Street, by a firm of solicitors. This is significant because it follows a trend for businesses to move into or within the town centre, where there is a stock of attractive and prestigious office accommodation, very much reflecting the town’s commercial background. Both buildings concerned were in poor condition, but the landlord of Century House was proactive in refurbishing it, both inside and out. Previously, only one of the four floors was occupied, and that was on a short, unexpired lease, but now Attwells, which employs 60 staff, has signed a six-year lease. Sun Buildings, meanwhile, is a Grade II-listed building with period features, including wood panelling, fireplaces and leaded windows. There, Attwells also commissioned £140,000 of refurbishment works. ANGLIA SQUARE SHOPPING CENTRE, NORWICH Deal type Investment Vendor Nama Purchaser Threadneedle Size 343,505 sq ft Value Circa £7.5m Chosen by Adrian Fennell, head of retail/leisure, Roche Chartered Surveyors (Norwich) Anglia Square shopping centre was purchased by Threadneedle in May 2014 and represents the most significant real-estate transaction in Norwich for many years, in terms of both size and opportunity. Located to the north of Norwich city centre, the Magdalen Street shopping centre, comprising shops, cinema and the former, now vacant, HMSO office Sovereign House, had been in the control of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). Built in the 1960s, the centre has also been Norwich city council’s key regeneration target for the past decade, with previous plans – subsequently abandoned – for its demolition and redevelopment as a commercial and residential scheme. This sale has ended years of speculation about Anglia Square’s long-term future, unlocking a significant regeneration opportunity in a key regional location. Threadneedle will be reviewing investment opportunities over the coming months, with a view to bringing forward a mixed-use scheme that will have a major benefit to the surrounding areas and local community. JLL steers Argenta search Pharmaceutical firm Argenta Discovery appointed JLL to search for up to 100,000 sq ft of office/lab space in Cambridge to fuel its expansion, following a takeover by US firm Charles River. LIM puts deal to bed A forward-funding deal for the All Saints student housing project in Norwich was completed, with LaSalle Investment Management paying Alumno Developments £16m for the 228-bed scheme. Resi scheme rings changes Housebuilder Hill Partnerships and housing association bpha won consent for a £130m mixed residential development at the Bell School site in Cambridge. AZ campus looks to the past AstraZeneca unveiled plans for its Herzog & de Meuron-designed £300m campus at Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which will take style influences from the courtyards of the city’s university. Standard life bags retail park Cambridge Retail Park changed ownership, with Standard Life Investments’ £109m purchase from Deka Immobilien. At-risk sites identified English Heritage identified Landguard Fort in Felixstowe as one of 25 sites of historic interest believed to be at significant risk of flooding or coastal erosion. Fire at Schiffer home Fire destroyed outbuildings, a clocktower and former stables at supermodel Claudia Schiffer’s mansion near Bury St Edmunds. EG gauges the trials and tribulations of the East of England property market