Angry S&P man fails to keep his hair on
Nobody likes Christmas parties more than agents. And they sure know how to have them. Some would say that their parties were a cut above the rest… or they would if they worked at Strutt & Parker.
EG Eye spies have told us that before Christmas, a few S&P employees were having a roaring good time at a local boozer. After one or two spritzers, one of the said employees nodded off while his colleagues decided it would be a good idea if they cut his hair.
However, after coming to, he took offence at his new haircut, grabbed the scissors from his drunken hairstylist and stabbed him through the hand with them. Blood and a trip to A&E ensued. And we thought the S&P boys were more refined.
Upscale awards for missing the big one
CB Richard Ellis was clearly very pleased to have expeditiously concluded the biggest real estate deal ever in mid-October, when it brokered the $5.4bn sale of 11,232 homes in New York owned by the Met Life insurance company to a consortium headed by developer Tishman Speyer and the Blackrock investment fund.
Well, according to a very detailed report on the deal in the New York Times last week, the underbidder Apollo is deeply cheesed off. Apollo, which has extensive holdings in Europe, had thought its $5.3bn bid, backed by ING, had secured the deal.
Apollo was “incensed”, said the NYT, to learn that Jerry Speyer and his 37-year-old son, Ron, had topped its bid, and started muttering about the Speyer family getting a “last look”. CBRE says not, adding that “any carping about the bidding subsided before Tishman Speyer closed the deal on 17 November”.
But that did not stop Apollo from taking the unusual step of holding a dinner for the 60 people involved at an upscale New York restaurant – and presenting blank Lucite trophies to its advisers – for a deal that never happened. CBRE’s ears must have been burning that night.
Squeal for top deals – don’t go off-market
There are always arguments over how to secure the best price for a trophy property: take an advert in EG leak the story (cheaper) – or whisper in the ear of a favoured client.
The first two options mean that all potential buyers find out about the deal but the agent has a lot more work to do. The second “off-market” option has the advantage (to the agent mainly) of speed, privacy – and a very warm feeling from the favoured client.
The disadvantage of the off-market method was brought home rather forcibly to one hapless adviser at the Land Securities party before Christmas when at least two potential clients rounded on him for carrying out an off-market deal. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us – I could have gone £25m higher,” said one.
There is, of course, another reason the open-market approach is better. Nobody is going to sue you for a breach of professional duty to get the best deal if the price goes south. Come on guys, leak – you know it makes sense.
Banks probed for not-so subtle sublets
We also have the New York Times to thank for a second rather intriguing story from the US. In the UK, the burgeoning hedge fund industry simply takes space at ridiculous rents in the West End. In the US, the banks have turned landlord and given fledgling hedge funds space in their buildings.
An example of what are called “hedge fund hotels” is being run by UBS, which has apparently given over some 400,000 sq ft of space, including a Philip Johnson-designed tower in Boston, to hedge fund operators. Are they paying ridiculous rents for the sublet? Apparently not.
William F Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of state, has subpoenaed UBS and is examining other banks with hedge fund hotels in Boston to determine how they are charging for their services. He is looking at whether or not hedge funds are paying higher than normal trading fees to banks to compensate them for the office space and failing to disclose this expense to investors.
We don’t like to be sneaky – but any UK bank landlords might want to politely ask their tenants if they are subletting on the sly.
Labour shows class in selection process…
The Labour Party has kicked off the new year with a splendid lesson in how to select an employee without appearing to be biased.
Following the recent shenanigans over revelations that five of the 12 members of the Big Lottery Board are Labour Party members, culture secretary Tessa Jowell has had to be careful in choosing a replacement for Sir Neal Cussons as chair of English Heritage.
Following what a Department for Culture Media and Sport spokesman terms a thorough “sifting” process of the country’s most suitable candidates, two were shortlisted for Jowell to consider: Lord Marland and Viscountess Cobham.
Jowell has decided that the position needs to be readvertised and new candidates “sifted”.
Apparently, Marland, the former Tory party treasurer, and Cobham, a former Tory adviser and business partner of David Mellor, don’t have enough experience of heritage. “There is nothing unusual in the decision,” the DCMS said this week. “But, if there is any legal action, we will defend it vigorously.”
…as Tories think about Civil War
It might be a new year, but it seems the Conservative Party is looking to the days of the English Civil War to solve today’s housing problems.
Conservative shadow housing minister Michael Gove announced this week that he would be leading a task force to extend the use of community land trusts, building on a model championed by Martin Luther King and inspired by the Levellers and Diggers of the English Civil War.
It may just be Gove’s dream at the moment but he is reassuring any unconvinced planners that if it worked back in 1903 for Ebeneezer Howard’s development of Letchworth Garden City, then it can surely work in 2007.
Developers will no doubt be eagerly waiting to be informed by Labour’s Yvette Cooper of where she will be seeking inspiration for her solution to the housing crisis. Perhaps listening to tracks from 1980s rock band The Levellers may offer some guidance.
