EG London: Around the market

Significant January deals

One Mabledon Place, Euston Road, WC1

Type of deal Office investment

Seller Stanhope and AIMCo

Buyer Office affiliated with Qatar royal family

Size 90,580 sq ft

Price £70m – a 4.7% yield

Joanna Bourke, EG’s West End correspondent, says: The West End boundaries continue to expand north and many agents are regularly putting King’s Cross within the central London bracket, because of the amount of new investment heading there. Last month saw a deal nearby at One Mabledon Place on Euston Road, WC1. An office affiliated with the Qatar royal family went under offer to buy the £70m block, marking the first major Middle Eastern money injection in the area in almost a decade. The 10-storey, 90,580 sq ft block is let to The Doctors Laboratory, and Qataris wanting to buy it shows that the area has shed its stigma as a run-down red-light district. Instead it has become a destination where overseas investors foresee strong returns and development opportunities.

Canary Wharf estate

Type of deal Corporate

Seller Songbird Estates

Buyer Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield

Size 6.4m sq ft, plus 11.2m sq ft pipeline

Price £2.6bn

Jack Sidders, EG’s city editor, says: The takeover of Canary Wharf parent Songbird Estates by the Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield will likely be the deal of the year. At 350p per share, valuing the majority owner of the Canary Wharf estate at £2.6bn, their final offer was dismissed by many as a low ball. But the prospect of crystallising a significant profit on their original investment ahead of embarking on the group’s 11m sq ft development pipeline was obviously too tempting for Songbird’s big shareholders. If Canary Wharf Group’s first-class management can be kept in place, as is the declared intention, it is hard to see how this won’t be a great deal for everyone involved.

CBRE top of the league

CBRE tops EG’s London Offices Market Analysis’ agents league table for 2014 – but only just.

Victoria at the double

Investment in Victoria almost doubled in 2014, according to research by Tuckerman, with leasing also up by 12.5%.

Wandsworth on the up

Wandsworth has increased its target for new housing from 11,000 to 18,000 home to be delivered in the next 10 years.

Capital bounces back

London investment transaction volumes have bounced back to nearly reach 2007’s levels, according to Cushman & Wakefield research.

Conservation concerns

Plans for a boutique hotel in the City have met with criticism from English Heritage, the Victorian Society, City tailor Copperfield and actor Ray Winstone, who fear the scheme will damage what is a conservation area.

Office worries

Deputy Mayor for London Sir Edward Lister has expressed concern about future supply of office space in the capital, saying low vacancy levels in the City and West End are a problem.

Too much luxury

Research has warned there could be a surfeit of luxury homes in London, with far more units priced £1m-plus being built or planned than have traditionally been sold.

People, politics and peculiarities

Jowell takes out the empties

With the London mayoral elections a mere 15 months away we are expecting plenty of political promises from prospective candidates. Labour’s Tessa Jowell has already fired a shot at home owners who leave their properties unoccupied for more than six months, promising to give local authorities powers to issue penalties.

Boris’s handout

Meanwhile, incumbent mayor Boris Johnson has pledged £145m to go towards internal and external repairs on council homes across the capital. He, of course, is standing down as mayor but has his sights set on a seat as MP for Uxbridge Ruislip in this May’s general election.

Affordable aggro

Away from electioneering, Westminster council’s affordable housing fund could be dented to the tune of £1bn. Government policy designed to help small developers may give larger developers the opportunity to sidestep affordable housing payments.

Jenkins joins Keller Williams

Darryl Jenkins has joined Victoria agency Keller Williams as chief executive with a remit to recruit as many as 300 people over the next three years as part of the firm’s expansion plans.

New post for Sedgwick

Former BNP Paribas Real Estate director Julian Sedgwick has joined London residential agent Marsh & Parsons in the newly created role of director of new homes.

Hickmott moves on

Another former BNP Paribas Real Estate employee, Mark Hickmott, has been appointed as a consultant at niche London office agent REM Roberts.

More power to the south?

It had to happen sooner or later. Just as the north of the country is getting some attention and devolution is being discussed, a proposal has been tabled to create a “southern powerhouse” incorporating Greater London and part of the South East.

Salway back on track

It wasn’t long before former Land Securities chief executive Francis Salway reappeared on the property scene. He is taking a position with Transport for London to advise on its 10m sq ft development strategy.