Good morning.
As the morning bulletin is being put together, the US presidential election is too close to call. President Trump has made impressive gains, with Florida and Texas falling in line, while Democrat Joe Biden still has a route to victory.
Meanwhile, BP is close to selling it’s London HQ(£) at 1 St James’s Square to Lifestyle International Holdings for £250m.
BTR developer HUB is gearing up to double its £1bn residential pipeline within three years as build-to-rent booms.
Blackbrook Capital has paid more than £30m for a Sainsbury’s distribution hub close to Glasgow.
IWG’s stock has climbed yesterday, after the serviced offices provider made a strong pitch for “hybrid working” patterns.
Crest Nicholson has upgraded its annual profit forecast(£) and announced a return to dividend payments(£).
And the ‘race for space’ has resulted in a 2% price bump for country houses.
Supermarkets are under mounting pressure to pay back £3bn in business rates(£).
Retailers are extending opening hours(£) before lockdown, as Primark plans all-night opening for December. The CBI predicts retailers will lose £2bn a week(£).
The rate of shop and restaurant closures(£) in Britain more than doubled(£) in the first half of the year, leaving 14% of the high street empty.
EG asks: What can save the high street after Covid-19?
Don’t pay much heed to the doomsayers, the FT says (£). The second wave will cause less economic pain than the first. Hopefully.
Meanwhile, HS2 could cost £170bn(£) according to the man who wants to scrap its Euston terminus.
US media real estate firm Hackman Partners has agreed a 250-year lease(£) to build London’s largest film and TV studio in Dagenham.
And Sadiq Khan confirms that City Hall will also move to the Docks.
A rude awakening by bouncing children and a walk along a Hawaii beach (sort of) are just the start of a typical day for RTPI’s Victoria Hills in this week’s Lockdown Diaries.
The FT (£) shares a charming portrait of a new floating church on the Lee Navigation.
The property developer buyer of Jeffrey Epstein’s $22m Florida mansion(£) has vowed that it will be demolished.
After 40 generations in one family, the remains of a Snowdonia estate(£) is being put up for sale for £2m.
And basement extensions(£) are facing scrutiny, following the collapse of a £6m Chelsea townhouse during renovation works.
And finally, only time will tell if President Donald J Trump gets another four years in the White House that he described as “a real dump”, or if he will return to his indebted property empire(£). Of course, it is worth remembering the DJT’s debts aren’t that monumental, by some people’s standards. They just happen to be due in the next four years…
