Good morning.
Blackstone will invest £850m in new life science space(£) in Cambridge. The US investor is buying two sites in the university city, with plans to create about 800,000 sq ft of labs and offices.
But Britain needs a lot more lab space if we are to foster a new golden age for life sciences, thunders Blackstone CEO Stephen A Schwartzman in The Times (£).
The government has published draft legislation for its planned tax on residential developers. The legislation will be launched in the Budget next month.
Green bonds could be the next bubble to burst(£), warns the BIS, comparing the growth in ESG funds to railroad stocks in the mid-1800s, dotcoms in 2000, and sub-prime mortgages in 2007.
The troubles of China’s Evergrande(£) are beginning to be felt far wider(£), as the developer’s debt defaults(£) send global markets(£) downward. Beijing is now considering whether Evergrande(£) really is too big to fail(£).
The tumble hit most real estate stocks on the FTSE, leaving AIM-listed estate agency M Winkworth as the sharpest riser.
London Square has added a series of directors and new schemes to its affordable housing business, Square Roots, with Barbara Richardson becoming MD.
Flexible office provider Spacemade is banking on a shift towards more neighbourhood-focused working models, with the launch of two new workspaces in outer London.
Two new Northern Line tube stations were opened to the public yesterday, at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. The extension will service the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity area after a decade in the making.
The Guardian chats to local government hero Jackie Weaver.
And a housebuilder, fined £300,000 for chopping down an ‘irreplaceable’ Redwood tree to make way for a development in Swansea, has now had his fine cut down to £100,000.
And finally, you might think that the debate over whether or not to bail out Evergrande was the most important real estate discussion taking place in Beijing. But no. Architecture website Archcy.com has launched its annual search for China’s ugliest building, and the competition is getting fierce. Entrants include a church shaped like a violin, hotels shaped like gods and matryoshka dolls, an upside-down house and a museum full of holes.
