Good morning. Get that oatmilk latte to go and drink in these property stories from the national press.
Blackstone has doubled-down on it’s Las Vegas bet with a $2.5bn sale and leaseback deal for the MGM Grand(£), making it one of the biggest landlords in the City of Second Chances.
Taylor Wimpey is also on a roll(£), having sold a record number of homes last year at record prices.
But how many of those homes were built at the expense of Britain’s ancient woodlands? Apparently more than 1,000 ancient woods are threatened with destruction by housebuilders(£), despite planning guidance to prevent it.
Meanwhile, global co-living operator Quarters has launched in the UK, with schemes under offer in Manchester and London.
And the riddle of how much rent the Sussexes will have to pay for Frogmore Cottage could prompt a review of the 200 homes rented to royals and staff by the Crown(£). Either that or the newspapers are just desperate to find new things to say about Harry and Meghan…
Auctioneer Bond Wolfe is anticipating a sharp upturn this year as landowners sell acres to fund improvements.
Meanwhile, businesses are spending more than £2m a week to regenerate high streets, as Bid investment hits £110m a year(£).
And Dominic Chappell will have to invest £9.5m in BHS(£), the collapsed retailer he walked away from in 2016. Chappell has spent three years fighting the ruling, but will now have to follow Sir Philip Green and put some money into a pension scheme for a change(£).
BlackRock has said that it will try to invest more ethically, while wagging its finger at CEOs(£) who don’t have squeaky clean climate-conscious credentials(£). Pretty ballsy for one of the world’s biggest investors in fossil fuels.
And Britain has just five years to build three gigafactories(£) or “miss the boat” on electric cars. In an exacerbation of the mixed metaphor, the government has also been urged to get on its bike to ensure plane sailing.
In Indonesia, Tony Blair has been hired to advise on its new $31bn capital city(£).
And finally, in the tiny county of Rutland, McDonald’s has conquered the last bit of England that was holding out against its Golden Arches. The Duchess of Rutland has shown that aristocrats are always in tune with the common people, saying that the burger giant should serve local food, such as “pheasant burgers and nuggets”.
Meanwhile Greggs has learnt not to annoy the locals, after suffering a rare defeat in its imperialist expansion plans. The steak bake specialist has fled from Cornwall(£), after the pasty-province snubbed its paltry pastries. Onen hag oll!
