MORNING NEWS: CapReg’s Hutchings departs for Workspace role

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the national papers. Lawrence Hutchings has resigned as chief executive of Capital & Regional for a new job leading flexible office provider Workspace Group. Hutchings has led the retail-focused REIT for almost seven years. He will continue in the role while the board launches a formal process to find his successor. He has a 12-month notice period. Office take-up in London’s Tech Belt jumped to a post-pandemic high during the start of the year, according to new data from Avison Young. The firm tracked 668,000 sq ft of lettings during the first quarter, the best quarterly total since Q3 2019. The largest deal in the area – which spans Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Clerkenwell, King’s Cross and St Pancras – was financial technology firm Wise Payments taking 83,000 sq ft at Worship House, EC2. Researchers said the figures showed “strong demand” at a time when interest in artificial intelligence and its applications is growing “across the corporate world”. Aviva Capital Partners and mixed-use developer Socius have appointed Gensler to lead the design of their £1.2bn, 1m sq ft cancer research and treatment campus in Sutton, south London. It joins Savills and Arup on the project team. And Amazon is planning to open a £500m fulfilment centre at SEGRO’s logistics park in Northampton. The warehouse is expected to be operational from 2026. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals: Capital & Regional’s Hutchings quits to lead WorkspaceTech Belt tenants take London office deals to post-Covid highGensler to design £1.2bn Aviva-backed cancer hubRebels without a clause: the growth of responsible leasesGlasgow M&S to PBSA scheme to be approvedAmazon plans £500m Northampton warehouseMedina Capital buys offices for £50m residential schemeAllsop’s May auction raises nearly £45mTCS bags fintech firm for Leeds lettingBloom and TPG Angelo Gordon buy £21.5m Docklands business parkEuropean real estate investment hits decade lowScale AI picks London for European headquartersNational deals round-upThe painful slump in Hong Kong property (£)How pension funds turned student accommodation into a cash cow (£)Inside the growing alarm over Blackstone’s BREIT real estate fund (£)Saudi oil giant pays out £100bn to fund crown prince’s desert mirror city (£)UK hospitality closures slow down amid easing cost inflation