MORNING NEWS: Fenwick’s flagship set for office redevelopment

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 nationals. After more than 130 years of being a department store, Fenwick’s on London’s New Bond Street is set to be redeveloped. Lazari Investments, which paid £428m for the department store in December 2022, is seeking to drastically reduce the retail offering in the block to around 50,000 sq ft and increase the office space from circa 25,000 sq ft to 175,000 sq ft. Westminster Council has recommended the Foster + Partners-designed plans for approval, despite objections from both the Greater London Authority and Historic England. EG this morning exclusively reveals that British Land has secured a further three tenants for its 335,000 sq ft Norton Folgate, E1, development, including a 20,000 sq ft HQ letting to Swiss sports brand On. In Durham, Citrus Group and Galliard Homes are hoping to bring life back to the Prince Bishops Place shopping centre, with fresh retail, leisure and student housing. Plans for the £55m transformation have been lodged with the local council. And, following on from yesterday’s theme of beds being the hottest property in the sector right now, Greystar has splashed £44m buying a purpose-built student accommodation block in Southampton from Kier and Investec. Could it be that some of the shine is coming off the life sciences sector? Yesterday Life Science REIT reported that offices were pulling its values down and labs weren’t quite resilient enough to offset the decline. And in an interview with EG’s life science specialist reporter Evelina Grecenko, boss Simon Farnsworth said the equity markets were no longer open for them so if would be seeking joint venture partners to help grow the business. Elsewhere, chair of the Office for Place, Nicholas Boys Smith, is feeling pretty chipper about the direction of development following the government department’s first conference. The event examined how design codes can work at different spatial scales, how setting clear asks on quality can de-risk the development process, how placemakers can better understand what people like and value, and how digital can transform the planning and development sector. And here, Boys Smith shares his 15 key takeaways, including the rather poetic view that “new development needs to be centripetal not centrifugal, regenerative not parasitic, energising not dissipating”. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals: Fenwick’s office redevelopment set for nodPlymouth airport housing plans take offBritish Land secures trio of Norton Folgate lettingsPlans in for £55m Durham shopping centre transformationLife Science REIT eyes joint ventures in place of fresh equityTesco pension fund completes £70m Bristol office saleThumbs up for Redditch green logistics schemePlaces at pace: how to fall back in love with the future 1,000-home new town planned for west EdinburghNew board in place at Urban SplashBattersea Power Station owners clinch £1.1bn loanGreystar acquires Southampton PBSA scheme for £44mCitizen M owners explore potential sale of hotel group (£) Property developers must be banned from charging extortionate “fleecehold” fees, say Tory MPs (£)