MORNING NEWS: Owner-occupier makes Farringdon office move

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of real estate-relevant headlines from the national papers. The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers has acquired an office in Farringdon for its new headquarters. CIBSE sold its current headquarters at 222 Balham High Road, SW12, in June. It can remain following the sale at a peppercorn rent until March 2025. It will then move to 91-94 Saffron Hill, EC1, which it has bought from 1908 Property Holdings for £7.6m. A team of scientists are investigating the use of biochar as a new building material that could consume carbon and create a new frontier in sustainable development. Biochar is produced by heating organic biomass from food, paper, agricultural and forestry waste in the presence of little or no oxygen. Its use can allow buildings to act as “carbon sinks” – taking up more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. Mehreen Gul from Heriot-Watt University said the research will explore whether the substance can “contribute significantly to carbon reductions, helping the government meet net zero emission targets and providing reassurance to industry and the wider public about its use”. “More research is now required to explore how buildings can ‘eat carbon’ – essentially soaking up more carbon from the atmosphere than they release, and we believe biochar could play a crucial role in developing this work,” she added. Greystar UK managing director Michela Hancock and Lendlease group chief executive Andrea Ruckstuhl have joined the board of Real Estate Balance, the industry body dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion. “DEI boosts creativity and innovation, supports organisations to be more adaptable and resilient, and enhances the health and performance of our industry as a whole,” said Hancock. “It’s our responsibility to bring awareness to existing challenges, identify best practices, facilitate and enable change and celebrate success.” There’s also news on a new leader for Knight Frank’s life sciences team; aparthotel plans for a “redundant” City of London office; and a joint venture hunt for a West End office project. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:CIBSE acquires new Farringdon HQCarbon-eating building materials set to advance sustainable constructionGreystar and Lendlease leads join Real Estate Balance boardRightmove knocks back third REA takeover proposalLondonMetric picks up £78m urban logistics portfolioScarborough launches new push for health tenants at Sheffield parkAberdeen chosen for Great British Energy baseSelling to start-ups in BuckinghamshireUnlocking the potential of brownfield developmentPaloma gets go-ahead for revamp of Manchester business parkPatrizia sells Portsmouth TravelodgeKnight Frank appoints Cushman partner to lead life sciences teamHardington submits new resi conversion plan for Cannon Street officeNumber of Q2 planning applications drops 9%Aparthotel plans in for ‘redundant’ City officeP-Three appointed on Greenwich PeninsulaFlex operators eye expansion as demand picks upBC Partners looks to form jv for West End office schemeOctopus hands Wavensmere £75m for Derby’s Friar Gate Goods Yard‘Can of Ham’ sale tests demand for prime City of London skyscrapers (£)North faces ‘Armageddon’ without HS2 links, says Andy Burnham (£)Andrew Bailey: I would not expect a rapid reduction in interest rates (£)The new-gen property developers rethinking London (£)