MORNING NEWS: Stanhope’s City skyscraper up for debate

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. Stanhope’s proposals for London’s tallest tower have been recommended for approval by planning officers, as it lands in front of the City of London Corporation’s planning committee today. The 74-storey skyscraper, at 1 Undershaft, EC3, would be 309.6m tall. Those objecting to the plans include Historic England and the Twentieth Century Society. Designed by Eric Parry Architects, the scheme would replace the existing St Helen’s Building, also known as the Aviva Tower, with offices, shops, a viewing gallery and garden. AEW UK REIT has returned to profit in the year ending 31 March, posting rental income growth and an improved vacancy rate across its portfolio. The REIT added that it would continue to seek potential opportunities for M&A to grow its business, citing “considerable corporate activity” in the listed property sector. And, Savills has taken over Montagu Evans’ UK property management arm, hiring a near-100-strong team led by head of property management Andrew Walker. Staff from Montagu Evans’ London and Edinburgh offices will move to Savills’ offices. Montagu Evans’ property management team has clients including Redical Holdings, RivingtonHark, AEW and several local authorities, and manages a 5m sq ft shopping centre portfolio with 20 sites. All of the news from EG, plus a selection of headlines from the nationals:AEW UK REIT back in black as rental income growsSkyscraper heads to City planning committee as officers advise approval‘Flex’ renting for BTR and PBSA ramps upTrio of lettings lifts Leeds’ Wellington Place amenities offeringFormer CoreNet chief joins ULIPlans filed for 576-home Reading BTR schemeARC gets nod for more labs at Harwell CampusCBRE IM lines up another prelet at Edinburgh’s Excel HouseDes Gunewardena to open Olympia restaurantAbrdn closes Colliers Wood retail park acquisitionPGIM Real Estate provides €91.5m financing to Dublin BTR schemeSavills acquires Montagu Evans’ property management armL&G acquires 390 shared-ownership homes from OrbitDemand for European data centres fuels sector activityBig-box vacancies shrink as quarterly take-up improvesClearbell bags Wolverhampton industrial estateOrchard Street buys south-east London last-mile estateCuration Capital secures £33m loan for Newcastle PBSA acquisitionHotel investment soars to £3bn as portfolios change handsNational deals round-upCushman hires head of living land and developmentStudent Roost acquires PBSAs in Manchester and BirminghamVoice of the Region: Greater Manchester occupiers say definitely maybeL&G launches fund to give DC members access to real estateLND strengthens team with new C-suite hireIkea to set up on Fifth Avenue as investment arm takes stake in Manhattan tower (£)UK house prices unexpectedly rise in June (£)COMMENT: Why investors could miss out on the long-awaited real estate revival (£)