Good morning. Here is your AM bulletin, with the latest news and views from EG, as well as a few of the best bits from the morning papers.
New plans are being drawn up for the Truman Brewery site in London’s East End. Its owners have appointed newly-formed development manager Grow Places to work up a masterplan for what was once the world’s largest brewery, with an emphasis on making the most out of its historic buildings.
But the picture for the UK’s local authorities continues to look bleak, with even more bad news coming from the property sector. Warrington Borough Council, which is already shouldering £1.8bn of debt, is bracing itself for a further loss from the sale of Birmingham’s Mailbox. The council invested £10m in the formerly IPSX-listed REIT, but is likely to recoup just £1.4m following a sale.
Meanwhile, Solihull Council is winding up its urban growth company. The special-purpose vehicle was set up in 2016 to unlock the potential of the UK Central Hub, a collection of sites around Solihull, including Arden Cross, which was to be the site of the HS2 interchange.
And Louisa Ryland House, a Birmingham office building once leased in its entirety to WeWork, has reopened with a new flex operator following a major refurbishment.
In other news:
Brookfield says it was snubbed in $33.2bn mortgage auction
LXi sets sights on solar with Biggin Hill deal
Azzurri readies itself for auction
Pizza Express’s Page launches new venture
Rents on new resi tenancies rise by record 10.2%
Demand for second-stepper homes up 9%
Bank won’t cut rates until 2026, says CBI
Berlusconi’s children agree to sell €850m property empire
The Guardian takes a trip to Frome in Somerset, to see how the town has held out against “cookie-cutter” housebuilding.
The Times (£) visits Masdar in the UAE, billed 15 years ago as the “world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city”, but still “something of a ghost town”.
And it looks into the court case at the heart of the continuing saga of the BHS collapse.
And finally, the latest episode of EG Like Sunday Morning covers planning fees, COP28 and why both the RICS and UKGBC think the industry needs to pull its collective finger out.
