Good morning. Here is your morning dose of real estate news, with the latest from EG, and a few of the best bits from the morning papers.
Thousands of homes could be created in London by converting old and unwanted offices, says a new CBRE report. It has identified 16m sq ft of unwanted commercial stock that could provide up to 28,000 homes.
Meanwhile, Bold founder Caleb Parker has launched a Brave new venture to mitigate the rise of stranded office assets.
Pension funds are resisting a government push to invest up to £50bn in UK infrastructure and businesses, saying the country is not an attractive enough destination for more of their capital. Ouch.
BlackRock boss Larry Fink agrees, saying the UK is failing to make the most of pension fund investment. He also said the Labour Party offers “a real measurement of hope”, but BlackRock denied this was an endorsement.
The boss of the National Grid has warned that climate goals will not be reached unless the planning system is urgently reformed.
Now that the glitter has settled and the trophies have been dished out, it is time real estate began to showcase its worth beyond the EG Awards, writes EG’s editor. “This is a valuable industry. An invaluable industry. And it’s about time you believed it.”
In other news, Shropshire Council and development manager RivingtonHark have begun a public consultation on plans redevelop Shrewsbury town centre.
Orchard Street Investment Management has put Clear Channel’s UK HQ at 33 Golden Square, W1, on the market for offers over £30m.
And a campaign has been launched to stop the boring building ‘blandemic’, that threatens to depress us all and kill us with stress.
Online fashion retailer Sosandar wants to open its first set of physical shops, but the announcement has failed to thrill investors.
And CVC could launch its Amsterdam IPO as early as next week.
And finally, Amazon’s plans to shake up last-mile logistics by launching drone deliveries could take flight in the UK next year. Although exactly where in the UK is not yet known. And it would only be for certain items weighing less than 5lbs. And it has been droning on about this for over a decade. Still, the sky’s the limit!
