“We are on the starting block and ready to roll. We have been in active dialogue with Croydon council. We have been talking to John Lewis. We can write the £1bn cheque tomorrow, nobody else can.”
Four reasons given by John Burton of Westfield as to why Croydon should discourage Hammerson’s plans for the Whitgift Centre and embrace the Aussie giant’s plan to “up-cycle” (see below) the 1960s shopping centre into a 1.5m sq ft mall at twice the speed that those whinging poms could manage.
Burton is the energetic Australian who has overseen the giant Stratford mall in east London. He responded cheerfully to an invitation for a Foster’s, published here on 21 April (p54).
That was when the Hammerson case was summarised, following a cup of tea with chief executive, David Atkins, another very persuasive man. Atkins’ invitation came after I’d said nobody else but Westfield could be trusted. Yes, this is getting boring. So, to the heart of the matter: money.
The Whitgift Trust owns the freehold and a 25% leasehold interest in the centre. The 400-year old charity trusts the Australians to turn a centre worth £200m today into one worth £1.5bn in five to seven years. Who can blame it after being mucked around for years?
“They were favourable to our approach,” says Burton, “because nothing was happening.” Well, it is now. Hammerson has been chosen by the 75% of leaseholders that Royal London and the Irish bank left holding the debt parcel when the music stopped in 2008.
What now? Rapprochement does not feel likely, given the palpable mutual distrust. Both are free to submit planning applications. That will tilt the scales towards the Australians as Croydon councillors will be badgered by voters desiring another Stratford. There, is of course, the nuclear option. Hammerson would make a very tasty morsel for Westfield. Buy the company, secure Croydon and get the bonus off Brent Cross as well.
Chinese to the rescue
The Chinese are going to save the Square Mile. This news comes from fearsome City agent Tony Gibbon. He begs me not to tell the world. But hell, I’m not scared.
The yuan will become an internationally traded currency within a few years. London will become the global trading post. Thousands of traders will be needed to trade trillions of yuan. Thousands of traders will need tens of thousands of sq ft of space. There is plenty of space in the City.
The Chinese are also rumoured to looking to set up a trading post for goods, rather than money, around (or, possibly up) the skirts of The Shard. But who knows?
What is known is The Shard is to be “inaugurated” on 5 July. Prince Andrew will cut the ribbon with scissors provided by the prime minister of Qatar. Will the developer feature? It hardly matters. Irvine Sellar’s moment came at 9pm last Wednesday when Channel 4 did a show on the 1,016-ft skyscraper. A CBE to match that of Gerald Ronson, surely?
Bishopsgate prelet?
Great Portland Estates and Brookfield pledged to halt work and wait for a prelet after clearing a site for an 800,000 sq ft tower at 100 Bishopsgate, EC2. A suspicious number of workers in hard hats still inhabit the site, months after demolition finished. Pile drivers have been thudding away. A tower crane popped up a few weeks ago. The pair can’t afford to risk going much further without a prelet, can they? Actually Brookfield could easily go it alone. Or is a letting in the offing?
Refurbishment is upcycled
Marketing department alert! A shiny replacement for that dull old word “refurbishment” is now available – “up-cycling.” The waste industry uses this save-the-planet term to describe the conversion of rubbish into products of higher value. Architects have already appropriated “up-cycling”. So what better word to recycle into the sales brochure when describing the conversion of rubbishy buildings into fine properties of far higher value, such as the Whitgift Centre (see above).
