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Refurbishment plan in W1

City scheme poised

City consent

City refurbishment plan

Refurbishment underway

Plans approved

City refurbishment consent

Midtown options

Contractor appointment

City fringe application

EC1 scheme underway

City refurbishment green light

City block may re-start

Soho scheme poised

Former HQ refurbishment

Architect for scheme

Summer completion expected

St James's refurbishment

Refurbishment completed

Former HQ refurbishment

Phase 4 on site

London Offices – An Olympic Year?

Application in EC1

Midtown refurb

Refurbishment starts

City refurbishment application

Architect replaced

City scheme letting

Midtown consent

Potential in WC2

City refurbishment start

Tower work suspended

Refurbishment out to tender

West end consent

City site to progress

Hedge fund for new W1 building

Scheme discussions

City fringe application

Midtown start

Bid rejected

City scheme underway

Refurbishment possible

Midtown scheme underway

Appointment in EC3

Refurbishment underway

Contractor appointed in EC3

Hammersmith start planned

Demolition to re-start

Refurbishment mooted in EC4

Development site sold

Demolition start in EC2

EC2 office start

London Office Market – Special Report

New plans for West End site

Development site for sale

Moorgate consent

Refurbishment underway

Tower sees more deals

Refurbishment underway

Midtown refurbishment

Soho construction start

Mayfair office start

Baker Street deal

Development start planned

Refurb progress

Developer appointed

Refurbishment to start

Major Soho consent

Refurbishment mooted in Noho

Docks scheme could be revived

St James's building to be refurbished

Tower to start (again)

Floor let in EC2 tower

Riverside refurbishment

Leadenhall triangle site bought

City refurbishment plan

Mayfair consent

City tower to start in 2012

Midtown refurbishment

Demolition plan in Soho

Refurbishment plan in EC2

Contractor appointed

City scheme likely

City refurbishment start

Mayfair consent

Plans approved

Midtown scheme poised

Refurbishment in EC4

Long term development plan

Redevelopment plans

New Soho scheme

Developer changes

Covent Garden start

Mayfair application

Major Mayfair application

City fringe application

Development due to start

Refurbishment planned

Mayfair scheme revived

Developer stepping up programme

Great Portland Estates is planning to raise £160m via the international bond markets to fund its development and investment programme in central London. The property company, which has four London office schemes underway, is understood to be planning to sell two tranches of seven-year and ten-year bonds. - (08-04-2011)

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Macquarie to move HQ to Ropemaker

Macquarie Bank, the Australian investment bank, is understood to have agreed to take 20,160 sq m (217,000 sq ft) offices at British Land's Ropemaker Place in the City of London for its 1000 London staff. Terms are undisclosed. Macquarie was close to letting Drapers Gardens last year has been outbid by Blackrock. The bank has a lease expiry at City Point in 2011. Ropemaker Place is now almost 80 percent let. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities leased almost 230,000 sq ft in the building last year. - (12-02-2010)

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JP Morgan pre-let deal

JP Morgan, the US investment bank, has announced a £237m deal to acquire a 999 year lease from Canary Wharf Group (CWG) on the Riverside South site at Canary Wharf, London, E14. The site has planning permission for 1.8m sq ft of office space in two towers and a ‘link’ building. Infrastructure work is underway but JP Morgan is still finalising the design of the buildings and will occupy in phases. The building will be the headquarters for all the banks European operations and could be completed in 2012 or 2013. CWG will act as development and construction manager. CWG will complete the design, planning, piling and raft construction and the bank will, subject to market conditions, decide when to instruct CWG to proceed with final construction. If construction of the building is postponed, or put off altogether, CWG will be paid for completed work and also retain £76m representing a portion of developers profits related to the development. - (18-11-2008)

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Glasnost - Online Project, Contact & Image Management

Green light for Shard

Sellar Property is likely to start construction of the Shard tower in London, SE1 later in 2008, after a finance package was agreed with Qatari-backed consortium - the Qatari Islamic Investment bank QInvest, Qatar National Bank and Qatari Islamic Bank. Sellar will remain the developer for completion of Shard of Glass tower and 55,740 sq m (600,000 sq ft) New London Bridge House in 2011. The schemes were designed by Renzo Piano. Cushman & Wakefield advised on planning, and Mace is project manager. - (01-02-2008)

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Pinnacle tower progress

Demolition at Arab Investment's site at 22-24 Bishopsgate, London, EC2 is due to complete in February 2008. Mace is project manager. Multiplex is to build the new £500m, 288m-high office tower which will be completed in 2010. - (15-01-2008)

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Shell-Mex House sold

Shell-Mex House in the Strand has been sold for just under £500m to Westbrook, the US fund manager. The 51,096 sq m (550,000 sq ft) art deco building was owned by a group of private investors, including Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, David and Simon Reuben and Jack Dellal, who acquired the building in 2002 for £327m from Lehman Brothers. The building has been on the market since early 2006 and has seen several bids fall through, possibly because of rising interest rates. Westbrook was advised by Knight Frank and CB Richard Ellis advised the consortium. - (06-07-2007)

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Record West End letting

BlueBay Asset Management, the alternative investment firm, has taken the remaining first, second and third floors of 3,344 sq m (36,000 sq ft) at Morley Fund Managements’ recently completed 77 Grosvenor Street, London, W1 at a record £117 psf. - (25-05-2007)

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Middlesex Hospital plans

Project Abbey, the consortium of investors led by Christian Candy, founder of Candy & Candy, is submitting a planning application for the redevelopment of the Middlesex Hospital site on Mortimer Street, London, W1. The 1.3ha (3 acre) NoHo site will be redeveloped into 273 apartments and a 32,980 sq m (355,000 sq ft) nine storey office building. - (14-02-2007)

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Your chance to own Gherkin

The Gherkin (otherwise 30 St Mary Axe) in London, EC3, has been acquired by IVG Asticus, the German fund, and Evans Randall, the private investment bank, from Swiss Re for about £630m, and initial yield of around 4.25%. IVG is thought to be making its 50% stake open to private investors and Evans Randall will place its stake with institutional investors. Both firms are understood to be retaining a 10% stake. - (06-02-2007)

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St.James's application

Britel Fund Trustees, the investor and part of Postel Properties and Hermes, has submitted a planning application for the redevelopment of 7 & 8 St James's Square and 7 Apple Tree Yard, London, SW1. The scheme envisages 10,511 sq m gross (113,140 sq ft) of offices on basement, ground and five upper floors mainly at 8 St James's Square and 7 Apple Tree Yard, plus four apartments. Net floorspace will be about 8,500 sq m (90,000 sq ft). CB Richard Ellis is advising Britel. - (24-08-2006)

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Middlesex Hospital site sold

Project Abbey consortium of investors led by Christian Candy, founder of Candy & Candy, has acquired the Middlesex Hospital site on Mortimer Street, London, W1, for about £200m. The 1.3ha (3 acre) NoHo site will be redeveloped into a 46,450 sq m (500,000 sq ft) mixed use scheme, which will include offices, although 50% will be residential. Completion is planned by 2011. Savills is advising Project Abbey. - (06-07-2006)

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Property at the top?

The top of the property investment market has been called by agent DTZ. Joe Valente, group head of research, has commented that the peak of the commercial market had probably been reached and that the level of interest in buildings on the market has been seen to be falling recently. This accords with the general view of property cycles that prices go up and then usually go down. - (06-07-2006)

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Refurbishment planned for SW1

GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, the property developer and investor and Grafton Advisers LLP have bought the vacant 1,400 sq m (15,000 sq ft) office building at 4-5 Arlington Street, London, SW1A 1RA for £11.3m and intend to refurbish it during 2006. - (25-11-2005)

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Offices for Brook Street

Gracemark Investments and Oppenheim Property Fund, the property investors have submitted plans for the redevelopment of the vacant £11m Melbourne House, 8-12 Brook Street, London, W1. The scheme envisages a 1,860 sq m (20,000 sq ft) refurbishment to include 1,626 sq m (17,500 sq ft) of offices, plus two floors of retail. The refurbishment has been designed by DP9. - (21-11-2005)

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LandSecs sell 30 Gresham Street

It has been reported that Land Securities has sold the freehold of 30 Gresham Street to to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp for £300m. The 36,368 sq m (391,462 sq ft) building was let to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein last autumn. BH2 advised Land Sec on the sale. - (04-05-2005)

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Bath House goes under the hammer.

Investment company, Favermead Assets has decided not to redevelop the largely vacant 1960s Bath House, 52-60 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2DY and has instead decided to sell it. The company has planning permission to replace the building with a speculative, eight storey mixed scheme including 14,000 sq m (150,700 sq ft) of offices, plus ground floor retail. The building is nearly opposite the City Thameslink station northern entrance and adjacent to Lovells new HQ. Favermead will have disposed of the site within the next 4-6 weeks. Nelson Bakewell is advising Aside from the ground floor retail space the building is empty. Sheppard Robson was the architect. - (09-04-2005)

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Elephant & Castle project hots up

St Modwen, the developer, is said to be looking to bid for the redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle site in south London. The London Borough of Southwark is about to issue invitations to tender for the 71ha (170-acre) site. The scheme includes new office buildings, shopping centre, leisure uses and residential. Other groups thought to be preparing bids include Blackfriars Investments, with Royal London Asset Management, Berkeley Group, Hines, the US developer, and possibly Multiplex. The previous attempt by LB Southwark to find a developer partner fell apart in 2002. - (23-02-2005)

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Albion House for March completion

Work on Investstream’s refurbishment of Albion House, 55, New Oxford Street, London WC1, will complete during March 2005. The speculative office scheme will provide 4,088 sqm (44,003 sq ft) of space and is being marketed by Hodnett Martin Smith and Jones Lang LaSalle. Chorus is handling the fit-out and TP Bennett is the architect. CB Richard Ellis is the QS and project manager. - (14-01-2005)

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Lloyds building to be acquired

The "love it or hate it" iconic Lloyds of London building in EC3 seems to be about to be sold to a Commerzbank fund by Deka, the German fund manager. Deka's property fund arm is selling the building for about £257m as part of an excercise to stabalise its property fund operations following a major outflow of funds. Deka originally paid £180m for the building in 1996. In the summer Shelbourne Developments, the Irish property investor, was due to acquire the building but the deal fell through after cracks in the concrete structure were said to have been found. Follow-up surveys are reported as failing to find any cracks. - (21-12-2004)

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CIS plans big scheme in Victoria area

Co-Op Investment Services is planning to renovate Abford House at 333 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, London SW1. The company will soon submit an application to refurbish the nine-storey building into 13,935 sq m (150,000 sq ft) of offices. Gerald Eve is the planning consultant. - (03-12-2004)

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Late 2005 start for Bath House?

Investment company, Favermead Assets has yet to begin work on its redevelopment of the largely vacant 1960's Bath House, 52-60 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2DY. The company has planning permission to replace the building with a speculative, eight-storey mixed scheme including 14,000 sq m (150,700 sq ft) of offices, plus ground floor retail. The building is nearly opposite the City Thameslink station northern entrance and adjacent to Lovells new HQ. When contacted, Favermead that it will not begin work before late 2005 at the earliest. Aside from the ground floor retail space the building is empty. Jones Lang LaSalle’s City office is advising. - (27-11-2004)

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UBS buys Mondial House

UBS, the investment bank, is reported as having acquired Mondial House, 90, Upper Thames Street, London, EC4, from British Telecom for around £55m for it’s Triton fund. City Offices, the Greycoat subsidiary, is partnering UBS on the scheme which could include a refurbishment of building or redevelopment to provide over 46,451 sq m (500,000 sq ft). BT will take a two-year lease on the 37,160 sq m (400,000 sq ft) building to remove telephone switchgear having originally planned to redevelop the 1970’s building to a design by Foggo Associates. The site could also be incorporated into an adjoining site where the Corporation of London has been considering a development. - (10-07-2004)

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Canary Wharf Group set deadline for offers

Canary Wharf Group has set a deadline of 13th February for Branscon, the Canadian property company, and Paul Reichman to make fully funded offers for the Docklands complex. The deadline is expected to clarify the position of the rival bidders to shareholders ahead of an extrodinary meeting on 23rd February, which is to vote on a recommended £1.56bn offer from a Morgan Stanley-led consortium. Recently Canary Wharf secured a £1.1bn investment deal with Royal Bank of Scotland on 5 Canada Square, let to CSFB, and 25 Canada Square, let to Citigroup. - (12-01-2004)

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Lloyd's Building sold to Shelbourne

The Lloyd’s Building in the City of London has been acquired by Shelbourne Investments, the Irish-based company owned by Garrett Kelleher, in a deal at around £240m. The 32,330 sq m (348,000 sq ft) building is owned by Deka, the German investment fund, which is thought to have paid around £186m for the building in 1986. Shelbourne Investments beat off seven rival to buy the building, currently let to the Society of Lloyd’s on a lease expiring in February 2013. The acquisition is Shelbourne’s second investment in the City of London having paid about £16.0m for the lease on 18-20 Cannon Street, London, EC4 last year. - (12-01-2004)

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Victoria House sold for about £160m

Garbe’s Victoria House scheme in Bloomsbury Square, London, WC1, has been sold for about £160m to Moritz Holdings, run by Irish investor Michael Whelan. Originally completed in 1932, for the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, the 27,220 sq m (293,000 sq ft) Grade II listed Victoria House was acquired by Garbe in 1999 from Blackfriars Investments for around £40m and redeveloped as 20,156 sq m (216,961 sq ft) of office space at a cost of nearly £40m. - (12-01-2004)

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Henderson sells Alder Castle House

DEGI, the German fund, is thought to have paid Henderson Global Investors about £56.5 for Alder Castle House in EC2. Argent originally marketed the building for sale in May 2000 and was expecting to raise about £75m. In early 2001 Henderson, acting for Pearl Assurance, was said to have acquired the building for about £59m. - (21-11-2003)

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Skanska wins Palestra contract

Blackfriars Investments and Royal London Asset Management have signed a £67.5m construction contract with Skanska UK to build the Palestra office scheme on Blackfriars Road, London SE1. The project has had several previous start dates but the cleared site could now be on-site this year, or early 2004. The revised completion date is now mid-2006. - (30-09-2003)

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US rivals may team up for Canary bid

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the rival US investment banks, are said to be making a joint attempt to take control of the Canary Wharf development. The Whitehall Fund, part of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Real Estate fund are bidding against Brascan, the Canadian property group. Last week canary Wharf received sealed offers for the company. Property analysts are expecting offers of between 260p to 300p a share, putting a value on the company of around £1.5 billion. - (31-08-2003)

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Palestra for summer start

Blackfriars Investments and its joint venture partner Royal London Asset Management has said that it will start work on its 39,018 sq m (420,000 sq ft) Palestra office development in Blackfriars Road, London SE1 by June 2003 and be completed in late 2005. The scheme, designed by Will Alsop, has £79m of funding from Bank of Scotland. The site is ready for development with the previous 1960’s office building having been demolished last year. The letting agents for the scheme are Insignia Richard Ellis and DTZ. - (27-02-2003)

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"Lightbeam" on Mermaid

Blackfriars (PD2) Ltd, now owned by Heatherfield Limited, which is under the management of Blackfriars Investments, has submitted revised details for its scheme to redevelop 2 Puddle Dock and the Mermaid Theatre at Blackfriars Station in London EC4. The new three-four storey structure, designed by Alsop, is to be on stilts and includes a “lightbeam” on the west side of the building adjoining the “solid box” of office accommodation. The “lightbeam” is a four-storey glass box enclosing lobbies and access areas. The scheme has 26,416 sq m (284,341 sq ft) gross external space with 24,000 sq m (258,336 sq ft) gross internal office space, to include a dealing floor of 6,148 sq m (66,177 sq ft). The scheme also includes two retail units of 399 sq m (4,294 sq ft). - (02-12-2002)

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Skanska to build Moor House

Skanska has been appointed as the main contractor for the Moor House scheme, which is being funded as a limited partnership with Henderson Investors and Hammerson. The 44,658 sq m (480,710 sq ft) gross external scheme, is conceived as a curved vertical design of 19-storeys. The building will comprise about 26,400 sq m (284,000 sq ft) net of offices and 1,810 sq m (19,500 sq ft) of retail space. Completion is planned for early 2003. - (03-04-2002)

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Paternoster up for sale

Mitsubishi Estate Company is said to be selling its Paternoster Square office development in London EC4. The 46,451 sq m (500,000 sq ft) scheme is under construction and due for completion in March 2003. Mitsubishi is believed to have invested over £220m in the scheme and borrowed a further £200m to build it. All the buildings at Paternoster are now pre-let and the rent roll is put at abut £35m, with average rent said to be around £592 per sq m (£55 per sq ft). It is thought that Mitsubishi may retain one of the buildings. Healey & Baker has been appointed to sell the completed development. - (10-02-2002)

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Juxon House designs unveiled

Standard Life Investments has unveiled the final designs for the redeveloped Juxon House, part of the Paternoster Square scheme in London EC4. The seven-storey building has been designed by Sidell Gibson Partnership and will provide about 11,891 sq m (128,000 sq ft) of office space with 1,858 sq m (20,000 sq ft) of retail space on the ground floor. The overall masterplan for the Paternoster Square area is by Whitfield Partners. The building, which has a curved classical façade in contrast to the previous 1960's 'box' design, will be completed in summer 2003. - (13-01-2002)

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140 Aldersgate green light

Whitecliff Investments and Scottish Widows have gained planning consent for the speculative redevelopment of the vacant 140 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4JQ with an eight-storey office and retail block. The 12,800 sq m (138,000 sq ft) building will include 11,000 sq m (122,000 sq ft) of offices and 1,500 sq m (16,000 sq ft) of retail space. A construction start has been set for April 2002. BH2 is advising. - (11-12-2001)

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Lord Rogers supports Heron Tower

Lord Rogers, the architectural advisor to the Mayor of London has told the inquiry into the Heron Tower, proposed for 110 Bishopsgate EC2, that a failure to press ahead with the scheme would threaten London's future prosperity by discouraging investors from locating in London. The inquiry is expected to last another four weeks and the outcome is seen as a test case for the future development of tall buildings in London. - (17-11-2001)

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Fidelity on-site at South Quay

Fidelity Investment Management, through its property arm Pembroke Real Estate, has now started site preparation for the redevelopment of the former 'The Guardian' printworks site at South Quay, London E14. The new scheme, known as 'London Millharbour' will provide a total of 71,000 sq m (764,224 sq ft) of office space and 2,787 sq m (30,000 sq ft) of retail and restaurant space, in four linked buildings ranging from of 9 to 19 storeys. Michael Hopkins and Partners is the architect for the scheme, which will be built in two phases. The Eastern Tower will be Phase 1, providing 42,800 sq m (460,699 sq ft) of offices and retail, with the Western Tower providing the remaining space. The main construction is due to start in early 2002 with completion planned for 2004. - (15-10-2001)

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Bidding race at St Katherine's Dock

TrizecHahn, the Toronto-based property investment company, and Rugby Estates, backed by UBS, the Swiss Bank, and Hilstone, the developer, are said to be shortlisted to compete to buy Taylor Woodrow's St Katherine's Dock development in London E1. The bidding for the 1970's development is said to be close to the asking price of £250m. The development comprises mainly residential units but includes a site with planning permission for a 16,722 sq m (180,000 sq ft) office scheme known as K2. Other losing bidders are said to include Marylebone Warwick Balfour, the property company, with JE Robert and Greycoat; Catalyst Capital with Blackstone, and Lehman Brothers, the US funds; and CIT. - (15-10-2001)

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Ericsson to move European HQ

Ericsson is to move its London-based operations from its current regional office at 1 St James's Square, London SW1 to 105 Wigmore Street, London W1. The telecoms company is thought to have taken about 2,601 sq m (28,000 sq ft) in the top four floors. The move is being made as a consequence of the ongoing "Efficiency program" in the company and was taken after Ericsson reduced its London-based workforce from more than 100 to around 70 staff. It is said that the move will "substantially lower costs". The London offices deals with treasury and vendor finance, strategic global HR operations, and communications functions such as investor relations and marketing and sales operations. - (24-08-2001)

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Grosvenor wins planning consent

The Grosvenor Estate has been granted planning permission for its planned refurbishment and extension to provide office space at Belgrave House, 76 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1. Belgrave House is the former headquarters of BP Amoco and the new £60m scheme will provide around 22,296 sq m (240,000 sq ft) of office space. Grosvenor owns the freehold of the building and a private investor has the long leashold. The adjoining Chantry House is planned to be converted to provide 37 residential units and a restaurant on the ground floor and basement. The architect for the project is Michael Squire & Partners. - (18-06-2001)

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2 Millharbour deferred

Fidelity Investments Guardian Printworks scheme at 2 Millharbour in the Millennium Quarter in South Quay, London Docklands E14 was deferred by London Borough of Tower Hamlets for further information to be provided. The developer has agreed to provide Tower Hamlets with £23m in section 106 payments, primarily to be used for transport improvements. - (20-05-2001)

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Resolution funds London offices

UK based Resolution Property has launched three limited partnerships to finance more than £250m of property development in London. The financing will fund three office schemes in London boroughs of Hayes, Hammersmith, and Camden. The deal is backed by JER Partners and the Blackstone Group, US real estate investors. Deutsche Bank, and its property financing subsidiary Eurohypo, will provide debt of up to £165m to complete the deal. UK institutions invested a record £5.6bn in property in the first nine months of last year, and saw yields of around 7% achieved. - (18-05-2001)

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Skanska sells to Axa Sun Life

Skanska, the Anglo-Swedish construction group, has sold its last two investment properties in London to AXA Sun Life for just under £91m. The two developments are at Thomas More Square, E1 and 55 King William Street, EC4. The 22,000 sq m (236,840 sq ft) Trinity Tower at Thomas More Square, overlooking St. Katharine Docks, completes the bulk of Skanska's sale of the development, which began last year. The King William Street property comprises 5,839 sq m (62,859 sq ft) of offices with some retail and leisure uses. Frederick Wirdenius, President of Skanska's Project Development Europe said: ‘These two sales, which made a profit for Skanska of £34 million, represent the completion of Skanska's divesting of its real estate portfolio in London. It also creates possibilities for continued investments in other attractive growth areas in Europe.’ - (11-05-2001)

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Revelopment approved at Canary Wharf

Grenadier Investments has been granted planning permission for a new 27,870 sq m (300,000 sq ft) office building at 1 Park Place, close to Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London E14. The new development, on the site of the Littlejohn Frazer building, has been designed by Michael Squire & Partners and the developer is being advised by Delta Land. - (08-05-2001)

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British Land may be in lead for Mayfair estate

British Land is now said to be the front runner to buy the 10-acre Berkeley Square estate in Mayfair W1 from the BP Pension fund. It is thought that an offer of around £300m has been made by the company that is on a shortlist of bidders that may also include the Barclay twins and Moorfield, the property group, Simon Hallabi, a Syrian-born investor, Grosvenor Estates, and the Saudi Arabian Royal family. The BP Pension fund acquired the portfolio in 1967 for around £12m. The sale is being dealt with by Richard Womack at CB Hillier Parker. It is said that unsuccessful bids have been made by Minerva, Benchmark, and Green Properties and an unnamed US investment bank. - (09-04-2001)

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Canary Wharf goes to £41 per sq ft

Canary Wharf has agreed the biggest single lease transaction in central London in its 93,000 sq m (1,001,052 sq ft) deal with Lehman Brothers, the US investment bank. Lehman Brothers will take the Cesar Pelli designed 30-storey HQ2 building, now under construction at Heron Quays, London E14, at a rack rent of £441.32 sq m (£41 per sq ft). Lehman Brothers will occupy the building in late 2003 and vacate about 40,000 sq m (430,560 sq ft) at Broadgate in London EC2. Insignia Richard Ellis advised Lehman Brothers on the transaction. - (06-04-2001)

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Victoria plans revived

Plans by Railtrack to redevelop the major rail interchanges in central London continues apace. A £250m mixed-use redevelopment scheme for Victoria Station, London SW1, first mooted in the mid-1990's, is being revived. Railtrack is said to be working on a revised masterplan for the Victoria site, which could see an office and retail development of about 46,451 sq m (500,000 sq ft) built at the station. The latest scheme seems likely to integrate a new bus terminal within the scheme with offices above. In addition to the Victoria proposals Railtrack is currently working on plans for 'office-led' mixed-use schemes at Paddington, London Bridge, Kings Cross and with Pillar at Cricklewood, north London. There have also been rumours of investigations by Railtrack on the potential of redeveloping at Waterloo. At Victoria, Railtrack is said to be about to undertake a study, along with other developers with schemes in the area, to assess the level of demand. The developers could include Land Securities, Grosvenor Estate, and Howard Ronson International. The total future potential of developments in the Victoria area amount to over 1.5m sq ft of office space. An end-user 'demand' survey would be no doubt be helpful as at present everyone seems to be chasing Enron, the US energy company, which has the largest known West End requirement. - (26-03-2001)

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Shell-Mex House for sale

Shell-Mex House in the Strand, London WC2 is rumoured to be on the market at around £300m. The landmark office building was built by Royal Dutch Shell as its head office in 1931 and was acquired by Witkoff, the US property company, for about £180m in 1999. The 53,400 sq m (575,000 sq ft) building completed a major refurbishment last year and is now occupied by Omnicom, the advertising group, Pearson, the media company, and Vizzavi, the internet joint venture between Vodafone and Vivendi. It is said that Insignia Richard Ellis is to market the investment opportunity. - (11-03-2001)

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Lehamn Brothers take HQ2

Lehman Brothers, the US investment bank, has confirmed that it is to move its European headquarters to the HQ2 building at Heron Quays, Canary Wharf, London E14. The building, designed by Cesar Pelli, is due for completion in August 2003. HQ2 is planned as a 30-storey 95,081 sq m (1,023,444) sq ft tower and Lehman Brothers is said to have an option to extend the building by linking with HQ1 of 26,955 sq m (290,141 sq ft). Lehman Brothers is advised by Insignia Richard Ellis. - (19-02-2001)

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Topland could invest £600m in City

Topland, the privately owned property company, is said to be looking to acquire up to £600m of property in the City of London, and has just acquired 33 King William Street, London EC4 for £85m from Land Securities. 33 King William Street was built in 1983 and provides around 13,000 sq m (140,000 sq ft) of office space, it is the home of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. Last year Topland acquired 51-55 Gresham Street EC2 from Land Securities for £46m and recently bought 150 Aldersgate Street EC1 from Slough Estates for £33m. - (02-02-2001)

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Prince sells Canary Wharf shares

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has sold most of his stake in Canary Wharf, London E14 to make a profit of about 500%. The Prince invested £43.5m for 39.9m shares, about 6% of the group, in 1995 and is said to have sold about two-thirds of his stake for £122m. - (18-01-2001)

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London & Regional buys EC4 site

London & Regional Properties has taken a controlling stake in a 0.9ha (2.2 acre) site on Victoria Embankment, London EC4, which includes the 37,160 sq m (400,000 sq ft) Morgan Place, 60 on Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y OJP, occupied by JP Morgan, the US investment bank, on a lease expiring in 2016, and the former City of London School for Boys. The site was sold by Sumitomo Life for about £135m. The deal has led to speculation that JP Morgan, which is about to merge with Chase Bank, will now seek to combine operations in one site in London. Chase, formerly Chase Manhattan, also recently acquired Flemings the UK investment bank, based at London Wall EC2, where leases expire in 2004 and 2006. The merger between Chase and JP Morgan will see around 2,000 staff laid off by the end of the year in London and New York and more in 2001. - (01-12-2000)

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Greycoat to raise funds for offices

Greycoat Estates is said to be about to sell its stake in Tower 42, the former NatWest Tower, in order to invest in central London office schemes. Greycoat's 32 per cent holding in Tower 42 could raise around £36m. Greycoat is expected to shortly start on the demolition of Moor House, 119 London Wall, London EC2, which is to be redeveloped as a 19-storey speculative schme of 44,658 sq m (480,710 sq ft). The construction contracts for Moor House are currently out to tender. - (05-11-2000)

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Eurohypo funding for Tower Place EC3

A seven year development/investment facility of £135m has been announced for the Marsh & McLennan development at Tower Place EC3, being carried out by Tishman Speyer Properties. The funding is to be provided by Eurohypo (Europaische Hypothekenbank der Deutschen Bank), a member of the Deutsche Bank Group. - (01-10-2000)

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Morgan Stanley Dean Witter take HQ1 at Canary

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the US investment bank, has taken the HQ1 building at Heron Quays, Canary Wharf London E14. The building, which is adjacent to the Heron Quays DLR station, will provide 47,565 sq m (512,000 sq ft) in a 13-storey development. The ground works and infrastructure for HQ1 is underway and the building is due for completion in 2003. The building will be linked directly the new 85,000 sq ft Jubilee Park retail scheme and the the Jubilee Line Station. - (27-09-2000)

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Land Securities may bid for One New Change

Land Securities is reported to have launched a £175m bid for the One New Change building in London EC4, occupied by the Bank of England on a long leasehold. The 1.4ha (3.5 acre) site currently provides about 37,160 sq m (400,000 sq ft) of office space and could be redeveloped to provide a much larger scheme. Other bidders for the building are said to include Gerald Hines, the US investor, Blackstone Real Estate, Tishman Speyer, City & West and a limited partnership led by Wates City of London Properties. Development Securities is also said to be a possible bidder along with several European institutions. - (25-09-2000)

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