Lothian Pension Fund has acquired Corstorphine Retail Park from Hunter Real Estate Investment Management for £16.265 million. The park has recently undergone extensive redevelopment with new lettings secured to Lidl and The Gym Group, with further lease re-gears to McDonalds, Pets at Home and Cancer Research giving an average lease
Stuart Heslop, formerly Managing Director of Real Estate Finance at Royal Bank of Scotland, is to be honoured at the 2023 Scottish Property Awards next week. He will receive the Business Leadership Award at Scotland’s national competition which recognises and celebrates excellence in the Scottish commercial and public property sector.
Acting for Wates Developments in probably the biggest land deal to take place within the region since September’s mini budget, Leaders Romans Group (LRG), has sold a residential development site in Windsor from Wates Developments to Crest Nicholson. As a leading residential housebuilder with a track record in creating well
2022 has been a year of major achievements for Deepki, the market-leading ESG data intelligence firm, in terms of commercial success, new hires and significant corporate announcements, beginning with its €150 million Series C round of funding in March. Deepki is the only company in the world offering a fully
Doka, one of the world’s leading suppliers of formwork with headquarters in Amstetten, Austria, completed the 100% acquisition of scaffolding manufacturer AT-PAC. Both companies initially partnered in 2020 to provide comprehensive global site solutions. The acquisition positions Doka as a single source for formwork and scaffolding for the global construction
The John F Hunt Group is pleased to confirm that it has secured a majority shareholding in RKD Consultant Ltd. Specialists in geotechnical and structural engineering design, RKD has a reputation for being one of London’s leading designers of Temporary Works schemes. The award-winning company has worked on some of
Research by debt advisory specialists Sirius Property Finance has shown that it’s not just the housing market that has benefited from the pandemic property market boom, with the estimated total value of the private rental sector (PRS) climbing by 30% since 2019. Sirius Property Finance analysed the current state of
Puma Property Finance (Puma) today announces it has provided a facility of approximately £50m for a transformational co-living, commercial and events development in Walthamstow, East London. The development, directly opposite Blackhorse Lane station, will see the creation of 273 residential living units as well as new commercial co-working areas and
Addington Capital Sells 1-27 Station Parade, Elm Park, Hornchurch East London to Property Development Solutions Europe Addington Capital, the property investment and asset management specialist and its joint venture partners have sold 1-27 Station Parade Elm Park, Hornchurch, East London to Property Development Solutions Europe for £12 million. Elm Park
High inflation, recession and supply chain uncertainty are jeopardising key infrastructure projects that are crucial to Britain’s chance at economic recovery, according to a new report published today by leading construction consultant, Currie & Brown. The 2023 Infrastructure Cost Predictions Report finds that the total cost of Britain’s National Infrastructure Pipeline
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Lothian Pension Fund has acquired Corstorphine Retail Park from Hunter Real Estate Investment Management for £16.265 million. The park has recently undergone extensive redevelopment with new lettings secured to Lidl and The Gym Group, with further lease re-gears to McDonalds, Pets at Home and Cancer Research giving an average lease length in excess of 18 years. Lothian Pension Fund was advised by Lismore Real Estate Advisors, Hunter was advised by Sheridan Keane. Commenting on the retail warehousing sector, Chris Macfarlane, director of Lismore said: “Towards the end of 2022 and into this year we have seen retail warehousing yields soften, but those parks anchored by food stores and also with an element of drive-thru, located in strong urban catchments, remain robust and still offer good value.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Stuart Heslop, formerly Managing Director of Real Estate Finance at Royal Bank of Scotland, is to be honoured at the 2023 Scottish Property Awards next week. He will receive the Business Leadership Award at Scotland’s national competition which recognises and celebrates excellence in the Scottish commercial and public property sector. His recommendation to receive the award came from individuals across the real estate sector who praised his commercial acumen, sharp mind and integrity across all aspects of the sector including development, advisory and internally. Stuart (52) retired from the bank last year, after 35 years of service and remains active in the property sector as a non-executive director with Knight Property Group and a number of other organisations, where he advises on strategic and funding matters. Over his career, he has earned the respect of industry colleagues for his considered and calm approach to complex transactions, bringing leadership to his team during a number of unsettling periods, including the banking crash of 2008. Alan Robertson, Chair of The Scottish Property Awards judging panel, commented: “It is clear from the recommendations of many individuals from across the Scottish property industry that Stuart Heslop is a highly regarded and respected individual, who has advised countless businesses and individuals across his long career in real estate finance. We are delighted to present the award to him at this year’s event and look forward to acknowledging his contribution.” Stuart Heslop added: “I am hugely honoured to receive this award, voted for by my industry peers. I am delighted to be able to continue my work in the sector with many of the people I have worked closely with over the years. The property market continues to thrive despite some of the economic headwinds we are facing and I look forward to contributing to the future success of the many great property companies in Scotland.” The award will be presented in front of over 600 guests expected to attend the Scottish Property Awards dinner on Thursday 23 February 2023 at the EICC in Edinburgh. For a full list of award finalists, please visit: AWARD FINALISTS 2023 and to book tickets, go to BOOK TICKETS Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Acting for Wates Developments in probably the biggest land deal to take place within the region since September’s mini budget, Leaders Romans Group (LRG), has sold a residential development site in Windsor from Wates Developments to Crest Nicholson. As a leading residential housebuilder with a track record in creating well designed, high quality homes in sustainable communities, Crest Nicholson is ideally placed to deliver much needed homes in this popular location. Wates Developments secured release of the site from the Green Belt through an allocation in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Local Plan. They worked closely with the community, key stakeholders and Local Authority to develop plans for the residential development and subsequently obtained outline planning consent on part of the site. The scheme includes 135 much-needed homes, (40% of which will be affordable housing), for the 5.4ha site. Plans also include landscaped open spaces, (including recreational space), blue-green infrastructure and sustainable technologies, with a 30.69% net gain in biodiversity that will far exceed local and national planning policy. The site will also deliver improvements to walking and cycling routes into Windsor and other local destinations, as well as improvements to the A308 network to increase capacity. David Brocklebank, Executive Managing Director at Wates Developments Group commented: “We are delighted to have completed this sale of a portion of our land interest in Windsor to Crest and with great support from LRG. This is a truly exceptional new homes site and a fantastic location for a new community in Windsor. We expect to secure planning for the remainder of the wider site early in 2023 to allow the whole scheme to come forward quickly. A great performance by Crest”. Nicholas Daruwalla, Land Director at Crest Nicholson South, commented: “The acquisition of this site in Windsor plays a key role in the expansion of Crest Nicholson’s footprint in the region and allows us to respond to local demand for high-quality homes in the area. We look forward to offering a variety of homes for a range of buyers within the local community, helping to support the Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Local Plan.” Ian Barnett, National Land Director for Leaders Romans Group, who is based in the Group’s Wokingham head office, commented: “This is a significant land deal which will help deliver much-needed homes, including affordable housing. It is one of two substantial land deals that Leaders Romans Group has facilitated in this region in the last month and as such, demonstrates considerable strength in the local market in spite of the wider economic conditions.” Boyer (part of Leaders Romans Group) managed the planning process on behalf of Wates and is now instructed by Crest Nicholson to prepare and submit a reserved matters planning application in the first half of 2023. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
2022 has been a year of major achievements for Deepki, the market-leading ESG data intelligence firm, in terms of commercial success, new hires and significant corporate announcements, beginning with its €150 million Series C round of funding in March. Deepki is the only company in the world offering a fully populated ESG data intelligence platform to help commercial real estate investors, owners and managers improve the ESG performance of their real estate assets. Over the past 12 months, Deepki has seen revenues grow by over 90% and has won a succession of high-profile clients, including Stellantis, Real I.S., Merlin Properties Sagitta SGR, Fidal and Maisons de Famille. “Our collaboration with Deepki enables us to improve and automate data collection for a fast-growing number of assets in Europe, allowing us to measure energy consumption and environmental impact, and to take action based on robust data analytics. Access to an extensive, reliable and comparable data set proved key in defining our sustainability strategy”, says Olivier Terrenoire, Head of Asset & Property Management and Sustainable Investing at Generali Real Estate. “Deepki Ready represents an essential building block in Real I.S.’s digitization strategy. It provides a transparent overview of portfolio consumption, thereby enabling the comparison of consumption data from individual tenants.” says Stephan Mühlbauer, Managing Director at Real I.S. “Thanks to the Deepki Ready platform, we are able to understand our portfolio’s environmental performance, compare it with the market average and identify areas for improvement, as well as exposure to physical climate risk. Deepki’s team supports us in monitoring our assets on an ongoing basis, and taking measures to improve our ESG performance.” says Claudio Nardone, CEO at Sagitta SGR. With offices in key markets such as France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, Deepki continues to strengthen its leadership position in Europe. Its €150 million round of funding, announced in March, represented the largest of its kind in ClimaTech SaaS for the real estate sector, with the objective of accelerating internal and external growth, international expansion and innovation. In June, Deepki acquired its main UK-based competitor, Fabriq, adding more customers to its rapidly growing customer base, as well as a platform with complementary features to Deepki’s “Deepki Ready”. The business has also been on a major recruitment drive at all levels to support its growing client base in all regions. Since January 2022, it has made 250 hires, including strategic appointments to its Executive Committee, with the appointment of Fréderic Chabrol (CFO) and Phill Oliver (Chief Commercial Officer), as well as its Leadership Committee, with Elise Jacques joining as VP Transformation and M&A, Anastasia Petrova as Global Head of Partnerships and Christophe Temple taking on the role of VP Experience & Design. A further 300 hires are planned for 2023. The company adheres to a strict policy of equality and diversity, with 51% of senior positions being held by women, a score of 99/100 in the Professional Equality Index and the recent implementation of a diversity charter. Deepki also renewed its EcoVadis assessment, increasing its previous score from 56 to 63. Innovation and product development In November, Deepki launched its “ESG Index” in partnership with the IEIF, in an effort to help real estate players understand the performance of their assets in relation to that of the market and meet the challenges of the EU Taxonomy. This represents the first European benchmark measuring real estate’s ESG performance. Freely accessible online, it provides values for the average, top 15% and top 30% of building stock in terms of performance in primary energy consumption for each asset class, by country. Deepki continues to innovate, develop and enhance its scalable SaaS platform with the addition of new capabilities such as heatmaps assessing individual assets’ resilience in the face of physical climate risk, advanced scenarios within its Carbon Pathways feature, and new benchmarks for measuring and comparing CO₂ emissions and energy consumption. The platform is supported by a growing team of carbon and ESG experts who partner with clients across data collection and analysis, through to ESG strategy definition and implementation. Outlook for 2023 Looking ahead to 2023, Deepki is predicting revenues to continue doubling as commercial real estate owners invest in improving ESG performance and energy efficiency, to ensure their assets meet their net zero targets by 2030 through the implementation of carbon pathways, while tackling soaring costs as a result of the energy crisis. It has also begun entering new markets such as North America, where it sees a huge opportunity for its capabilities, with US commercial real estate lagging behind Europe when it comes to ESG performance. Deepki will also continue to expand its footprint in Europe, setting its sights on the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as pursuing its M&A strategy with further acquisitions to be announced over the course of 2023. Commenting on Deepki’s 2022 achievements, Vincent Bryant, CEO and co-founder of Deepki, said “Last year saw a number of exciting developments for Deepki, including securing significant new investment and the launch of our ESG Index. In 2023, we will continue to focus on growing our client base, which now includes market-leading financial institutions and expanding our global footprint, as we help businesses around the world tackle the climate change challenge.” Deepki is the only company in the world offering a fully populated ESG data intelligence platform to help commercial real estate investors, owners and managers to get a comprehensive overview of their portfolio’s ESG performance, while maximizing the value of their assets. Users can establish investment plans to reach net zero, assess results and report to key stakeholders. The platform is supported by carbon and ESG experts who partner with clients across data collection and analysis, through to ESG strategy definition and implementation. Now with over 350 employees, five offices across Europe and operating in over 41 countries, Deepki has become the global leader in ESG and data intelligence solutions for environmental transition in the commercial real estate sector. For further information about Deepki’s end-to-end ESG solutions, visit: www.deepki.com Building,
Doka, one of the world’s leading suppliers of formwork with headquarters in Amstetten, Austria, completed the 100% acquisition of scaffolding manufacturer AT-PAC. Both companies initially partnered in 2020 to provide comprehensive global site solutions. The acquisition positions Doka as a single source for formwork and scaffolding for the global construction industry and strengthens the company’s new global business segment, “Industrial Scaffolding”. For AT-PAC this means full access to a global market. The potential for cooperation between the formwork expert and the US headquartered scaffolding specialist was already impressively demonstrated at bauma 2022 in Munich and generated significant interest from customers worldwide. Doka and AT-PAC highlighted their strong partnership and successful collaboration with a dual-branded stand that was visited by over 100,000 visitors. The impressive 30m-high Ringlock scaffolding landmark tower was climbed by 7,000 selfie-takers to enjoy the spectacular views of the show grounds from the 20m viewing platform. The opportunities presented by combining the world’s leading formwork company with the global scaffolding specialist are enormous. Opportunities for customers & employees Robert Hauser, CEO of Doka, says: “I am very enthusiastic about the opportunities that will be offered to existing and future customers, providing them with a wealth of knowledge, integrated products and turnkey solutions for formwork, shoring and scaffolding from a single source. This will allow us to continue to expand together and further strengthen our market position”. Josh Dundon, previously COO, has been announced as the new CEO of AT-PAC. Commenting on the acquisition, Dundon said: “It is an exciting milestone for AT-PAC to become 100% part of the Doka and thus the Umdasch Group family. It further strengthens and demonstrates the success of our partnership since its inception 3 years ago. The combination of Doka’s industry-leading formwork solutions and extensive global sales network with AT-PAC’s high quality products, services and talent will create incredible value for our customers and opportunities for our employees worldwide.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
The John F Hunt Group is pleased to confirm that it has secured a majority shareholding in RKD Consultant Ltd. Specialists in geotechnical and structural engineering design, RKD has a reputation for being one of London’s leading designers of Temporary Works schemes. The award-winning company has worked on some of the most iconic and complex projects in the capital, including Battersea Power Station, Chelsea Barracks, Kensington Odeon, and recently but very topically, the basement extension of Claridge’s. Mark Blackmore and Dr Adam Pellew’s management remains unchanged, together with their engineering team, who will continue to operate out of their existing offices in East London. John F Hunt Directors, Davinder Rehal CEng, and Dr Adam Fisher, who have over 25 years’ experience in the rail sector and ground engineering respectively, will ensure the adoption of a collaborative approach between the two Engineering Design disciplines and that RKD’s client interests are not conflicted. Mark Blackmore, RKD’s Managing Director, commented, “It will be ‘business as usual’ for us, as we will still work independently with our existing clients. We have combined forces and delivered many projects with John F Hunt in the past, and we appreciate their excellent reputation within the construction industry. The amalgamation of technical engineering minds and the support the Group can offer is an exciting prospect for all of us.” John Hall, John F Hunt Group Chairman, said, “The incorporation of the highly regarded RKD business within the Group will greatly strengthen John F Hunt’s geotechnical and structural capabilities. However, we recognise the importance of RKD retaining their autonomy and existing client base; this, I am sure they will achieve whilst being able to expand the business through our network of regional offices.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Research by debt advisory specialists Sirius Property Finance has shown that it’s not just the housing market that has benefited from the pandemic property market boom, with the estimated total value of the private rental sector (PRS) climbing by 30% since 2019. Sirius Property Finance analysed the current state of the PRS, looking at the level of stock, the current market value of this stock, the average yield available and how this has changed since 2019. The latest figures show that, despite the government’s best efforts, the overall size of the PRS has grown by 2.4% across England since 2019, with 4.876m properties helping to house the nation’s tenants. The South East has driven this growth with a 9.1% increase, along with the South West (+7.4%) and the North West (+3.8%). However, the East Midlands (-9.9%), Yorkshire and the Humber (-0.4%) and East of England (-0.3%) have all seen a decline in PRS stock when compared to the pre-pandemic market. What’s more, the analysis by Sirius Property Finance shows that the current total value of PRS stock is estimated to sit at a staggering £1.536 trillion across England, having seen a 30% increase since 2019 alone. At an estimated £575.7bn, London remains home to by far the most valuable PRS where total stock value is concerned. However, when compared to the pre-pandemic market, the capital has seen the smallest increase in this total value at 16%. The South West has driven PRS market performance in terms of the increase in total value, up 41% when compared to 2019. The total value of PRS stock has also increased by more than 30% across the North West (+39%), South East (+37%) and West Midlands (+31%). Finally, the analysis by Sirius Property Finance shows that of the 4.876m rental homes across England, just 130,272 are currently listed online as available to rent, equating to just 2.7% of all PRS stock, highlighting the pivotal role the sector plays in today’s society. Managing Director of Sirius Property Finance, Nicholas Christofi, commented: “Despite the government’s sustained attempts to dampen the enthusiasm of buy-to-let investors, the private rental sector has continued to grow in size over the last few years. This growth, combined with the high rates of house price appreciation seen throughout the pandemic, have pushed the total value of the sector to a quite remarkable level. However, previous whisperings of a hike in capital gains tax will remain a worry for those who have benefited from an increase in the value of their buy-to-let portfolio. Should these changes come to fruition in the future, we may well see many landlords scramble for the exit to avoid the government’s latest cash grab.”View full data tables online here.
Puma Property Finance (Puma) today announces it has provided a facility of approximately £50m for a transformational co-living, commercial and events development in Walthamstow, East London. The development, directly opposite Blackhorse Lane station, will see the creation of 273 residential living units as well as new commercial co-working areas and a flexible performing arts events space. The scheme is being developed by a joint venture between Scape Living, one of the UK’s largest providers of ‘Living’ units, and Dutch pension giant APG. As of December 2022, Scape Living received consent for the enhanced scheme and construction is expected to commence no later than Q2 2023. Once built, the project will complete the latest phase of a £3bn+ regeneration of the local area, which will have provided more than 2,500 new residential living units (across BTR, Co-Living, PBSA and build-to-sell) to address the ongoing housing shortage in the capital, as well as delivering substantial new community provision including a flexible performing arts events space and extensive amenities for tenants. The facility represents Puma’s third substantial loan into the London market in the last 9 months, following the funding of a £65m residential scheme in Stonebridge Park and a £52m new sustainable office development in Parsons Green. Scape and APG have also made substantial investments in the London residential and commercial markets in recent months, in what should be seen as a clear vote of confidence for the ongoing appeal of the capital. Shane Ryan, Director, who led the deal for Puma Property Finance, comments: “We are delighted to be partnering with Scape Living and APG to turn this exciting development into a reality. The transformation of the Blackhorse Lane area is not only helping to address the acute housing shortage in London but is creating a diverse and sustainable community. This is the largest loan that Puma Property Finance has provided to date, and it is telling that the funding will be used for a substantial co-living development, a sector in which we believe strongly and that looks set for significant growth in the coming years as it attracts further institutional capital support. More and more people are discovering the benefits of the co-living model, which provides increased certainty of costs as well as providing a sense of community alongside state-of-the-art accommodation and amenities. We are excited by the vision of the Scape Living team and we look forward to partnering on other similar Living schemes across the UK in the near-future. Puma Property Finance remains excited for the prospects of further lending going forward despite recent challenging market conditions.” Adam Brockley, Founder & Global CDO of Scape Living, added: “We are delighted to partner with Puma Property Finance for the first time. The Puma team have been a pleasure to work with throughout the process and have demonstrated a commercial approach, great flexibility in a tight timeline, and a deep knowledge of the co-living sector. We very much look forward to working with them again in the fast-growing Living space.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Addington Capital Sells 1-27 Station Parade, Elm Park, Hornchurch East London to Property Development Solutions Europe Addington Capital, the property investment and asset management specialist and its joint venture partners have sold 1-27 Station Parade Elm Park, Hornchurch, East London to Property Development Solutions Europe for £12 million. Elm Park is a mixed-use scheme comprising 20 retail units, anchored by a 7,000 sq ft Co-op store, and 31 residential units. The property has been actively asset managed by Addington Capital since the property was purchased in 2014*. Through a reconfiguration of the site and rolling refurbishments on the residential units, the rents have increased 73.5% between purchase and disposal. David Dalrymple, Partner at Addington Capital said, “Our business plan for Elm Park has been successful. The scheme is fully let, and we reached the right stage in our cycle to sell. We believe there is good future redevelopment potential for the scheme to the rear and the potential to add an additional storey of residential to the existing structure.” Agents for the vendors were Allsop LLP. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
High inflation, recession and supply chain uncertainty are jeopardising key infrastructure projects that are crucial to Britain’s chance at economic recovery, according to a new report published today by leading construction consultant, Currie & Brown. The 2023 Infrastructure Cost Predictions Report finds that the total cost of Britain’s National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is set to reach £483 billion by 2026, of which £84 billion is the direct result of inflation. Inflation-driven cost increases could amount to the equivalent of an additional £32,000 per minute, or more than £1,250 per person over five years. A drastic new approach to infrastructure projects is crucial The report highlights that if measures are not taken, cost increases, inefficiencies and wastage – all compounded by inflation – will slow down, limit, or cancel infrastructure projects that are essential for Britain’s economic recovery. It finds that, within the current recessionary climate, there is no room for cost increases of any kind, and that ‘business as usual’ project and cost management, could put planned infrastructure projects at risk. Indeed, for every 1% increase in required expenditure resulting from inefficient project and cost management, the cost of delivering the infrastructure pipeline could rise by an additional £1,500 per minute. Therefore, clear and early planning and effective cost management will be essential to ensure projects are not dramatically descoped or scrapped altogether – in turn wasting precious time, resources and taxpayers’ money. Risk to economic recovery and the levelling up agenda The threat to the infrastructure pipeline has the potential to undermine Britain’s domestic growth ambitions and prospects for foreign trade, as well as putting the Government’s levelling up agenda at risk. Northern and Central England have promised infrastructure investment of at least £72 billion by 2026, but with spiralling costs and inflation potentially adding £13.4 billion to this figure, the viability of projects going ahead with their original scope is at great risk. This could impact many high-profile planned projects including Northern Powerhouse Rail, Midlands Rail Hub and HS2 Phase 2b. Nick Gray, Currie & Brown COO UK & Europe, said: “Britain has entered recession and inflation remains a significant threat to the financial health of the country. The Chancellor has prioritised infrastructure as a key lever for driving labour market participation, growth and productivity, and for accelerating the levelling up agenda. “However, with budgets so tight and such pressure in the wider economic landscape, we must urgently change the way we approach infrastructure investment if projects are to be successfully delivered. A business as usual approach is simply not feasible. We are calling on the government, local authorities and stakeholders to take immediate action. Early and informed decision making will be critical to safeguarding the infrastructure pipeline, and Britain’s economic recovery.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
