Network Space has let a further 21,375 sq ft at its Mere Grange development in St Helens to an online retailer leaving only one unit available at the 30-acre development. The international retailer is taking space within the £7million first phase speculative development of four industrial units, which was delivered
Referencing a recent CBRE report, CEO Paul Oberschneider discusses how the already rising participation of non-bank lenders will be even more instrumental in the months ahead. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the housing market hard but this does not mean that developers looking for financing are out of options, says
The HALO Urban Regeneration Company today (14th May 2020) announces the joint appointment of two Marketing Agents for its Enterprise & Innovation Hub in Kilmarnock as the HALO enters its next phase. A £63m urban regeneration project on a 23-acre site, the HALO Kilmarnock, formerly the home of Johnnie Walker,
More than 10 million sq ft of warehouse space was under offer at the beginning of 2020 – a 233% increase since end of 2018, according to CBRE. In its latest trading update investor developer Tritax Symmetry chief executive, fund management, Colin Godfrey, said such figures looked promising for developers
JLL and CBRE have been appointed to lease Budapest ONE Business Park, which is an iconic office development project developed by Futureal Group in Hungary. Both advisors will be cooperating on a co-exclusive basis on the office complex. Budapest ONE Business Park will be located next to Etele square, an
Evans Property Group and Harworth Estates, the regeneration company wholly owned by Harworth Group plc, has strengthened the agency team at Leeds’ largest commercial development site, Temple Green, with the appointment of CBRE and Gent Visick. The instructions come just ahead of completion of a £7m initial phase of infrastructure
It has been highlighted by CBRE that the demand for London-based office space has continued strongly throughout the first quarter of 2016, despite both fears that organisations may err on side of caution from the possibility of Brexit, as well as the traditionally quiet nature of the start of the
Network Space has let a further 21,375 sq ft at its Mere Grange development in St Helens to an online retailer leaving only one unit available at the 30-acre development. The international retailer is taking space within the £7million first phase speculative development of four industrial units, which was delivered by Network Space in 2018. This latest deal follows 122,000 sq ft of lettings to Kilwaughter, Dresser Natural Gas Solutions (NGS), Synergy LMS and Ormazabal. Together these new occupiers have created around 300 job opportunities at the popular St Helen’s site. Joe Burnett, Development Director of Network Space, said: “Mere Grange has proved a huge success, attracting strong covenants, which is testament to the quality of the scheme’s design, specification and great location. “We only have one 18,500 sq ft unit available on the site, and with the increasing demand for online retail and the shortage of suitable warehouse and distribution space, we are seeing a very high level of interest and expect to be fully let before the year is out.” Network Space developed the Mere Grange mixed-use site in partnership with Homes England, St Helens Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Anwyl Homes is currently on site delivering 82 homes on the residential portion of the site having acquired it from Network Space in 2019. Mere Grange offers a total of 162,000 sq ft of high-quality industrial space, the one remaining unit provides 18,595 sq ft of warehousing, including first floor offices and amenity space. With secure, gated service yard and direct access onto the St Helens Linkway (A570), it is just minutes from the M62 offering excellent access to Liverpool, Warrington and Greater Manchester. B8 Real Estate and CBRE are joint agents on the scheme. About Network Space Operating across the Northern Powerhouse region, Network Space is a commercial property developer, investor and manager specialising in the industrial warehouse sector. Founded in 1982, Network Space has created and modernised over 10 million sq ft of industrial warehouse property in over 150 locations. The company’s vision is to provide the best and most complete industrial workspace solution for all of its stakeholder partners, whether they are a tenant, investor or government body. Their secured land bank could deliver 2.5 million sq ft of new industrial property with a value of over £200m over the next five years.
Referencing a recent CBRE report, CEO Paul Oberschneider discusses how the already rising participation of non-bank lenders will be even more instrumental in the months ahead. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the housing market hard but this does not mean that developers looking for financing are out of options, says Hilltop Credit Partners, adding how a combination of factors will translate into specialist finance providers coming to the forefront for filling in the funding gap. The West-End fund is a specialist funding partner for small and mid-sized residential property developers and house builders in the UK. A recent CBRE report which references a Cass Business School report heavily, clearly states that the development finance availability in the UK has contracted since the COVID-19 outbreak with fewer lenders considering new opportunities and most focusing on their existing loan books. The determining factors involved are the natural risk associated with development finance where the exit dates and values are uncertain, valuations becoming more ambiguous with materiality clauses being included, banks being scrutinised for tighter capital adequacy norms and other issues with the development like delays or contractor insolvencies. But in a vote of confidence for ‘other lenders’, the reports show that these lenders, primarily the debt funds, have provided significant capital last year and recorded a 4 percent increase in loan origination to £7.9 billion. Talking about the report and the changing face of development finance in 2020, Paul Oberschneider, Founder and CEO of Hilltop Credit Partners, said: “The UK housing market is riddled with a supply-demand mismatch. As highlighted in the CBRE report, importance of non-bank lenders will continue to rise in the post Covid-19 world as high street banks with legacy portfolios will become more risk averse and recede from the market to better manage their balance sheets. Banks will also expect developers to provide more equity upfront as leverage will be curtailed to more conservative levels.” “Securing funding has been needlessly time-consuming and expensive for the SME housing developers. Even in a pre Covid-19 world, developers were required to navigate complex arrangements in the borrowing stack and raise funds from different lenders because banks were not ready to stretch enough. These challenge are set to become more prominent in the post Covid-19 world due to the factors listed above. For the standpoint of a developer, this means reduced access to capital, increased costs due to various professional advisors being involved and delays which will be inevitable if you have to deal with multiple parties.” “At Hilltop, we are determined to support UK’s housing developers in what is one of the most turbulent economic climates we have seen in our lifetime. We were established with a mission to ease access to funding for SME developers and our products reflect that. We go that extra mile compared to the market at large, let alone high-street banks, and we also assist developers on the equity side providing a comprehensive one-stop solution. This is because we understand the uncertainty facing the housing market at present and are cautiously committed to funding high-quality assets and developers. Our recent £8.6m funding for residential development in Brondesbury, London and plans of disbursing £75m in the coming months is a testament of our commitment to the UK housing market, and especially the SME housing developers.” Tiger Craft, Partner and CFO, adds: “There will always be a demand for homes and no lockdown or financial challenge is going to change this reality. To achieve this, we work closely with the developers and help them move quickly so they can secure sites, build homes, and sell them in a fast, cost-efficient manner. As stated in the CBRE report, the best sponsors with the strongest schemes will find finance regardless and unlike traditional lenders, we operate like a private equity house. We effectively back the management team therefore our credit underwriting is more robust and our interests are always aligned with the development team as the focus is on a successful exit.”
The HALO Urban Regeneration Company today (14th May 2020) announces the joint appointment of two Marketing Agents for its Enterprise & Innovation Hub in Kilmarnock as the HALO enters its next phase. A £63m urban regeneration project on a 23-acre site, the HALO Kilmarnock, formerly the home of Johnnie Walker, will be the first town centre net zero carbon energy project in Scotland, setting the standard for low carbon energy sites across the UK. The ultimate vision is for a net zero dynamic commercial, educational, cultural, leisure and lifestyle quarter where people can ‘Live, Work, Learn and Play’. Leading agents Graham + Sibbald and CBRE have been appointed to lease out the 48,000 ft2 Grade A building set to open in Spring 2021. Upon completion, the HALO Kilmarnock will feature Gold score comms connectivity accreditation, a Breeam excellent rating alongside other state of the art technology and a diverse resilient comms detection system. Through a platinum partnership with Scottish Power the site will be fully powered by energy from the nearby Scottish Power Whitelee Wind farm. The HALO Enterprise and Innovation Hub will also feature an industry-leading digital, data and cyber training and learning facility within an exciting and digitally connected work space, establishing the HALO at the forefront of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” – the digital revolution. Drew Macklin, Development Director at the HALO Urban Regeneration Company, said: “Both Graham + Sibbald and CBRE have world class credentials and, as joint marketing agents for the HALO’s Enterprise & Innovation Hub, are perfectly placed to showcase our exciting project nationally and globally. “Their role will be to partner the HALO with dynamic, high growth young businesses who will benefit from the HALO’s unique ability to harness the latest digital technology in a net zero carbon energy environment.” Fraser Lang, Partner – Head of Ayrshire at Graham + Sibbald said: “We are delighted to have been appointed to lead the marketing of the HALO Enterprise and Innovation in Kilmarnock, a prestigious development which boasts net zero carbon energy credentials to take the property sector to the next level in Scotland at a time when Green Energy, Enterprise and Innovation has never mattered so much.” Andy Cunningham, Senior Director at CBRE, said: “We’re very excited to have been instructed to help expose the HALO Enterprise and Innovation Hub to a wider audience. It is an exceptionally innovative office development that will bring significant benefits to the local community. Speculative funding in the UK regional office markets is notoriously difficult to achieve, so it’s fantastic news to see this investment being made in Kilmarnock where the economic and social opportunities will be warmly welcomed. “The unique first-class facilities at the HALO Hub and the further amenities on offer in the wider development will undoubtedly spark significant interest among local, national and international occupiers and we look forward to sharing the opportunities with our extensive network.”
More than 10 million sq ft of warehouse space was under offer at the beginning of 2020 – a 233% increase since end of 2018, according to CBRE. In its latest trading update investor developer Tritax Symmetry chief executive, fund management, Colin Godfrey, said such figures looked promising for developers and investors in the logistics property sector. “Occupier take-up looks promising for 2020 with over 10 million sq ft of lettings reported to be under offer and carried over from 2019,” said Godfrey. “Speculative supply has slightly decreased from 2018, but importantly reduced by circa 50% for buildings over 500,000 sq ft, where demand continues to outstrip supply. Attractive levels of rental growth are therefore expected to continue. “The market for very large Big Box logistics assets continues to display strong fundamentals for 2020 and the longer term. Structural tailwinds are supportive as occupiers upscale the size of their logistics assets to further increase efficiency, reduce costs and rationalise their supply chains, in the face of the rapid transition to omni-channel purchasing by consumers.” Big box availability decreases However, according to CBRE, the UK’s Big Box logistics availability slightly decreased through 2019 to just over 27 million sq ft. Take up in 2019 topped 25 million sq ft means that on last years’ take up figures there is approximately just over one years’ supply going forward. There were 92 deals were signed throughout 2019. Of that 43.4% of the space taken related to units between 100,000 and 300,000 sq ft, resulting in an average deal size of 275,858 sq ft. 3PLs providers took the most space during 2019 (accounting for 22.7% of take- up), with online retailers on second position (22.1%) and the motor industry completing the podium (18.3%). Spec shed development increases Meanwhile, over the course of 2019, available supply – including speculative space under construction – rose by 15% according to the latest research from JLL. Jon Sleeman, director of UK research at JLL, said: “We saw more speculative starts take place in 2019 and at the end of the year there was 5.1 million sq ft speculatively under construction. We expect to see further speculative development take place this year but overall, against a backdrop of good levels of demand in the market, we are not anticipating an increase in our national vacancy rate this year.” Quiet Q4 for warehouse property market Finally Gerald Eve’s latest Prime Logistics report states that the last quarter of the year was hit by ‘economic and political uncertainty in the UK’. Take up was 24% lower than Q3, with 10.5 million sq ft taken-up in Q4, the overall volume was 11% below the 5-year quarterly average but in line with the 10-year average. Overall take-up during 2019 totalled 47 million sq ft, which was 7% down on 2018, but comfortably above the 10-year annual average.
JLL and CBRE have been appointed to lease Budapest ONE Business Park, which is an iconic office development project developed by Futureal Group in Hungary. Both advisors will be cooperating on a co-exclusive basis on the office complex. Budapest ONE Business Park will be located next to Etele square, an ideal location next to the exit of M1-M7 motorway, the Kelenföld Metro 4 stop, the regional train station, and the regional and local bus stations. The first phase of this project will contain nearly 25,000 square meters of offices for rent and 2,600 square meters of commercial and service unit. It will also provide significant green space and underground parking space with 480 parking lots. The work is expected to be finalised by the second half of 2019. “We appreciate the assignment and I am glad that along with our expert team we have won the trust of the building’s owner. Our office portfolio has expanded with such a great addition that it can accommodate the needs of those tenants who are looking for a pleasant but not downtown location where modern services are easily accessible by the employees. Based on the strengths of the building and our professionalism, we are confident that we will successfully fill up the office spaces,” commented JLL’s head of office leasing, dr. Péter Würsching MRICS. Judit Varga MRICS, Head of Advisory & Transaction Services, Offices at CBRE also added: “We are delighted to be part of this fantastic development and advise the landlord on the leasing of this project. Considering its location and architectural design of the office park, it is a unique building in the submarket. There is a huge potential to contribute growth of this part of the city in addition to encouragement of business life. Therefore, we expect significant result of deals from this assignment.” Futureal Group has become the first property developer in Europe to receive the WELL Building Platinum Precertification™ at the same time for three of its office building projects including Budapest One Business Park. The office complex has been designed and will be operated to make a positive impact on employees’ health and wellbeing. Currently there are 34 WELL Precertified office buildings worldwide.
Evans Property Group and Harworth Estates, the regeneration company wholly owned by Harworth Group plc, has strengthened the agency team at Leeds’ largest commercial development site, Temple Green, with the appointment of CBRE and Gent Visick. The instructions come just ahead of completion of a £7m initial phase of infrastructure works at the 165 acre site. Located at J45 of the M1 in Leeds’ Enterprise Zone, Temple Green is Leeds City Region’s largest advanced manufacturing and logistics base with outline planning permission in place for 2.64m sq ft of employment and roadside uses. CBRE and Gent Visick join existing agent Dove Haigh Phillips in advising on the delivery strategy for Temple Green which, upon imminent completion of the initial infrastructure and groundworks programme, will be ready to accommodate occupiers in the first two phases. These phases incorporate land prepared for direct employment development, a range of roadside uses in addition to Leeds City Council’s 1000 space Park and Ride scheme. James Pitt, Development Director of Evans Property Group, said; “With the initial infrastructure works due to complete in forthcoming weeks, we are now entering into discussions with potential customers about delivery of their occupational requirements within a twelve month delivery programme. As Temple Green is one of the north of England’s most significant commercial developments we felt that CBRE, who act for the some of Europe’s leading manufacturers and logistics companies, were best placed in positioning the scheme at a global level via the firm’s regional and London offices.” Ian Ball, Executive Director of Income Generation at Harworth Estates, continues; “The new appointments provide Temple Green with the skill, expertise and geographic reach we were looking for. Gent Visick have a burgeoning reputation in the region and have performed extremely well on the rest of our Yorkshire portfolio. Their appointment alongside CBRE and Dove Haigh Phillips supports us being able to immediately bring forward Design & Build opportunities for a range of high-value businesses.” Mike Baugh, Senior Director of Industrial Agency at CBRE, comments; “Working as part of our national logistics team we are pleased to be promoting Temple Green, which is one of the largest schemes of its nature in the North of England, to the national and European occupier market. The development can attract significant inward investment into the region, deliver hundreds of jobs and address the present shortage of industrial accommodation and as such is an incredibly exciting project to be involved in.” Rupert Visick, Managing Director at Gent Visick, said; “We’re delighted to have secured such an exciting role. Temple Green should establish itself as one of the UK’s leading commercial developments and Gent Visick will work hard to make this happen. Our immediate focus will be on promoting the development as the leading site in Yorkshire for Design & Build opportunities.”
It has been highlighted by CBRE that the demand for London-based office space has continued strongly throughout the first quarter of 2016, despite both fears that organisations may err on side of caution from the possibility of Brexit, as well as the traditionally quiet nature of the start of the year. As a whole, it has been reported that some 3.1m square feet of office space in London was acquired throughout the period and, while the figure does sit marginally below the ten year average volume of 3.2m square feet, it does come at a time whereby a much more substantial drop was to be expected. Additionally, the volume of space presently under offer also remains the same from the final quarter of 2015, with 3m square feet still maintained (a value which is instead marginally above the ten year average of 2.8m square feet). As previously highlighted, the supply for such space may not be able to keep up with the demand for it however. Supply did indeed increase by 2% throughout the quarter, bringing the quantity up to 12.2m square feet, yet this still falls circa 17% short of the 10-year average. Of course, with this also being regarded as one of the quieter quarters of the year, how demand and supply will compare in the coming quarter is unknown. Emma Crawford, CBRE’s Head of Central London Leasing highlighted how the “weak” prospective for global economic growth, as well as the potential for Brexit has thrown a degree of uncertainty into the laps of businesses, yet the level of demand has still yet been maintained. She explained: “That demand for office space has remained so resilient speaks volumes for London’s ongoing attractiveness as a global hub for those companies hoping to lay down roots or expand their footprint in the capital.”
