McAleer and Rushe

McAleer & Rushe Sign £25m Hotel Deal

County Tyrone construction firm McAleer & Rushe has secured a £25 million deal to build and lease out a four star hotel in Newcastle, England. ES Newgate, the company’s subsidiary, is set to develop the 226 bedroom, six storey property, which will become a Maldron Hotel when complete. The scheme

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Issue 323 : Dec 2024

McAleer and Rushe

The Brinell Building, Brighton, is fully pre-let as Unity Technologies signs-up

The Brinell Building, a speculative office development in Brighton, has been fully let ahead of completion in June 2019. The newly developed 65,253 sq ft Grade A, seven-storey office building, is being delivered by developer and contractor McAleer & Rushe. The Brinell Building achieved record rents for the city with each pre-let transaction, topping out at £32.00 per sq ft. Unity Technologies, the ApS video game development company based in San Francisco with a market cap in the region of $2.5Bn (May 2017), has become the final occupier to take space at The Brinell Building. The tech company, who will be the anchor tenant, has committed to 37,398 sq ft over the first to fourth floors on a ten-year lease. Unity Technologies joins other standout occupiers including Diversified, the leading technology integrator delivering innovative digital media, broadcasting, electronic security and OTT solutions, which has pre-let 8,272 sq ft on the ground floor on a 15-year lease. As well as professional services firm Dehns which has pre-let the top two floors covering 18,514 sq ft on a 15-year lease. Angus Monteith, Property Development Director at McAleer & Rushe, said: “McAleer & Rushe successfully developed CityView in 2016 and we saw the opportunity to bring forward additional office space to meet untapped demand in central Brighton. Our decision to speculatively develop The Brinell Building has been rewarded with 100% pre-lettings to a first class tenant line-up six months ahead of practical completion.”  Jack Riley, Associate, National Offices Knight Frank, said: “The Brighton occupier market has historically been underpinned by corporate giants like L&G, American Express and BUPA but the letting success at The Brinell Building highlights demand from the ever-expanding TMT sector. Brighton’s amenity offering coupled with a young, skilled labour force and growing tech sector is making it a hotbed for talent. With vacancy rates at an all-time low, speculative schemes providing Grade A office stock, such as The Brinell Building, are crucial for the continued growth of Brighton’s thriving business community.” Emma Lockey, Associate at CBRE, said: “We have worked alongside Unity for a number of years, advising on its original offices at CityView. We are delighted to have secured The Brinell Building for one of Brighton’s rapidly growing businesses in what is one of the largest office pre-lets for many years.”   Knight Frank acted jointly with SHW for McAleer & Rushee and CBRE acted for Unity Technologies.

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McAleer & Rushe Sign £25m Hotel Deal

County Tyrone construction firm McAleer & Rushe has secured a £25 million deal to build and lease out a four star hotel in Newcastle, England. ES Newgate, the company’s subsidiary, is set to develop the 226 bedroom, six storey property, which will become a Maldron Hotel when complete. The scheme is the firm’s latest work with Irish hotel plc Dalata Group, and will be the first Maldron Hotel in England. McAleer & Rushe will retain ownership of the property, which will be leased to Dalata through a 35-year contract. The building, located on the site of the former Newgate Centre, is expected to open in the summer of 2018. McAleer and Rushe is also set to build student accommodation as part of the same mixed used development, which is worth £100 million in total. The firm’s property director, Stephen Surphlis, commented: “The addition of this quality hotel brand reflects the wider importance of this entire mixed-use development and will be a major asset to the city as a whole, as well as attracting business and leisure travellers to Newcastle. “We look forward to working alongside Dalata, for whom we have previously delivered numerous projects.” Meanwhile, McAleer & Rushe is also working on the construction of a new Maldron Hotel at Brunswick Street in the centre of Belfast. It will be the company’s fourth hotel here. It also owns the Maldron Hotel at Belfast International Airport, the Clayton Hotel on Ormeau Avenue in the centre of the city, and the Maldron Hotel in Londonderry. Dalata currently operates five Clayton hotels in England, with two in London, and one each in Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester. It additionally owns the Croydon Park Hotel in London. Dermot Crowley, deputy chief executive for business development and finance at Dalata, said: “This development provides us with an exciting opportunity to launch our Maldron brand in the English market.”

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Featuring McAleer and Rushe: Interview with Conor Feeney, Senior Site Manager

The image of the construction industry has long been challenged by unsightly, ungainly or noisy site works – often, presenting inconveniences to those living and working nearby. With a radically different approach that places due consideration at its centre, McAleer and Rushe continues to maximise property assets with minimal disruption. With almost 50 years’ experience in all aspects of property, McAleer and Rushe has established itself as a leader in design-and-build construction, quickly picking up awards in anything from design excellence, to NHBC’s much-revered Pride in the Job accolade. Working across the student, residential, office and hotel sectors, the company has offices in London, Belfast, Dublin and Cookstown, and has been part of some of the largest, and most well-known development projects of the new millennia. What’s most notable about McAleer and Rushe however, is neither its size nor its scope but the reputation it has built as a considerate constructor. Since becoming a member of the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS), the company has incorporated the body’s ethics of responsible, attentive site works wholeheartedly. Indeed, at the end of last year, McAleer and Rushe earned a Considerate Contractor Scheme Gold Award for the London-based development for a leading German hotel chain. The construction of a 291-bedroom, to be owned by Motel One, was not without challenge – not least in view of its busy, central location. “From a site point of view, the biggest issue was our proximity to live roads and live traffic,” explains Conor Feeney, Site Manager at McAleer and Rushe. “That presents difficulties to both carrying out structural works in general, and maintaining considerate practice. Whilst such problems are fairly standard in the sector, the lengths we go to, as a company, in order to combat those potential issues is where standard practice becomes exceptional.” By opening up dialogue with neighbouring properties, businesses and facilities during the early stages of development, the company streamlined the build considerably – posing little to no impact on either private or public services. And it was no mean feat when one takes into account the major gas works replacement taking place at the same time. In fact, what began as a one-way street at the commencement of the contract was, part-way through the hotel construction, restored to a two-way through-road following work on the gas mains. The facilities maintenance, carried out by the City of London was nevertheless uninterrupted by McAleer and Rushe’s project thanks to intelligent planning and a proactive approach. Putting in place a dedicated environmental officer as well as a health and safety officer at each active site, McAleer and Rushe has a clear vision from the outset and one by which subcontractors and suppliers have to abide. “All our partners have to buy into our ethos as a Considerate Constructor,” insists Feeney. “At the bottom line, it’s about good communication. Motel One was situated on a busy street local to Liverpool Street where London’s commercial district is. Most of our deliveries were arriving at peak commuting time, and adequate signage and diversions were really important. We see sub-contracting as an ongoing process that has to be negotiated and re-negotiated as a project develops. It might take time and effort but, once the considerate practice system is in place and working properly, they appreciate why it’s needed.” Of course, before inspiring best practice from sub-contractors and suppliers, operatives have to be on side. Acknowledging that a positive culture is best fostered from the bottom up, McAleer and Rushe has invested heavily in education and training for its staff so as to inspire pride and confidence in the job. And, in what Feeney describes as the biggest change to the company’s outlook, McAleer and Rushe now holds regular toolbox talks across sites up and down the country, many led by its newly-appointed environmental manager. Amongst covering environmental aspects with a Considerate Constructor crossover (such as waste management and transport), the company has also strived to give voice to the concerns of civil, electrical and construction specialists, inviting a host of different speakers to deliver its talks. McAleer and Rushe is therefore at the forefront of developing best practice models that are not only more in-tune with each other, but are most closely aligned with the needs of the modern construction industry. What boils down to an ethic of communication and responsibility has also given a competitive edge to the well-accomplished company. As Feeney explains, “Membership with the Considerate Constructors Scheme is increasingly something that clients look for during procurement. Alongside price and specification, it’s one of the leading ways to establish yourself above others. The Gold Award is the pinnacle of all that the organisation stands for and, for that, our team’s hard work and dedication has to be applauded.” With sights set on further accolades this year, and highly complimentary feedback thus far, McAleer and Rushe is set to remain the people’s contractor. Determinedly in-step with both clients and the neighbourhood, this is one company that not only gets it, but gets it right.

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