Savills Appointed To Seek Developer For Prime Site Citrus Durham has appointed Savills to market a prime residential site for up to 120 homes at its flagship, £300m mixed-use Integra 61 development at J61 of the A1(M). Savills has been instructed to seek an interested party to bring forward a
Savills has expanded its building & project consultancy team with the appointment of David Wharton who joins as a director at the firm’s Margaret Street head office in London. David has more than 25 years’ experience in the property industry as a project manager specialising in industrial & logistics. He
Sales of £1m-plus homes have surged since lockdown as affluent buyers look for more space and lifestyle change, with two-thirds more deals agreed in the past four months than in the same period last year. An average of 868 £1m-plus sales have been agreed each week since the beginning of
Permission granted for major new warehouse development of 113,000 sq ft at a site in Darlaston, adjacent to the M6 near Wednesbury in the West Midlands St Francis Group, a leading UK-based property development and investment group and an expert in brownfield development has announced that it has received planning
In these extremely challenging times Savills London Development Land team are pleased to be able to report some positive news in the market. The Savills team have had an outstanding few weeks: since working remotely they have exchanged contracts on 9 land transactions with a combined value of £146 million.
Savills has today, (04 June 2019), announced the acquisition of London-based workplace consultancy and design studio KKS. The acquisition will create a new UK based client service for the international real estate advisor providing a strategic link to enhance its occupier services, landlord leasing, mixed-use development and building & project
London’s super prime residential real estate more than held its own against the overall Brexit-plagued market last year, according to a report Thursday from Savills. The exclusive portion of the market where properties cost more than £15 million (US$19.5 million) saw transactions soar 43.1% in 2018 compared to 2017, data
Ultra-wealthy tycoons have triggered a boom in sales of U.K. mansions, taking advantage of softening property prices in the wake of uncertainty over Brexit. Figures gathered by property lender Octane Capital show a surge in so-called “super-prime” purchases, defined by some experts as properties costing in excess of £10 million
Rallying against the ongoing economic and political uncertainties the UK faces ahead of our departure from the European Union, office investment volume in Central London in 2018 is expected to come close to £20 billion, according to international real estate advisor Savills. Performance is in line with 2017 activity London
The property and carbon emission consultancy firms Savills and Longevity Partners have revealed that they are to lead the way in BREEAM’s new project to see whether 331 retail points all over Europe are eligible for BREEAM certification. Originally initiated by Dedevco and BRE, the project is designed to reinvigorate
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Savills Appointed To Seek Developer For Prime Site Citrus Durham has appointed Savills to market a prime residential site for up to 120 homes at its flagship, £300m mixed-use Integra 61 development at J61 of the A1(M). Savills has been instructed to seek an interested party to bring forward a high quality development on the 8 acre site within the Integra 61 development which already has planning approval for circa 300 homes, over 3 million sq ft of sustainable employment space, a 70-bed hotel, a family pub/restaurant, a nursery, car showrooms and a number of trade counter/retail units all adding to the diverse offering. Phase 1 of residential development at Integra 61 is currently being delivered by Persimmon, with the £18M Millbeck Grange scheme well underway and the first residents of the total 170 homes moving in last year. Phase 2 is on the northern part of the site which is surrounded by Bowburn Beck, existing and new build housing and is connected to the centre of Bowburn Village by a newly constructed footpath. Savills is inviting offers by noon on Friday 28th May 2021. Located at J61 of the A1(M) Integra 61 is just 4 miles away from the City of Durham and as such is well connected for future residents in addition to having a range of amenities and job opportunities on the site itself, making it a highly sustainable location. The sale of the residential plot follows on from the recent announcement that Citrus Durham was awarded planning consent to deliver a new business hub, Evolution@Integra61, which will be delivered speculatively and add up to a further 23 flexible units available to purchase or lease making the development truly inclusive for occupiers of all sizes. David Cullingford, Project Lead for Integra 61 and Citrus Durham, said; “The residential element of Integra 61 makes an important contribution to the wider project and to meeting the housing requirements in County Durham. We are creating a new community with a wide range of amenities in a safe and attractive environment that’s well connected and of a high quality. We are looking forward to engaging with the successful party to bring forward this next phase of development.” David Craig, Associate Director at Savills, continued; “The site provides developers with a shovel-ready opportunity to deliver a high quality residential development which benefits from excellent connectivity and its proximity to one of the largest mixed use developments in the region. Integra 61 has proven to be a highly attractive location from a housing and commercial perspective and the continuation of its progression will further add to its vibrancy and appeal.” Interested parties to contact David Craig (0191 323 3145) or Ray Minto (0191 323 3142) at Savills Newcastle.
Savills has expanded its building & project consultancy team with the appointment of David Wharton who joins as a director at the firm’s Margaret Street head office in London. David has more than 25 years’ experience in the property industry as a project manager specialising in industrial & logistics. He joins Savills from multi-disciplinary construction consultancy Lysander where he was a director and key account manager for GLP, project managing more than 10 UK schemes for the global logistics developer including G-Park Northampton, Magnitude and Altitude at Magna Park Milton Keynes and G-Park Bedford Wixams. Prior to this he also held positions at Aecom, Jacobs and WSP. At Savills David will join the London development project management team working alongside Will Cooper to bolster its industrial & logistics capability and utilise his connections and expertise to win new business for one of the division’s most significant sectors. David Wharton, director in the building & project consultancy team, comments: “I am very much looking forward to joining the team, which already has an excellent reputation within the industrial & logistics sector. I have worked alongside many of my new colleagues on projects for key clients, including GLP, over the years and it will be great to finally join them on the same side of the table.” Simon Collett, head of building & project consultancy, adds: “We are very pleased to welcome David to Savills. His experience and expertise in the industrial & logistics sector will undoubtedly help to further strengthen our capability and ensure we can continue to offer a best in class service to our clients.”
Sales of £1m-plus homes have surged since lockdown as affluent buyers look for more space and lifestyle change, with two-thirds more deals agreed in the past four months than in the same period last year. An average of 868 £1m-plus sales have been agreed each week since the beginning of June, 66% higher than the weekly average of 522 over the same period in 2019, new data from Savills and TwentyCi show. Despite the key spring market weeks being all but lost to the lockdown, when sales fell to just 69 in the week ending 19 April, a total of 23,000 sales were agreed in the first three quarters of 2020, 16% higher than in 2019. Lucian Cook, Savills head of residential research, who ran the analysis, says, “This points to a rebalancing of the market between London and the rest of the country. Whereas sales in London rose by 4% in the first nine months of the year, they are up 27% across the rest of the UK, albeit London still accounts for over four in 10 sales with a £1m-plus price tag. The South East has seen the biggest surge in absolute numbers, with sales rising 28% to 6,560. The South West saw sales rise 38% to 2,022, while in Yorkshire and The Humber volumes were up 44% to 341 agreed sales, albeit absolute numbers of millionaire house sales remain much lower. £1m+ agreed sales year to end Sept 2019 2020 Increase 2020 v 2019 London 9066 9403 4% South East 5128 6560 28% East of England 1997 2469 24% South West 1466 2022 38% West Midlands 416 560 35% North West 480 538 12% Yorkshire and The Humber 236 341 44% East Midlands 269 341 27% Scotland 177 152 -14%* Wales 89 106 19% North East 63 72 14% Northern Ireland 21 22 5% Total 19,408 22,586 16% Source: Savills research using TwentyCi (*The Scottish housing market reopened 4 weeks later, hence the lower figure) “Lifestyle relocation has been a big theme in the market since lockdown began to ease, and this is very clearly reflected in the numbers,” says Cook. “Relocation and staycation locations such as the Cotswolds (+94%), South Oxfordshire (+78%), Dorset (+69%), Cornwall (+66%) and Wiltshire (+66%) have been standout performers. And for London leavers looking for a less dramatic lifestyle shift, and a more accessible commute, uber-towns such as Tunbridge Wells (+58%), Guildford (+42%) and Winchester (+40%) have proved popular.” In the UK capital, travel restrictions have limited overseas demand in the most central boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, the city of Westminster and Camden, where £1m-plus volumes were down 10% year on year, but leafier outer London boroughs benefitted from the search for more space both inside and out. As a clear illustration of this, the mantle for the highest number of £1m-plus sales for a single local authority has passed to Wandsworth, where over 1,000 sales were agreed to primarily domestic buyers in the first nine months of the year, up 17% on 2019. “By the year end we now expect the number of £1m-plus sales agreed to exceed 2019 volumes – a performance nobody could have anticipated in the depths of lockdown,” says Cook. “That said, recent evidence suggests fewer high value homes are now coming to the market, suggesting we may be hitting a high plateau. “For many the challenge is now in getting deals through to completion by Christmas, after which point eyes will be on beating the March 31 stamp duty holiday deadline in order to benefit from the maximum £15,000 saving for those buying at this end of the market.”
Permission granted for major new warehouse development of 113,000 sq ft at a site in Darlaston, adjacent to the M6 near Wednesbury in the West Midlands St Francis Group, a leading UK-based property development and investment group and an expert in brownfield development has announced that it has received planning permission for a 113,000 sq ft warehouse development at a site in Darlaston, near Wednesbury in the West Midlands. The 7-acre scheme – to be marketed as Parallel 113 is situated off the A4038 Darlaston Road and sits at the heart of the UK’s leading supply chain centres within easy access of junctions 9 and 10 of the M6 together with being in close proximity to the M5, M54 and M42 motorways. The development is to be developed speculatively with site clearance work staring in January and the unit will be ready for occupation in the Spring of 2022. It will be developed to a high quality, grade A standard and incorporate 107,350 sq ft warehouse/logistics accommodation together with 5,650 sq ft of first floor office accommodation. It will feature 12.5m clear internal working height, 10 dock level doors, 2 level access, 50m depth secure fenced yard together with 101 car parking spaces and 98 HGV trailer parking spaces. Speaking about the announcement and development – St Francis Development Director Gareth Williams said: “This is a significant commitment to Walsall, the Black Country Enterprise Zone and to the greater Birmingham area. It shows our faith in the continued occupier story of increasing demand seen against dwindling stock and we expect to be delivering another high-quality scheme very soon”. Savills and JLL are jointly appointed to market the site.
In these extremely challenging times Savills London Development Land team are pleased to be able to report some positive news in the market. The Savills team have had an outstanding few weeks: since working remotely they have exchanged contracts on 9 land transactions with a combined value of £146 million. These disposals and acquisitions take the total number of 2020 deals done to 16 transactions. The results demonstrate continued demand from purchasers for a range of development opportunities across London. Tim Whitmey, Director in Savills London Development Land team said: “We are delighted to be announce this extremely positive news during the most challenging of times. While we are under no illusion that these very difficult conditions will continue, at least in the short term, there are still a number of domestic and international buyers active across both the Central and Greater London residential development sector. The Savills team are working harder than ever alongside their clients and we look forward to building on this successful start to the year”
Savills has today, (04 June 2019), announced the acquisition of London-based workplace consultancy and design studio KKS. The acquisition will create a new UK based client service for the international real estate advisor providing a strategic link to enhance its occupier services, landlord leasing, mixed-use development and building & project management offering to deliver an all-encompassing solution focused on creating a better occupier experience. Established in 2004 by CEO Katrina Kostic Samen, alongside partner Caroline Pontifex, KKS now employs 26 members of staff. At Savills, Katrina will assume the role of director, head of workplace – strategy and design, in addition to continuing her position as President of the British Council for Offices (BCO) until July this year, remaining thereafter as BCO Immediate Past President. Caroline will be appointed as director, workplace experience. As a recognised and best in class leader in development & occupier strategy and interior architecture design, KKS provides innovative solutions based on detailed research and experience to major developers and tenants in the financial, legal, insurance, media and corporate sectors across the globe. James Sparrow, CEO of Savills UK and EMEA, comments: “This is an incredibly important and strategic acquisition for our business that will see Savills and KKS come together to create a new workplace centre of excellence, offering a comprehensive end-to-end solution for our clients from inception to completion.” Jeremy Bates, EMEA head of Occupational Markets at Savills, says: “This acquisition is directly driven by future workplace trends, challenges, opportunities and demands. There is an obvious synergy between the two businesses and we are thrilled to welcome Katrina and her team to Savills.” Simon Collett, head of Professional Services at Savills, adds: “By fusing best in class real-estate advice with a best in class design and delivery capability, this new service line will focus on providing superior client value and success, as well as giving Savills a market-leading competitive advantage in the workplace arena.” Katrina Kostic Samen, CEO of KKS, says: “The growth and success of KKS is a reflection of the passion of our team who are constantly driving to deliver a first class client service and push the boundaries to embrace new innovations. The occupier is the heart and soul of any building and, in Savills, we feel we have found like-minded people with the energy and motivation across a global network to take the occupier experience to the next level. We are very much looking forward to collaborating and innovating to redefine the workplace and build better performing communities for occupiers.”
London’s super prime residential real estate more than held its own against the overall Brexit-plagued market last year, according to a report Thursday from Savills. The exclusive portion of the market where properties cost more than £15 million (US$19.5 million) saw transactions soar 43.1% in 2018 compared to 2017, data from the U.K. real estate agency show. The high-end transactions translated to a total sales volume of almost £2 billion, up 41.2% from 2017 and the highest figure since 2014, when the government introduced its new stamp duty rates resulting in much higher transaction costs at the top end of the market. Driving the increases are the relative bargains that can now be found in the prime London market. Some of the most expensive boroughs in London, dogged by political uncertainty, are seeing prices plummet, according to a report Monday from estate agency Your Move. Kensington and Chelsea, the most expensive borough in London where the average price in December was £1.7 million, saw prices drop more than a fifth in 12 months, down 21.2% from £2.25 million in December 2017. The capital has carried the brunt of the U.K.’s Brexit wariness, unsurprisingly, given the influence of immigration and overseas buyers on the market. “The price falls we’ve seen in the central London market, when combined with the depreciation of sterling, means the trophy properties of central London look relatively good value in an international context,” Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said in the report. “Despite the backdrop of political uncertainty and a less welcoming tax environment, these figures are clear evidence that London remains an attractive place for a growing pool of international high net worth individuals to live and conduct business,” he added. Values in prime central London peaked in June 2014 and have since fallen by 19.4%, with a 4.1% fall in 2018, Savills said.
Ultra-wealthy tycoons have triggered a boom in sales of U.K. mansions, taking advantage of softening property prices in the wake of uncertainty over Brexit. Figures gathered by property lender Octane Capital show a surge in so-called “super-prime” purchases, defined by some experts as properties costing in excess of £10 million ($12.6 million), as the seriously rich, many from overseas, snap up bargains and take advantage of the weak pound. Octane Capital had requested previously unpublished data from HM Revenue & Customs, the U.K. tax authority, under the Freedom of Information Act. The data shows the number of homes selling for more than £10 million rose by a half in 2017, as uncertainty over the U.K. leaving the EU made property price tags at the highest end of the market significantly more attractive. The figures reveal sales of the country’s most substantial dwellings spiked to 300 in 2017, up from 200 in 2016. In the first three months of 2018, the latest period for which data is available, 100 homes costing more than £10 million were sold. The lack of clarity over Brexit has touched almost every part of the UK economy. The latest purchasing managers’ index, released on January 3, showed manufacturing growing at its quickest rate in six months. Factories have been boosting stock in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit in March. Activity in the property sector was not only seen in the market for mansions. Octane’s HMRC data shows the number of second-home owners buying properties costing over £2 million ($2.5 million) more than doubled in 2017 to 1,900 from 800 in 2016. Jonathan Samuels, chief executive of Octane Capital, said: “While many home owners sit on their hands during times of political and economic volatility, the ultra-wealthy often use these periods to acquire assets at a significant discount. “Brexit had a particular impact on super-prime properties in the capital, so for many very high-net-worth individuals the fallout from the EU referendum vote was an investment opportunity. For investors based overseas, sterling weakness made the price falls even more attractive.” The Brexit-fuelled boom in super-prime property has seen sales of some of the UK’s most stunning piles, according to Octane. It cites a raft of examples including Lambourne Hall in Ascot, Berkshire, close to the racecourse frequented by the royal family. Lambourne Hall, which is over two floors with a lift and two independent staff suites, sold for £21 million ($26.5 million). It includes an indoor swimming pool, gym, spa/Jacuzzi, sauna, steam and treatment room. The property has five reception rooms on the ground floor as well as a separate bar and library/cigar lounge. The five bedroom suites on the first floor all have dressing rooms and en-suite bathrooms. Meanwhile, a four-story, seven-bed Victorian property in Oxford, once home to social reformer and novelist, Mary Arnold Ward, went for a more modest £10.5 million ($13.3 million). Samuels added: “Some of Britain’s wealthiest cities became a goldmine for foreign investors seeking a bargain.” The data also showed the number of homes costing £1 million ($1.3 million) and above exceeded 20,000 for the first time.
Rallying against the ongoing economic and political uncertainties the UK faces ahead of our departure from the European Union, office investment volume in Central London in 2018 is expected to come close to £20 billion, according to international real estate advisor Savills. Performance is in line with 2017 activity London has witnessed notably above average levels of office take-up in 2018, Savills explains, and achieved the best ever City of London rent (£80 per sq ft). The list of global businesses committing to long term leases has continued to grow with announcements in the last 12 months from Facebook, LinkedIn and Sidley Austin amongst others. The constrained development pipeline has seen more office pre-lets over 50,000 sq ft agreed in 2018 than ever before and of late, Savills says, the shortage of available Grade A options has matured into a greater number of value add/ development opportunities trading. This has seen the return of UK REITS to the market, now the second biggest investor group in the City, and established global investors such as Brookfield and Tishman Speyer. Stephen Down, head of Central London investment at Savills, comments: “Commercial property investment volumes in London have exceeded expectation since the EU referendum as the city has remained the leading destination for global capital. Asian investors lead the way, and the pool of investor appetite has continued to spread to other parts of Asia, most notably in 2018 to South Korea (Savills advised on five of the nine deals to complete to South Korean investors in London in 2018), and elsewhere. The return of UK buyers and the appetite from global developers for London has enriched the argument that there is no better city to invest in the world today.” Savills says the level of demand for London offices offers investors liquidity in the ability to buy and sell assets when other property sectors, such as retail, are struggling. Compared to Tier One cities in mainland Europe London also appears good value with prime yields in the City (4.0%) and West End (3.25%) considerably softer than other European tier one cities (Berlin 2.9%, Munich 2.9%, Frankfurt 3.0%, Hamburg 3.0% and Paris 3.0%). Savills believes a greater number of value-add and development opportunities coming to the market and trading in London will insure the ongoing creation of the world’s best office buildings in a city where people will continue to want to work. This in turn creates new investment opportunities for global investors searching for prime assets. Rasheed Hassan, head of the cross border investment team at Savills comments: “ There is appetite from across the globe for London. Looking ahead, the correlation between the UK’s yields, currency and interest rates will remain a key driver to London’s investment market. Given where sterling is today we are seeing increased enquiries from our private investor clients in particular, who seem poised to invest in 2019. We believe that once there is more clarity on the direction of Brexit there will be more activity from many and would highlight there being a particular pent up demand from mainland European investors, who have been cautious. We are seeing demand for assets across the risk spectrum from core income to development projects.” Savills concludes that while we continue to operate in uncertain times the full health of London’s offices market should be able to absorb most shocks felt in the run up to Brexit and thereafter.
The property and carbon emission consultancy firms Savills and Longevity Partners have revealed that they are to lead the way in BREEAM’s new project to see whether 331 retail points all over Europe are eligible for BREEAM certification. Originally initiated by Dedevco and BRE, the project is designed to reinvigorate the topic of sustainability in the building and construction sectors all over the European continent. With the lease margin of 3.2 million square meters across 11 different states in Europe, Redevco want to ensure that businesses in their area are committing to long term sustainability plans to improve the prospects of their enterprises and to consider the ways in which industrial activity can reduce its impact on the rest of the surrounding environment and the atmosphere. Redevco is ambitious in its announced intention to have all of its assets in Europe certified by the time of the year 2021, yet with the planned project for Savills and Longevity Partners this goal could very well become a possibility for the company to achieve. By assessing the different ways in which sustainability is certified, Redevco will be well prepared for the challenges that they will need to prepare for once they feel ready for the challenges of the BIU certification program. Using a sample of different assets based in places such as Holland and Portugal, this method of assessment will reduce costs for Redevco as well as act as a good way of measuring the ways in which the company can progress itself to achieve greater sustainability and environmental friendliness than ever before. Indeed, spokespeople for Longevity and Savills have expressed their enthusiasm for the project and confidence that it will give Redevco a very good idea on the different ways in which they can progress and the different initiatives that they can implement in order to be certified as more sustainable.
