NEWSFLASH 19th May 2015
Come and meet us at Clerkenwell Design
Week - 19th -21st May - This year the BCFA shall
be exhibiting in the Design Factory in the
Farmiloe Building on the first floor. To register
for CDW: www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com
BCFA will be heading up the UK Pavilion at the 25th Anniversary Index
Show 18-21 May in Dubai. If you are visiting come and see us on Stand
4D34 www.indexexhibition.com
The Thackeray Estate has acquired a parade of six mixed-use properties in the City of London to create a £35m luxury minivillage. The company, co-founded by Sir Philip Green’s stepson, Brett Palos, has bought 23-39 Eastcheap for around £15m from a
joint venture between Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group. Channelling a similar model to St Christopher’s Place and Covent
Garden, it plans to provide independent retail outlets, boutique cafés, niche restaurants and bars, as well as fitness hubs. The six
Victorian terraced buildings - located behind the Walkie Talkie skyscraper and extending to the majority of the parade between
Philpot Lane and Root Lane - offer 30,000 sq ft of commercial and retail space.
Bam Construct has won a major £73m mixed-use commercial contract in Manchester from first-time client Allied London. The
contractor will design and build No 1 Spinningfields, the former site of Quay House in the city’s business district. The 24-storey
Simpson Haugh & Partners-designed building has over 260,000 sq ft of office space and will feature restaurants, cafés, a business
lounge, and a garden terrace. A 97-week build programme is expected to get underway in June, with the project to be constructed
to BREEAM Excellent rating.
Canterbury City Council has selected Bouygues as its preferred development partner to deliver a major leisure scheme in
Kingsmead area of the city. The project, which is on the site of a former coach park, will include a multiplex cinema and restaurants,
ice rink, student accommodation and flats. The next phase of the project will see Bouygues Development working towards
submitting a planning application at the start of 2016 with construction starting later that year.
Developer British Land has got the green light for another major building overhaul at London’s landmark 1980s Broadgate
development. Its revamp plans for 100 Liverpool Street Exchange Square will see the developer squeeze an extra three new floors
on to the existing building lifting the total office and retail space up to around 515,000 sq ft. This extra 135,000 sq ft will include a
9th top floor featuring a restaurant with external terracing. The designs by Hopkins Architects will retain the buildings’ structural
frame and introduce new curving facades to give the buildings a fresh new identity.
Retail developer Intu has submitted plans to revamp its shopping centre in the heart of Milton Keynes. The proposals for the
shopping centre, expected to cost more than £70m, include more shops, a new dining quarter, green spaces for families to relax at
lunchtime and a five-screen boutique cinema. The transformation of the prime 430,000 sq ft shopping centre by a further 100,000
sq ft will be one of the most significant retail and leisure development projects that Central Milton Keynes has seen in over a
decade. When completed, a new dining quarter, over two levels, will deliver a choice of places to eat in a relaxed and comfortable
environment. A five-screen boutique cinema will provide a special experience with luxurious seating and a quality food offer.
Designed by 3DReid architects, work on the complex will focus on remodelling the centrally connected, Midsummer Boulevard area.
A brand new retail and leisure quarter centred around a row of Victorian arches has been unveiled as part of the latest phase of
the £150m New Waverley development, currently transforming the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Work on the arches will start
in the summer, with the project targeted for completion prior to Christmas. The New Waverley development is currently
progressing with the construction of a146-apartment Adagio Aparthotel facing directly onto the Royal Mile behind a retained façade
of the C-listed Sailors Ark building. This phase also includes the start of works for a new £6.5m public square linked to the
Aparthotel, creating a vibrant central hub for New Waverley surrounded by 160,000 sq ft of high-quality grade A office space and 28
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new retail businesses - including shops, restaurants and cafes. Construction work on the initial development phase of two
Whitbread hotels with frontages on to East Market Street and Cranston Street is also progressing. Work on the two hotels - a 127room Premier Inn and a 121-room Hub by Premier Inn - began in November 2014 with a completion date set for autumn 2016.
Debrah Dhugga, MD of the five-star British boutique DUKES in Mayfair has confirmed that the group is actively looking for a new
site for its third property in the portfolio. Dhugga revealed that ideally it would be based in the regions and the group is also
considering a number of operator-based options, as expansion is a key point on the agenda for DUKES. The news comes just after
the announcement that DUKES is set to expand with a second property in Dubai. Set to launch in Q1, the new hotel will be a
traditionally English establishment and will bring something new to the typically vibrant hospitality sector in Dubai.
Enterprise Inns has announced an overhaul of its £3.85bn property portfolio that will see it sell about 1,000 pubs, build a
commercial property portfolio and increase the number of managed pubs in the estate. Enterprise Inns is grappling with the
consequences of the government’s decision to remove the ‘beer tie’, allowing pub landlords to purchase beer from wherever they
choose. In a strategic review, the pub company said it would reduce its pub estate from more than 5,000 to about 4,200 by 2020. It
will also expand its commercial property arm from 185 properties to between 900 and 1,000 and increase the number of managed
pubs it owns from 16 to between 750 and 850.
Equinox Holdings, parent company of high end US health club chain Equinox Fitness, is preparing to launch an upscale hospitality
brand. Plans are afoot for 75 hotels worldwide, each with a fitness facility within the hotel, or very close, which would be open to
hotel guests as well as members. The first site is expected for Manhattan in 2018, at Hudson Yards. It is a development by Related
Co - a major shareholder of Equinox - which plans to invest several billion dollars in the chain over the next few years. There are
currently 75 Equinox health clubs in the US, London and Toronto.
There are 857 hotels totalling 138,152 rooms Under Contract in Europe, according to the April 2015 STR Global Construction
Pipeline Report. This represents a 6.4-percent decrease in rooms Under Contract compared with April 2014 and a 3.6-percent yearover-year decrease in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning
and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. The region reported 58,372 rooms in 360 hotels under
construction for the month. Among the region’s key markets, Istanbul, Turkey, reported the most rooms under construction with
4,902 rooms in 24 hotels. Three other markets reported more than 3,000 rooms under construction: Greater London, England
(4,440 rooms in 26 hotels); Moscow, Russia (3,103 rooms in 13 hotels); and Greater Amsterdam, Netherlands (3,026 rooms in 11
hotels).
Dominvs Group plans to turn the former Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court in Tooley Street into a 200-room hotel. The grade II
listed court building and police station dates from 1906 and was designed by John Dixon Butler. The court closed in summer 2013
and was sold to Dominvs Group a year ago. The new hotel would be operated under Intercontinental Hotels Group's 'Hotel Indigo'
brand. The proposals include turning one of the courtrooms into a dining area and creating a delicatessen on the ground floor of a
new extension.
Travelodge has announced that it is looking for 14 new hotel sites in key port locations across Britain in a bid to capitalise on the
cruise boom. These 14 new hotels represent an investment of £84. The transformation of the UK ports industry during the last ten
years has created a thriving and highly competitive industry with the number of people taking trips from UK ports rising year on
year. Today the UK is the number one cruise market in Europe and the second largest in the world. Figures from the Department for
Transport highlight that number of UK International Sea Passengers rose to 22.4m in 2013. Mediterranean and Northern Europe
cruises are the most popular amongst British holidaymakers. In 2013, one in three UK passengers chose Northern Europe as their
cruise destination, with Norway being the stand out destination. In addition 49% of UK passengers started their cruises at a British
port in 2013 and this is forecast to overtake fly cruises. Travelodge has 516 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain and 48 of its
properties are located in the vicinity of Britain’s busiest ports. As a result of the record number of Britons taking to the waves, these
48 Port based Travelodge hotels have reported a 9% increase in occupancy during the last 12 months
Following a third consecutive year of growth, the UK’s largest nightclub operator, The Luminar Group has today (19 th May)
announced an 18% increase in profits for the 53 weeks until 28 February 2015. The company, which employs 3,000 people and
operates 58 nightclubs and bars nationwide, delivered a profit before tax of £3.7m and an EBITDA of £11.4m. With a strong
financial platform in place, the company will today rebrand as The Deltic Group.
Mitchells & Butlers has reported strong food volume growth which has driven sales progress for the 28 weeks ended 11 April
2015. Like-for-like food volume growth grew by 2.9% (0.2%:2014) Total revenue stood at £1,113m, up 9.5%, and like-for-like sales
grew by 1.7%. Adjusted operating profit was £153m, up 4.1%, and operating margin was 13.7% (14.5%:2014)e which reflects Orchid
and volume-driven sales growth. Capital expenditure was up to £94m (2014: £86m), and the group opened 9 new pubs and 23
conversions.
Jamie's Italian and Bill's are to join the line-up of restaurants at Hammerson's £80m WestQuay Watermark shopping centre
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development in Southampton. It will be the first site for Jamie's Italian in the city. It will take a will take a 5,100 sq ft unit fronting
onto the new plaza, providing an outside seating terrace. Bill's will take a 3,100 sq ft unit on the lower promenade of the scheme,
which allows space for outside. It is also the first Bill's to open in Southampton. Wahaca, Byron, Five Guys, Zizzi and Nando's are
also signed up to open at the development, which is due to open in late 2016.
Accor has signed two more hotels to its UK portfolio, in Derby and Leeds. The Mercure Derby is set to open at the end of this year,
while the Ibis Styles Leeds will open in 2016. The 100-room Mercure Derby, near Derbyshire County Cricket Ground, will be
operated under a franchise by the owners, London Town Hotels Group. It will be Accor and London Town Group’s fifth Mercure
hotel after the successful partnership with the Mercure Nottingham City Centre, Mercure London Kensington, Mercure London
Paddington, and Mercure London Hyde Park, which is due to open in autumn 2015. The 134-room, new-build Ibis Styles in Leeds
Merrion Centre will operate under a franchise agreement with Town Centre Securities PLC. There is a network of 74 Mercure hotels
in the UK, and 92 under the Ibis and Ibis Styles brands.
American-style casual dining group Ed’s Easy Diner is to open a site at Elliott’s Field Shopping Park in Rugby, in the new £35m
park extension, this autumn. The 2,500 sq ft, 129-cover unit will form part of the group’s plans to expand into the Midlands. In
October last year the group ‒ which serves US-diner style food - announced plans to expand to 50 sites, having secured a £14m debt
facility. The new unit will join a host of other well-known casual dining names to have recently signed with the shopping park,
including Caffe Nero and Nando’s. Elliott’s Field, from Hammerson’s, is to open late this year, and feature 180,000 sq ft of retail and
dining floorspace.
Pub operator and brewer Brakspear has bought the George hotel in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, making it the fifth site in its
fledgling managed pub estate. The food-led venue is on Shipston's main square and has a restaurant with two private dining rooms
and 16 letting rooms. Brakspear plans to refurbish the site soon, but trading will continue as usual until that point.
Hastings Hotels has bought Windsor House in Belfast's Bedford Street for £6.5m in order to convert it into a hotel. Windsor
House, the construction of which was completed in 1974, is one of the tallest buildings in Ireland. Hastings Hotels, which runs six
four- and five-star hotels in Northern Ireland, including Stormont hotel and the Europe hotel in Belfast, said it expected planning
permission for a hotel of international quality to be submitted within the next few weeks. Belfast architects WDR & RT Taggarts
have been hired to develop the designs.
Office construction in central London has grown by 24% in six months, taking the total office space now under development to
9.5m sq ft, according to the latest London Office Crane Survey by Deloitte Real Estate. The survey, which was published today, has
recorded 31 new starts contributing 4.4m sq ft into the 9.5m sq ft development pipeline. Steve Johns, head of City leasing at
Deloitte Real Estate, said: “Developer sentiment is continuing to improve and this is good news for London’s diverse occupier base.
The increase in new starts is the second highest we’ve recorded in 20 years. All but two of central London’s submarkets are sharing
the growth. The City has 10 new construction starts (1.7m sq ft) accounting for 39% of all new activity started in the survey, and just
under half of all pre-let development taking place across central London. The West End has seen a 24% rise in activity driven by 11
new starts in six months. Construction volumes in Midtown have shot up by 44% with six new starts in anticipation of the imminent
infrastructure improvements.
City of London office take-up is up 64% on the same time period a year ago, according to research from DTZ, as London’s
commercial rental market continues its shift east. The agency found take-up was up by around 800,000 sq ft as a number of large
transactions have taken place recently for including Deloitte’s completion on 260,000 sq ft at 1 New Street Square, adding to the
256,000 sq ft of space it already has at the adjacent 2 and 3 New Street Square. Elsewhere, New York law firm Cleary Gottlieb is
taking 60,000 sq ft at 2 London Wall Place, a relocation from nearby City Place House at 55 Basinghall Street, and collaborative office
platform WeWork has acquired 170,000 sq ft at Moor Place as it continues to grow its London presence. While demand for office
space in the City has increased, the availability of such space is at the lowest level in over a decade and down 30% annually. The
availability of new and newly refurbished offices has now fallen to just 1.5m sq ft meaning the supply of new space is back at prerecession levels for the first time since the global financial crisis. City prime rents are up 14% in the last two years, now at £62.50/ sq
ft.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants is relocating its London headquarters to Blackstone’s Adelphi building on the
Strand. It has agreed to take 37,000 sq ft on the third and fourth floor of the 330,000 sq ft Grade II-listed building, relocating from
Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The ACCA is thought to be taking a 15-year lease, at a rent of £75/ sq ft. The move will take effect in December
2015, with staff being moving into the new building in January 2016.
Health food chain, Holland & Barrett is planning to expand its headquarters in Nuneaton by 48,000 sq ft, with the creation of 80
jobs. The company is a major employer in the town and already has around 300 staff members at the Eliot Business Park offices.
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R G Carter will start work next month on a major student hall scheme for the University of East Anglia, after receiving planning
approval. The project, which is understood to be worth around £25m, will involve building over 500 rooms on the former Blackdale
School site, next to the UEA Norwich campus. It will be built from cross-laminate timber, rising up to six stories in parts of the
Blackdale development. The scheme, which is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating, will eventually see 915 student rooms delivered
in two long blocks. The second phase will be brought through when funding becomes available.
Local Hull contractor Sewell Construction has landed the job to build a £30m student accommodation complex for the city’s
university. A series of five storey blocks will provide rooms for 560 students, and will be built at the northern end of Hull
University’s Cottingham Road campus. The project represents the latest investment in the University’s campus master plan,
following the £28m refurbishment of the Brynmor Jones Library, completed last year, and the current redevelopment of the
Middleton Hall theatre and conference space. There has also been extensive work on improving teaching spaces right across the
University. Designed in partnership with GSS Architecture, the development will cluster of mainly eight-bedroom flats.
Ipswich Hospital has unveiled plans for the £100m redevelopment of its site, including the replacement of some of the older
buildings.
Following its closure in October 2013, the former Cerne Abbas Care Centre on the outskirts of the ancient Dorset village of Cerne
Abbas has been sold. The property has been acquired by Casterbridge Manor, who plans to extensively refurbish the building and
reopen as a care facility later this year. The former Cerne Abbas Care Centre was previously registered to accommodate 57 clients
and boasted 57 bedrooms, 52 of which had en-suite facilities.
Mecca Soon to Host the World's Largest Hotel. At almost 686,000 square feet, the $3.5-billion Abraj Kudai will be home to 10,000
rooms, 70 restaurants, a shopping mall, "royal floors," prayer halls, and a convention center, all spread among 12 separate towers
topped with helipads. The focal point, however, will be the central dome, expected to be one of the largest of the world.
As the site of the hotel is only about a mile from the Masjid al-Ḥarām, the largest mosque in the world, which surrounds the Kaaba,
no doubt the hotel will host many of the millions who come on hajj each year. There will be four-star luxury in 10 towers, and fivestar in 2.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group announced at the China Hotel Investment Conference (CHIC), plans to triple its number of hotels to
over 50 in the next four years. Carlson Rezidor has strong representation in key markets and secondary cities in China, including 14
hotels currently in operation and a growing pipeline. Carlson Rezidor plans to increase its presence in China in top-tier cities,
strengthen its focus on development opportunities in emerging markets and introduce two new brands, Quorvus Collection, a
curated set of luxury hotels and Radisson Red, an upscale lifestyle select brand that appeals to the millennial minded traveler.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into an agreement with Abdulelah Mohammed Ali
Maghrabi Commercial Est. for a Hyatt Place hotel and a Hyatt House hotel in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The hotels
will be within one mile of each other and will be designed by Dubai-based Samuel Creations. Hyatt Place Jeddah/Medina Road and
Hyatt House Jeddah/Sari Street will join the luxurious Park Hyatt Jeddah Marina, Club and Spa and the recently opened Hyatt Place
Dubai/Al Rigga. Due to open in the second quarter of 2017, Hyatt Place Jeddah/Medina Road will be centrally located on Medina
Road, one of Jeddah’s main arteries, with connections to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport and the historic downtown.
Hyatt Place Jeddah/Medina Road will offer 182 guestrooms, in addition to a number of food and beverage options. The hotel will
also offer more than 2,400 square feet (225 square meters) of meeting and event space. Due to open in the fourth quarter of 2016,
Hyatt House Jeddah/Sari Street will be located in the Al Faysaliayah District, in close proximity to Sari and Thaliay Streets, which
connect to the Corniche, Jeddah’s coastal resort area. The hotel will offer 104 residentially inspired upscale den guestrooms, studio
and one-bedroom Kitchen Suites, in addition to more than 1,000 square feet (100 square meters) of meeting space. The hotel will
also offer a restaurant, prayer room and fitness center. Hyatt House Jeddah/Sari Street will be the first Hyatt House hotel to open in
the GCC.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc has announced the signing of a long term management agreement with 302 Pitt
Operations Pty Ltd., an affiliate of Melbourne based investment and development company, Ninety Four Feet P/L, to debut its
Aloft brand in Sydney, Australia. Sydney’s first Aloft hotel will be located at 302 Pitt Street, after the city’s iconic Druids House
building is transformed into a-state-of-the-art hotel by renowned, local designer, Carmen Glenister of Opera Studio Design and
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Sydney based Architects, Scott Carver. Set to open in November 2016, the 136-room Aloft Sydney Pitt Street will be located in the
heart of Sydney’s vibrant “Koreatown” district.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has announced its Sheraton brand will debut in Danang, Vietnam’s third largest city,
with the signing of Sheraton Danang Resort, a beachfront property. Scheduled to open in early 2018, the agreement with Oriental
Sea Villas and Hotel Company Ltd follows closely behind the signing of Four Points by Sheraton Danang late last year, signifying the
growing presence of Starwood Hotels in the city and the country. The Sheraton Danang Resort will be located on the popular white
sands of Danang Beach and will feature 250 guestrooms. Upon completion, the hotel will boast 1,066 square meters of meeting and
function space, including two ballrooms and five meeting rooms.
Dutch company launches Zoku brand. The new concept from HotelsAhead proposes to merge serviced apartments with traditional
hotel rooms. Zoku’s first property will be the 133-room Zoku Amsterdam, set to open this fall. Zoku, which is Japanese for family,
tribe, or clan, will disrupt and create a new category in the hotel industry - a home-office hybrid, also suitable for long stays, with
the services of a hotel and the social buzz of a thriving neighbourhood. Designed in collaboration with Concrete, the award-winning
interior design and architecture agency.
There are 654 hotels totalling 150,762 rooms Under Contract in the Middle East/Africa region, according to the April 2015 STR
Global Construction Pipeline Report. This represents a 9.4-percent increase in rooms Under Contract compared with April 2014 and
a 21.6-percent year-over-year increase in rooms under construction. The Under Contract data includes projects in the In
Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage. The region reported
78,824 rooms in 332 hotels under construction for the month. Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment
accounted for the largest portion of rooms in the Under Contract stage, 34.6 percent with 52,234 rooms. Two other segments each
accounted for more than 15.0 percent of rooms Under Contract: Upscale (21.8 percent with 32,877 rooms) and Luxury (18.8 percent
with 28,300 rooms). The Upper Upscale segment made up the largest portion of rooms under construction, 38.0 percent with
29,915 rooms. Two other segments each accounted for more than 20.0 percent of rooms In Construction: Luxury (21.1 percent with
16,642 rooms) and Upscale (20.3 percent with 15,985 rooms).
The latest statistics from China’s Transport Ministry predicts the country’s cruise tourism market to grow by more than threefold
to 4.5m passengers by 2020 from the 1.4m passengers recorded in 2013. Costa Serena began a year-round deployment last month
with Shanghai as homeport, joining Costa Atlantica and Costa Victoria. In 2016, a fourth ship Costa Fortuna will be positioned in the
region. Royal Caribbean International is also increasing its tonnage in China and recently announced Ovation of the Seas, launching
in April 2016, will homeport in Tianjin – approximately 70 miles southeast of Beijing, while Quantum of the Seas will complete a full
year of sailings from Shanghai. Mariner of the Seas will join Quantum of the Seas in Shanghai, while Voyager of the Seas will sail
regularly from Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Port. Legend of the Seas will offer sailings from Tianjin and then reposition to its new
homeport of Xiamen for the remainder of the season. Princess ships began homeport cruising in China last year, and following a
successful inaugural season of Shanghai-based cruises on Sapphire Princess, the ship is returning for a second China season which
begins on June 4 and runs through October 2015. Princess announced that its new ship currently under construction will be based in
China (Shanghai) year-round when introduced in mid-2017.
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