LONDON | Projects & Construction

[SO143]

image hosted on flickr

[PortoNuts]

London Developers Double Apartment Density as Less Land Is Made Available

Homebuilders are adding more than twice as many properties into new developments in London, increasing density in the U.K.’s most populous city, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL)

The 101,870 homes completed in the five years through March 2011 were built at a density of 100 residences per hectare of land, according Jones Lang. That compares with 50 dwellings per hectare for the 68,870 built in the previous decade.

The amount of land approved for development in the U.K. capital fell in the past decade even as demand for residential real estate and tight supply helped boost prices, said Jon Neale, a residential research director for the Chicago-based broker.

“Land will become a constraining factor,” Neale said by e-mail. “The increase in density is partly driven by broader economic and social trends, namely the greater desire for central London property. The only way this can be accommodated is by increasing height and density.”

London’s Shard skyscraper, the highest in Western Europe, will have apartments, hotels, offices and restaurants when it opens next year. Berkeley Group Holdings Plc (BKG) plans 11-story and 12-story residential towers in London’s Westminster district and is constructing apartment blocks in Kensington. Heron International Inc. is building a 36-story residential tower in the City of London financial district.

Financial District

The Heron is one of two new projects under way in the City of London, according to Savills Plc. The other is a 158- apartment building by Tower Bridge, which is being developed by Cheval Residences Ltd. From 2007 to 2011, landlords began turning 19 commercial buildings in the district into homes.

About 830 hectares of land were released for residential development by planning authorities in the four years through 2009, a drop of 10 percent from the same period through 2004. That may add pressure to change protections for the green belt, land bordering London where building is banned, Neale said.

“London’s size has been fixed by policy and it cannot grow outward,” he said. “We’ve been resistant for generations to the idea that cities could expand into precious green fields. Ultimately, though, that is the only way to increase land supply.”

The U.K. government is trying to simplify planning approval by whittling down more than 1,000 pages of regulations to 52 while trying to balance an area’s economic, social and environmental needs. Opponents including the National Trust say the reforms may expose the countryside to urban sprawl.

Apartment prices in London rise 1.5 percent for each floor of height, according to research last week by Los Angeles-based broker CBRE Group Inc. (CBG) The city’s residential tower developments have a 36 percent price premium over other new build developments, CBRE said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...available.html

[SO143]

ISG Back To School With £4.3 Million Streatham School Scheme
Published Tue, Feb 14th 2012

ISG is to carry out a complex £4.3 million extension project at Hitherfield Primary School in Streatham, to enable the school to expand its intake in response to a growing local population.

Awarded by the London Borough of Lambeth, the project involves construction of two new three-storey teaching blocks positioned at either end of the existing 100-year-old junior block. The school's existing kitchen and one of the toilet blocks occupy part of the footprint for the new extension, so the scheme involves extensive enabling works to ensure that the school can remain fully operational throughout the works.

[....]

Development Securities' £250m Hillingdon scheme given planning permission
16 Feb 2012

The London Borough of Hillingdon has resolved to grant planning permission to Development Securities for the first phase of its 18 acre regeneration project at the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes, Middlesex.16 Feb 2012

The first phase of the project will be residential led and include 132 new apartments. The wider £250 million mixed-use regeneration scheme will create a commercial, residential and community hub.

Development Securities, in a joint venture with Cathedral Group, will develop the project site. The joint venture has revised its masterplan for the area, which sets out the blueprint for the whole project. It is in its final stages of preparation and is planned to be submitted to the London Borough of Hillingdon shortly, the developers said.

The site was originally acquired by Development Securities and Cathedral Group for £16 million last April. It is currently used for commercial purposes and it covers over 700,000 square feet of space.

[...]

[SO143]

CPP invests in London's Victoria Circle
Feb 15, 2012 9:16 AM ET

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has announced a joint venture partnership to develop a $1.56 billion, residential, office and retail complex in London.



The agreement with U.K.-based commercial property developer Land Securities Group PLC is to develop the Victoria Circle, London SW1 complex.

It involves five new buildings opposite Victoria Station, where the London railway and London Underground meet.

The CPPIB manages the Canada Pension Plan fund, which on Friday announced it had grown to $152.8 billion by the end of its third quarter.

Land Securities owns the existing properties and will sell them to the joint venture for £163 million ($254.6 million). It will operate as the development manager and will lease to tenants.

A demolition of the existing buildings will happen after the current tenants move out, sometime after the beginning of September.

"The Victoria Circle project supports CPPIB's real estate strategy to own and develop properties in key markets for the long term," said Graeme Eadie, CPPIB's senior vice president of real estate investments.

The board says the first phase of the 910,000 square-foot project is expected to be completed in 2016 and the second in 2018.

The announcement follows the CPPIB's announcement on Tuesday of its biggest deal ever, a whopping $1.8 billion investment in 10 regional shopping malls and two redevelopment sites in the United States.

[...]

[PortoNuts]

Really interested in that complex, it looks huge.

[LazyOaf]

Originally Posted by SO143

ISG Back To School With £4.3 Million Streatham School Scheme
Published Tue, Feb 14th 2012

My old primary school!

[Jex7844]

Good news about Victoria Transport Interchange SO143 . However, what about the new building initially planned instead of the crappy shops (newsagent etc), I mean the one facing Victoria's main entrance:


I mean this building with the 'I'... isn't it topical anymore?

[Axelferis]

victoria station needs a refurbishment concerning the connexion with metro.

I was there at new year's eve and it's outdated.

[Newcastle Guy]

Gothicform posted this new render of the Vauxhall cluster in the UK section:

[Axelferis]

oh geez

London is breathtaking...

[PortoNuts]

Fantastic!

...

21 Wapping Lane

by mogwai83.

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by Docklandsboy, on Flickr

[LoveAgent.]

Originally Posted by Newcastle Guy

Gothicform posted this new render of the Vauxhall cluster in the UK section:
http://skyscrapernews.com/dump/vauxhall1.jpg

Holy $h!t!

[Ulpia-Serdica]

Originally Posted by LoveAgent.

Holy $h!t!

I second that

[SO143]

Skanska confirmed for Axa's £115m City scheme
This article was published on 17/02/2012

Skanska has been awarded the main contract for the latest landmark building in the City of London.

6 Bevis Marks, designed by Fletcher Priest Architects, is set to be completed in September 2013. The 170,000 sq ft speculative office scheme is being developed by AXA Real Estate in partnership with private equity real estate investment advisory company MGPA. Total development cost is estimated at £115m ($185m).

Skanska’s appointment follows its completion of the project's demolition phase.

The design includes floor plates ranging in size from 6,000 sq ft to 13,000 sq ft, making the development suitable for a broad range of clients either on a single or multi-let basis. It is targeting a BREAAM ‘Excellent’ rating and is designed to be 80% more energy efficient than the building it replaces. It also reuses more than 50% of the original structural mass that is part of an extensive sustainability agenda that shortens the construction programme, and helps avoid risks in the ground, the developers say.

Harry Badham, AXA Real Estate’s UK Director of Development said: “This development, with its spectacular sky-garden on the 16th floor, will provide one of the most exciting additions to the skyline in the City’s tower cluster, alongside the Gherkin and the Heron Tower. We believe Bevis Marks will provide an exceptional workspace and is being delivered at a time when new build space will be in short supply, further emphasising our ability to source innovative assets which have the potential to create significant value for our clients.”

Skanska managing director Paul Heather said: “To be appointed as principal contractor for the construction phase of this innovative 170,000 sq ft new build development is a challenging prospect, but one that we relish and we are confident that, alongside AXA Real Estate and MGPA, we can deliver an outstanding and highly sustainable new office property onto the market.”

[Andre_idol]

Looks great. Some close-up renders would be nice though.

[Jex7844]

Still awaiting a response to my post #3268 guys...

Any news of the Oysterhouse Lighthouse's renovation in Kings Cross?

[PortoNuts]

Originally Posted by Jex7844

Any news of the Oysterhouse Lighthouse's renovation in Kings Cross?

I searched recent pictures and it looks like it's still the same.

[PortoNuts]

Tate Modern Extension

by mitosan.

[PortoNuts]

Kidbrooke Regeneration

SE9.

[Jex7844]

Originally Posted by PortoNuts

I searched recent pictures and it looks like it's still the same.

Damn it... Thanks PortoNuts.