The well-known “stump” which has marked the spot where the iconic pinnacle was set since 2012 now has a new future designed for it. The new design is 278m and 62 storeys tall, it will add 1.4 million square feet of net internal space on the market. It will feature a public viewing gallery which will be free for the public and also have a public restaurant and bar. The new design is seen to be revolution as it will promote cycling to work by having 1,500 parks for bikes along with showers, bike hire, repairs, sales, and safety training.

For the first time in its history, the Crown Estate is now valued at over £10 billion after a record jump of 16.1% in value; the Crown Estate is now worth a staggering £11.5 billion, nearly double the value of 10 years ago. The incredible jump in value was in part down to a profits increase of 6.7% to a new record of £285.1 million. This will be returned to the public purse. 

The development of London takes place in waves. At any one time there will be sites being demolished, some in pre-planning stages, and others in the midst of planning red tape, or – as evidenced by the cranes – in the construction phase. It is those in the pre-planning stage that give clues as to where the London skyline is heading next. When the space runs out elsewhere, the developers are on the look-out for potential new sites.

The London Real Estate Forum convened earlier this month over the 10-11 June, in Mayfair, London.  Delegates heard from leading property advisers, and business leaders, over the two days, covering topics from office design to London’s commercial property dominance, with development briefings running concurrently. 

The new design for the long-since-paused building known as the Pinnacle has gone on display at the site itself. The building will be named 22 Bishopsgate, without the reference to the Pinnacle, in keeping with its new identity. Of the original plans, only the already-constructed foundations and basements will be retained.  The display of new plans is ahead of the submission for planning permission, the original consent having been granted in 2007. 

DTZ’s annual report, Money into Property, has been released, and shows that the value of European commercial property investment stock has overtaken its previous peak of 2007. The increase of 3% in found European invested stock was sufficient to achieve the new record of €3.4 trillion.  Within the European market, Turkey experienced the greatest increase in stock value of 30%, although the initial base was relatively low. 

Lots road power station will soon be developed into a trendy high class quarter with 706 homes with starting prices of £1.7 million. In addition, there will be water gardens and soon to be developed pedestrian bridges across the Chelsea creek. The power station was originally built in 1904 to supply electricity to the tube line and is a great feature of Chelsea wharf, the redevelopment is expected to be very popular. 

Over the last 5-7 years, the TMT (Tech, Media and Telecoms) sector has blown up, with companies creating hubs in previously less desirable areas of London. Silicon Roundabout in Shoreditch/Old Street was the first beneficiary of these moves, and more areas have followed; Clerkenwell, Farringdon, Aldgate to name but a few.

Two speculative developments in Bristol totalling 295,000 sq. ft. of grade A office space is further proof it is not just London suffering from severely low vacancy rates. The Commercial Estates Group was granted planning permission in 2012 for 200,000 sq. ft. on the old Aspire Site at Temple Key; construction should be begin at the start of next year on the £100m building. Further to this, back in May 2015, Cubex applied for planning permission for 95,000 sq. ft. of grade A office space at Finzels Reach; which is also to be speculatively built.

With a massive shortage of office space across Central London, there was welcome news in Deloitte’s most recent Crane Survey that there is approximately just over 9 million square foot of office space currently under construction. Although a third of this has already been let, the prospective space that should ease the pressure on the capital’s increasing demand should be felt by 2016.