Merlin Entertainments will open the first Legoland theme park in South Korea in 2017 November 28, 2014 Merlin Entertainments, owner of Alton Towers and Madame Tussauds, has announced that it will be building a £172m Legoland theme park in South Korea. The company, which floated last year, said it will be funding just under a third of the project. The rest will be paid for by a property company that's owned by a consortium [...]
Blow for Zoopla as estate agent The Spicerhaart Group lets deal expire November 27, 2014 Online property giant Zoopla was dealt a blow this morning as a leading UK estate agent revealed that it would not be renewing its contract with the site. The Spicerhaart Group – which runs Haart, Felicity J Lord, Darlows and Chewton Rose – will allow its deal with Zoopla to expire at the end of this week. [...]
Essential Living wins funds for Build-to-Rent November 27, 2014 RESIDENTIAL Landlord Essential Living has become the first company to receive funding from the second phase of the government’s build-to-rent fund, paving the way for three private rented sector developments in London and the south east. The company said today it had secured a three-year £51.6m loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland and the [...]
Shaftesbury bolstered by West End property investment boom November 27, 2014 SHAFTESBURY has seen the value of its West End estate soar over the past year, thanks to booming investor interest in London’s prime property market. The FTSE 250 landlord, which owns hundreds of properties around Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, Chinatown, and Soho, posted a 25.7 per cent jump in net asset value per share to [...]
Could Sherlock Holmes really afford a two bedroom flat in Marylebone? We’ve done some London property sleuthing November 27, 2014 We think a few of these movie characters have been lying about their incomes if they can afford these flats Have you ever watched a film or a TV series and thought “How on earth do they live there?” We have. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide to homes that appear on screen, to [...]
It doesn’t get more central than The Beecham in Covent Garden November 27, 2014 Covent Garden, that stretch of meandering streets off The Strand that culminates in the famous piazza, has been through every stage of London life. It started out, as many of the City’s suburbs did, as countryside, serving as gardens for Westminster Abbey. Then came its first gentrification phase when Henry VIII seized the land [...]
On the frontline November 27, 2014 PENNY MOSGROVE MD AT QUINTESSENTIALLY ESTATES You might not think an estate agent’s office is much altered by festivities, but we, too, get the occasional Christmas shopper through the door. Even at Quintessentially Estates, where we’re used to dealing with top-end property acquisitions for some of the world’s wealthiest individuals, we sometimes find ourselves playing [...]
US private equity firm KSL Capital Partner buys De Vere’s Village resorts for £485m November 26, 2014 British hotels and leisure firm De Vere Group yesterday agreed the £485m sale of its Village Urban Resorts hotels chain to US private equity firm KSL Capital Partner. KSL – a Denver-headquartered firm focused on the travel and leisure businesses – acquires the Village’s 25 existing hotels along with three new properties under development in [...]
LondonMetric sees profits rise on £21.8m sale November 26, 2014 LONDONMETRIC Property yesterday reported strong first-half earnings growth, driven by a move away from offices and homes and into retail distribution properties. The company also continued its portfolio shuffle, selling the Cairngorm Retail Park in Milton Keynes to Royal London Asset Management for £21.8m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.10 per cent, and exchanging [...]
Telford commits to £1.1bn London building plans as profits improve November 26, 2014 LONDON housebuilder Telford Homes yesterday announced it was pushing forward its construction plans, committing to build £1.1bn of new housing in the capital, a 25 per cent increase year-on-year. Telford sold 600 homes in the six months to 30 September, more than its entire total in the previous financial year. The company improved its first-half [...]