Archived news

Construction work has started at Altira Park in Herne Bay to deliver infrastructure and the new Sainsbury’s Food Store and Petrol Filling Station. Phase 1 of the commercial development will include 30,000 sq ft of industrial units which are due for completion. Sinclair Clark advised on the land sale and are retained as letting agents for the commercial phases.

Office availability in Croydon has plummeted beneath 500,000 sq ft from 1.8m sq ft at the start of the financial downturn in 2008 according to figures which lay bare the full impact of the government’s office to residential Permitted Development Rights legislation on the Greater London town’s business district. Click here for more details…

Vanessa Clark, committee member of Develop Croydon Forum, on why big players are finding the borough a more attractive place for their businesses…

The news that two prominent office blocks have just been purchased for a combined £50 million is game-changing as far as Croydon is concerned.

Hermes has just completed its purchase of the iconic Number One Croydon, the so-called ‘50p building’, paying a rumoured £35 million for 200,000 sq ft of office space.

That has been followed by the sale of Metro Point in Sydenham, which achieved £14.75 million.

Why do these deals matter? Because for the past two years the dominant activity in Croydon’s office market has hinged on the Government’s “permitted development” initiative.

This has led to a shift away from what was previously an over-supply of office buildings in Croydon, and many of them have been acquired at increasingly high purchase prices for conversion to residential.

In total, 1.2m sq ft of proposed conversions and a further 1m sq ft of redevelopment have wiped more than 2m sq ft off the Croydon office stock.

As the volume of sales for permitted development purposes has ground to a halt, we have suddenly gone from having too much office stock to a realisation that new quality offices are urgently required as Croydon becomes more attractive to purchasers.

The exciting thing is that we aren’t just talking about any buyers. Major funds and key Central London investors have emerged as the dominant players in Croydon – for example LaSalle Investment Management (Carolyn House and Sunley House), M&G (Renaissance), Blackrock (Lansdowne House), CEL (69 Park Lane) and Aviva (Mott House) on top of Hermes (Number One Croydon) and Rockspring (Metro Point).

Other buyers understood to be circling the Croydon market include Deutsche Bank, Aberdeen Assett Management, Mayfair Capital, Resolution and CBRE.

The demands being placed on the office market are continuing to increase with a rising list of occupiers – both indigenous and from outlying areas, as well as those looking for greater value than they currently receive in central London – considering a relocation.

This is leading to improved prices and yields, as highlighted by Ruskin Square, where Stanhope and Schroder are promising to start on site shortly.

Record levels of rent for Croydon – around £35 per sq ft – are being quoted with reported interest from the likes of Metro Bank, Body Shop and Aecom.

The good news is that quality central London investors now see Croydon as an attractive proposition. As confidence in the town has improved, so have prices.

It’s a whole new ball game for Croydon – but we need more quality offices to be brought forward in the town if we are to take full advantage of this new demand.

Please click here for news about the ongoing Rates Relief scheme being offered by Croydon Council.

After 5 years in Carolyn House Whitelabel Consultants have a taken a new 10 year lease with a break at the end of the 5th year on 2,900 sq ft the 1st floor of Suffolk House George Street from landlords Freshwater Group. Whitelabel are refurbishing the space and expect to take occupation in late April 2015.

Acting on behalf of Win Technologies, Sinclair Clark have acquired 6,412 sq ft on the 3rd floor of Centro 3 a complex owned by Threadneedle. The new offices add to the growing occupancy of Win Technologies and as part of the Betway Group the new sponsor of West Ham.

Sinclair Clark sponsored the Croydon stand at MIPIM and Vanessa Clark met with a range of investors, developers and occupiers. Please click on the link for photographs of the stand and events. Please click here for photographs of the stand and events.

Sinclair Clark sponsored Matthew MacMillan on the annual cycle to Cannes ride. Matthew finished the entire 6 days and raised money for his chosen charity. Please click on the link for photographs of Matthew and colleagues on his arrival.

Having successfully won consent for a 100,000 sq ft food store and PFS prelet to Sainsbury’s, Terrace Hill now part of Urban and Civic are embarking on a new speculative shed scheme. Please click here for more information.

Sinclair Clark is pleased to announce that Mark Deverell BSc (HONS) MBEnv (SstDev)MIEMA has joined Sinclair Clark with immediate effect as a consultant. Mark brings with him a wealth of experience in all aspects of Sustainability and Occupier Acquisitions across a number of sectors. The first new instruction is to acquire 140,000 sq ft of warehousing in the Heathrow/Hayes area for occupation as soon as possible and a second phase of acquisitions is planned for the same clients.