Peter Bill

EG (£) My column this weeks begs you to stay awake after being told that CMBS office delinquency rates in America have just spiked above the level last seen in 2012, in the aftermath of 2007/8 crash. Try not to worry too much, says a man who should know. eg.mydigitalpublication.co.uk/articles/news?…

BD (£) Great Portland Estates has been ordered to make further changes to its long-delayed office scheme next to the Shard after being told a radical redesign by Orms had not been enough to address its heritage impact on surrounding buildings. bdonline.co.uk/news/orms-told…

Building (£) “Goldman Sachs confirmed its private equity arm was buying 75% of Mace Consult. The move will see Consult demerge from Mace to become a standalone, independently-run company.” But not independent of Goldman Sachs. building.co.uk/news/goldman-s…

Times (£) “Customers of the 29,000 sq m data centre in Reading run by CenterSquare can pay to use the three OQC quantum computers.” Article makes you wonder if giant data centres will be made redundant by advances in quantum computing. thetimes.com/business-money…

DT (£) “The retailer has put forward a proposal to hand the keys back on 33 stores, slash the rents on a further 71 shops and write off a series of debts to stave off a severe liquidity crisis.” Looks like some landlords may resist. telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/…

Estates Gazette (£) “The council will ensure that its JV with Lendlease for Smithfield enables new JV partner, The Crown Estate, to participate in the scheme.” Well, now the pair has been gifted £172m of taxpayers money, what could go wrong? estatesgazette.co.uk/news/smithfiel…

PW (£) “The Fox Court site on Gray’s Inn Road will open in August under the company’s premium ‘beyond’ brand as ‘beyond Fox Court’. propertyweek.com/news/infinitsp…

Estates Gazette (£) “Planners say Criterion failed to “suitably demonstrate there is no interest in the continued use of the site for office purposes” as marketing campaign ran for less than the required 12 months.” estatesgazette.co.uk/news/criterion…

Warehouse REIT says yes please to Blackstone’s £489m offer, spurning slightly lower bid of £485m from Tritax Big Box. But the Fat Lady ‘ain’t sung yet.

Bloomberg (£) A member of the ‘ multi-billionaire’ family behind Thompson Reuters has bought a ‘sprawling’ single level flat in Mayfair for £25m. If memory serves, Bloomberg, which likes to tease rival, reported a sale to family on Grosvenor Sq last year. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Cars are 22% bigger than they were 20 years ago. How many housebuilders increased the standard width of their garage doors? How many planning authorities have increased minimum width from 7’ to 8’.

DT (£) “Around a dozen areas will be earmarked for the first wave of new towns and major urban extensions in a taskforce report, set to be sent to ministers within the next few weeks.” In the next few days - if deadline for report to be met. telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/…

Building (£) Good article that concentrates on the ‘how’ public projects should be delivered rather than ‘what’. building.co.uk/comment/no-one…

Costar (£) “The Mayor of London has launched the formal search for a master developer for the redevelopment of Royal Albert Dock in east London.” Again. Is there anyone left on the globe willing to give this a crack? costar.com/article/171180…

DT (£) The Energy Secretary has promised to investigate how regulations are enforced and to relax the rules if needed, saying noise issues “remains a big barrier” to heat pump installation. telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/…

Sky News: “Under the Aarhus Convention, campaigners who challenge projects on environmental grounds but then lose in court against housing and big infrastructure have their costs above £10,000 capped and the rest met by the taxpayer. news.sky.com/story/pressure…

WSJ (£) Fortress has launched efforts to seize Cohen’s houses in Provence and Greenwich… and is going after his 25 cars…a 220-foot super yacht, valued at $49.6m is one of five yachts Fortress is also trying to seize. Crikey how many yachts do you need? wsj.com/real-estate/co…

PRS REIT Q4 results show activity at new build rental homes firm has pretty much halted, as the directors who wrested the business from the founder Steve Smith prep the company for sale. Separate announcement says discussions with William Astor’s Long Harbour are continuing. .

FT (£) “According to the 420-page document..prosecutors allege the Coima boss bribed public officials to obtain fast-tracked building permits that overlooked rules governing the height of buildings.” Not that hard to spot then. ft.com/content/95c2d6… via @ft

The legislation will require landlords of buildings 18m or more in height with unsafe cladding to complete remediation by the end of 2029, and landlords of buildings 11-18m in height to complete remediation by the end of 2031. gov.uk/government/new…