Prince Charles opened his own royal restaurant and pop-up shop in Aberdeenshire to spur recovery in flood-battered Ballater. More than 300 homes and businesses were devastated when the River Dee overflowed in December.
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Plans for the venture were revealed in July, and builders took only five weeks to convert a derelict former Co-Op on Netherley Place to the Rothesay Rooms.
The project is part of Prince Charles' Ballater Flood Appeal, which has raised £160k since launching in January.
The royals, known as Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, say the idea was put to them by a local butcher, and they ran with it. The project will not only attract tourists but will also help young people with restaurant training opportunities.
"There has been a lot of effort in the last six months or so since the disastrous floods that did so much damage to poor old Ballater," Prince Charles said at the opening on Tuesday. "I hope this particular restaurant and shop will help to give a little boost to Ballater, particularly in the off-season."
Germany
Goodman Group is developing a 247k SF logistics centre for the auto supplier NGK Spark Plug Europe at the Kasslerfeld location. A 113k SF speculative unit will also be developed at the site. Completion is slated for late 2016.
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The Student Hotel and the European Student Housing Fund opened their first German hotel in Berlin near Alexanderplatz. The 456-key, 182k SF project will be developed and operated in a JV with Triton Development GmbH. The hotel’s ground floor will be public-accessible and feature study areas, meeting spaces, a gym and a garage for 400 bicycles. It is expected to open in 2019.
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BlackRock Real Estate completed the acquisition of a 306k SF office building in Frankfurt. The price was undisclosed. The Grade B office building is part of an established office cluster and is 83% let. HoganLovells, Savills and Drees und Sommer advised BlackRock.
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A fund managed by ActivumSG Capital Management acquired Germany’s largest specialist developer of senior housing in a strategy to capture the opportunities presented by the country’s ageing population. ActivumSG Fund III purchased a 94% interest in WI-IMMOGroup, a private company based in Hildesheim, near Hannover, that generates annual sales of around €90M.
France
GIFI opened its first store in Paris with 10k SF at rue d’Alésia in the 14th Arrondissement, the first of 12 it plans in the city centre and 30 in France. GIFI operates 528 stores in France and Belgium and intends to nearly double its storefronts to 1,000 by 2026.
The Netherlands
Europe Value Investors acquired the Coengebouw from Vastint Netherlands. The multi-tenant 212k SF office building is in the Sloterdijk district of Amsterdam.
Brussels
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Pandox completed its acquisition of Hilton Grand Place Brussels. The final price was €55M.
Poland
Echo Investment sold Echo Polska Properties seven office buildings totalling 1.2M SF. Total consideration was almost €264M. The sold properties are: O3 Business Campus in Cracow (Phase 1, 2 and 3), Tryton Business House in Gdańsk, A4 Business Park in Katowice (Phase 3) and Symetris Business Park in Łódź (Phase 1 and 2).
UK
Manchester bar operator Noho took the final leisure unit at Sevendale House in the Northern Quarter, bringing it to three venues in the building. The company signed a 10-year lease for over 4k SF with landlord Philip J Davies Holdings. The 120k SF Sevendale House is home to Ticketmaster, Urbanbubble and Code Computerlove.
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Law firm Browne Jacobson signed a 10-year lease on 11k SF in Allied London’s Spinningfields that is still under construction. Browne Jacobson is based in 3 Piccadilly Place, and will be quadrupling in size when it relocates to Spinningfields. The 260k SF is already pre-let to PwC, which has 50k SF, and law firm Squire Patton Boggs signed a 27k SF lease.
Spain
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El Corte Inglés sold a shopping centre on Paseo de la Castellana, 83-85 in Madrid to Monthisa Real Estate for €150M. Monthisa Real Estate was advised by Inmored. El Corte Inglés will remain as the tenant for at least 10 years.
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