Luxury watch brand Hublot has agreed to the highest retail rent in the UK—ever. The company will pay £2k/SF for its new flagship store in Mayfair at the Pollen Estate's 14 New Bond St, W1.
Hublot’s lease locks the company in for 20 years. The new shop will have a basement, ground floor, and first floor. BNP Paribas Real Estate acted for the tenant; KLM advised the Pollen Estate.
EXECS
Neil Batty joined Cushman & Wakefield as head of international sales for the company’s London residential team.
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Simon Girling, director of Ipswich-based construction firm SEH French, has been sworn in as chair of the National Federation of Builders.
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Peter Whiteley was appointed head of Knight Frank’s Sheffield office.
LEASES
Victoria’s Secret signed a lease at Liverpool One’s South John Street. Cushman & Wakefield and Metis Real Estate Advisors repped Liverpool ONE. CBRE repped Victoria’s Secret.
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Ubon Partners signed a five-year lease on the fourth floor at 2 St. James St, the Berry Bros & Rudd’s—the UK’s oldest wine merchant—office building. Mellersh & Hardin’s Julian Leech repped Ubon. Knight Frank’s Will Foster repped Berry Brother.
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Legat Owen completed the letting of 23-24 Hope St, Wrexham with a new 10-year lease to Select Fashion. The four-story retail unit occupies a prominent location within High Street and was previously home to Blue Inc retail.
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Fortwell Capital signed a 10-year lease at 39 Sloane St in the Knightsbridge area.
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COS signed a 15-year lease at One New Change, Land Securities’ shopping destination in the city. Bruce Gillingham Pollard and Nash Bond acted for Land Securities.
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WorldRemit will move its world HQ to 62 Buckingham Gate, SW1, where it leased nearly 25k SF on the building’s second floor. The building, now 78% leased, is also home to Rolls-Royce,the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Curzon. Knight Frank and JLL advised landlord Land Securities, and Hanover Green repped the tenant.
DEVELOPMENT
Greater Portland Estates completed the demolition works at 160 Old St EC1, and commenced the transformation into 161k SF of high-quality office and retail. The company plans to complete the project in late 2017, and is in the process of pre-leasing.
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Argent Related will lead a £1B development of Tottenham Hale in north London that will deliver 800 homes.
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Bournemouth Development broke ground on a £27M development creating more than 100 homes for rent in the heart of Bournemouth. Berry Court in St Peter’s Road will replace an underused car park with 113 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments alongside new multi-level public and residents’ parking.
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Slough Borough Council approved a plan to build a £17.9M leisure center that will include an eight-lane, 25-metre swimming pool, a learner pool, five-court sports hall, fitness suite, changing facilities, café, activity zone and dance studies. Completion is slated for autumn 2018.
FINANCE
City Pride Limited, an overseas real estate investment consortium, sourced £320M to fund the construction of its Landmark Pinnacle residential tower in London’s Docklands.
