Chinese Shoppers Outspend Russians and Arabs

Traders on London's Bond Street, a shopping strip of exclusive jewellers, art dealers and fashion retailers that bisects the elite Mayfair district report Chinese shoppers now outspend their Russian and Arab counterparts.

Chinese shoppers spent more than 3 million pounds ($4.93 million) on Bond Street during the six months to September, more than double the previous period, according to figures from the Bond Street Association of traders on the street.

London's upmarket estate agents also report a surge in interest from Asian, particularly Chinese, buyers of properties in the prime districts of Mayfair and Belgravia, where little sells for less than 1 million pounds.

Central London Space Under Offer Rising

The amount of space under offer in Central London continued to rise last month reaching 3.4m sq ft at the end of November, a 21 per cent rise on October and more than double that recorded at the start of the year.

Availability in Central London fell at the end of November to 19.8m sq ft, a 4 per cent decrease on October, and a result of the sustained level of take up in recent month.It is increasingly clear that the momentum in the market has changed and is now moving forward. As supply is absorbed Central London will soon be faced with a shortage of new quality stock, particularly in the City and this will inevitably produce strong rental growth.

Recent leasing deals such as Bank of China at 1 Lothbury St, EC2 (112,300 sq ft) and Lehman Brothers at 25 Canada Square (73,400 sq ft) were the most significant in the City and Docklands. Heidrick and Struggles International took 27,500 sq ft at the Iona building, 40 Argyll Street in the West End.

Minerva Sells Off London Office Space

London office space totaling some 44,000 sq ft has been sold off by property development company.

Under the terms of the deal, Minerva has sold properties at 42 and 44-48 Wigmore Street and 5 Wellbeck Street to Standard Life Investment Funds for £40.75 million.Minerva has also agreed to rent existing office space under a lease agreement for what had previously been its headquarters.

The sale price represents a 20 per cent premium from June 2009 when the buildings were valued at £33.9 million.

Minerva's willingness to sell was apparently driven by a desire to shore up its capital reserves to fend off a £84.5 million takeover bid from Nathan Kirsh, the South African investor.

Salmaan Hasan, chief executive of Minerva, told Property Week that the deal was a "key milestone achieved by Minerva as the market recovers".

He added: "The premium valuation achieved of 20 per cent to the book value as reported at 30 June 2009 is further evidence of improving market conditions in the London property sector.

"This sale follows the successful amendment of Minerva's debt facilities, and represents a further step in strengthening our financial position."

Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre Success

One year after Westfield opened its doors, Ealing Broadway celebrates success with unprecedented footfall and lettings activity.

Legal & General Property, has announced that it has added New Look to the line up at Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre's. The recent deal completes a series of high profile retail lettings which has seen new high street fashion brands coming in on over a third of the retail space during the last 15 months.

In spite of Westfield completing its first year of trading (30 October) and announcing a record 23 million visitors through the doors, Ealing Broadway has seen continuing increases in footfall over the period, with a rise of approximately 20% overall since the beginning of 2008. Not only is footfall growing, but the scheme forecasts to have had an estimated 15.5 million visitors by the year end, for a scheme which is only one- fifth of the size of Westfield.

According to National Benchmark Data, these statistics illustrate the undoubted success of the scheme in delivering growth in a difficult market as well as disproving speculation that the Centre would suffer on the opening of Westfield. Ealing Broadway continues to dominate Ealing's shopping, with 96% of its local catchment using it.

The Telegraph Sees the Upside of the Dubai Financial Crisis

The Telegraph sees the upside of the Dubai financial crisis, reporting that

"British Property Market Would Welcome More Dubais; UK commercial property could do with more Dubais. At least one of the troubled emirate's investment vehicles has started selling London property assets at a loss. If other indebted domestic and foreign investors follow suit, it might limit a bubble currently forming in the market."

The Telegraph