The Wharf, pages 1, 4 and 5 05 December 2013
Estates Gazette, page 26 14 December 2013
City AM, page 3 08 January 2014
Chinese developers want office space at Building 1000 in Royal Docks
Chinese developers want to rent office space at Building 1000 in Newham Dockside Kay Atwal, Chief Reporter Tuesday, January 14, 2014 2:19 PM
Chinese developers who plan to transform a part of the Royal Docks in a £1 billion deal have applied to rent space at a building occupied by Newham Council. Mayor Sir Robin Wales is expected to approve the grant of a ten-year lease of Building 1000 at Newham Dockside tomorrow (Thursday) to ABP (London) Investments Ltd. It would see the firm occupy part of the fourth floor of the East Wing of the building, sharing it with the council which bought it for £110 million four years ago. It has not been revealed how much the company will pay the council. Last year, Newham Council denied it was planning to sell the premises. The council moved most of its departments from East Ham Town Hall in Barking Road in 2009, leaving the premises for community groups and a handful of council services. ABP intends to transform vacant land next to Newham Dockside into a £1 billion state-of-the-art business district, which will create 20,000 jobs, forge new trade links with China and secure billions of pounds of inward investment. A spokesman for the council said the proposal to lease office space to ABP is considered a good deal as it would generate rental income which, together with savings in rates and service charge payments, could help safeguard frontline services for residents.
He said space in Newham Dockside is available because some staff dealing face-to-face with residents will be moving to the new Customer Service Centre and Library in East Ham next month. Chris Pope, Newham’s executive director for resources and commercial development, said: “Financial pressures on the council from government cuts mean it is now more important than ever to get maximum value from our property assets. “We will continue to look for opportunities to save and make money and that includes renting out office space we are not using in Newham Dockside. The proposal being considered by the Mayor is in line with our strategic approach of maximising commercial income to offset funding cuts and protect frontline services for residents.” In May last year Mayor Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and ABP Board chairman Mr Xu Weiping, revealed details of the proposals to transform the 35-acre site at Royal Albert Dock. Sir Robin said: “We welcome ABP’s ambitious vision for the Royal Docks. This proposal will bring investment from abroad and unlock future development. It will also create benefits for local people by providing thousands of new jobs and further enhance the waterfront.” If the ABP rental deal is approved, it will mean 76 per cent of the Building 1000 is council occupied and 24 per cent by other tenants who currently include global watch brand Swatch and CityJet airline company.
http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/chinese_developers_want_office_space_at_building_100 0_in_royal_docks_1_3206012
CoStar, online 11 December 2013
Savills and ABP sign historic UK/China global tieup By Paul Norman - Wednesday, December 11, 2013 14:55 E-mail Print Savills this afternoon signed an agreement described as an historic tie-up between East and West with ABP (China) Holdings Group, the Chinese developer behind the £1bn Royal Albert Dock project in east London, to promote ABP’s business projects worldwide. At a presentation at Savills’ headquarters at 33 Margaret Street, London, W1G, ABP chairman Xu Weiping and Savills group CEO Jeremy Helsby signed a global relationship witnessed by a number of business and media representatives. The agreement will see Savills act as adviser to ABP on its plans to build a 4m sq ft plus development at the 35-acre Royal Albert Dock targeting enterprises from Asia, the UK and Europe for what it says will be London’s third financial services district. Savills will also act for ABP in attracting occupiers to its developments in Beijing, Shenyang, Qindao and Huangzhou, as well as further global developments as they emerge. The partners said “this type of worldwide representation between a Chines developer and an international real estate adviser has never been seen before on this scale”. As part of the agreement Savills will have an on-site present at Royal Albert Dock to market the site directly to potential occupiers. ABP plans to lodge its Sir Terry Farrell-designed outline masterplan for the redevelopment of Royal Dock in partnership with Stanhope in the spring of next year. The proposals will create 3.2m sq ft of offices with an estimated value of £6bn to London’s economy. Detailed plans for a first phase of more than a 1m sq ft of offices will also be lodged with work expected to begin before the end of next year on a scheme delivered in 2016. The partners said more than 60 companies from Asia have registered a formal interest in taking space and corporate occupiers will be able to both lease space on the site and buy office headquarters ranging from 5,000 sq ft to 200,000 sq ft. Jeremy Helsby, Savills Group CEO, said: “We are delighted and privileged to be working with ABP. Through our global platform we will bring together an international business community, and in particular, provide a link between UK and Asia to assist businesses in transferring seamlessly between the two Continents. “The Royal Albert Dock scheme has already attracted enormous attention worldwide and we are very excited about working on such a prestigious project which will transform an area of east London in to the capital’s newest business district.”
Evening Standard, page 54 12 December 2013
Property Week, online 11 December 2013
Savills wins Royal Docks contract 11 December 2013 | By Rhiannon Bury
Savills has been appointed to work with Royal Docks developer Asian Business Port to promote its business projects across the world.
The partnership was signed this morning by Savills Group chief executive Jeremy Helsby and ABP chairman Xu Weiping, and is one of the largest deals of its kind.
Savills will have an on-site presence at Royal Docks to bring businesses from Asia, the UK and Europe to the development.
More than 60 companies from Asia alone have registered a formal interest in taking space at the development, which will create some 3.5m sq ft of new commercial space, including 3.2m sq ft of offices.
Corporate occupiers will be able to lease space at the 35 acre site, and there will be opportunities to purchase an office headquarters ranging from 5,000 sq ft to 200,000 sq ft.
The firm will also act for ABP to attract occupiers to its developments in Beijing, Shenyang, Qindao and Huangzhou, as well as further global developments as they emerge.
Helsby said: “We are delighted and privileged to be working with ABP. Through our global platform we will bring together an international business community, and in particular, provide a link between UK and Asia to assist businesses in transferring seamlessly between the two continents.
“The Royal Docks scheme has already attracted enormous attention worldwide and we are very excited about working on such a prestigious project which will transform an area of east London into the capital’s newest business district.”
Property Week, page 4 13 December 2013
Evening Standard, pages 1 and 4 02 December 2013
AJ, page 8 20 December 2013
Building, page 34 20 December 2013
ABP chairman Xu Weiping said: “What we are seeing here is two great companies agreeing to work together to quicken the pace of the success of the Royal Albert Dock development and to create a strong international combined force for the benefit of ABP, Savills and our customers. I am very pleased we have concluded this agreement.” Weiping added that following meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron in Beijing earlier this year to promote the scheme it was clear that China and the UK were “like a couple falling in love”. “In turn ABP and Savills are falling in love.” Weiping said the project would likely take eight to 10 years to build out. Mayor of London Boris Johnson designed the Royal Albert Dock project as “an extraordinary regeneration”. “This will go on for the rest of our lifetime. It is the convergence of East and West.” ABP was founded in 2003 and is a major developer of large scale enterprise districts in the country. Its selection alongside Stanhope as developer of the Royal Docks was announced in May by Mayor of London Boris Johson. The scheme aims to London’s third business district and, according to initial projections, be worth £6bn to the UK economy, generating £23m in business rates annually and act as a catalyst for further development in the area.
Estates Gazette, page 5 14 December 2013
Financial Times, online 04 December 2013
Financial Times (London & the World), pages 2 and 3 04 December 2013
Weiping, said: “What we are seeing here is two great companies agreeing to work together to quicken the pace of the success of the Royal Docks development and create a strong international combined force for the benefit of ABP, Savills and our customers.�
Estates Gazette, page 46 11 January 2014
Financial Times, page 16 08 January 2014
The Times, page 38 08 January 2014