CoStar Group is reportedly in talks for a potential $3B transaction with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in CoStar's latest attempt to expand its residential platform through acquisitions. The two firms are discussing a deal for Move Inc., the online real estate business that owns several domains, including Realtor.com, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. News Corp. confirmed negotiations in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, adding "there can be no assurance any transaction will result from these discussions." "News Corp actively assesses opportunities to maximize shareholder value, and discussions with CoStar Group are part of that ongoing effort," the statement says. "Any potential transaction would support News Corp’s strategy to optimize the value of its Digital Real Estate Services segment, while strengthening Realtor.com’s competitive position in the market." CoStar didn't respond to a request for comment. The news comes as Murdoch has explored a restructuring of media conglomerates News Corp. and Fox Corp., and as CoStar has searched for a major deal to grow its residential business. CoStar [...]

One of the most compelling claims about working from home — that it is more productive than working from the office — has been challenged by new data from the UK's official statistics body. The UK’s Office for National Statistics has had a second look at the productivity data for the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 and 2021, and decided that far from showing rapidly accelerating output per hour, the figures show the reverse. The rethink involves a data set based on growth in average output per hours worked. The calculation is, in theory, simple: You divide gross domestic product by the number of hours worked, then calculate how much this changes year-on-year. It is a standard measure used by government statisticians throughout the world. However, UK statisticians came to some erroneous conclusions. The early view was that working from home during the pandemic appeared to have helped output per hour worked to grow fast, rising by 5% during the pandemic years 2020-21. What in fact happened was that the  [...]

The 68,000-Square-Foot Office Is Part of Larger Southbank Complex with Two Residential Towers JTRE London, the UK branch of European developer JTRE, has fully let its One Triptych Place office on London's Southbank after three companies took space. An undisclosed pharmaceuticals company, understood to be one of the largest in the world, has put pen to paper to occupy five floors, or 30,000 square feet, at the Bankside site. It is joined by television communications company Digital UK, which has taken 8,000 square feet, and US architectural firm Corgan. The latter has agreed a let spanning 4,800 square feet. The deals mean that the 68,000 square feet of office space at One Triptych Place is fully let after launching in March 2022. The other tenants are publishing house, the Quarto Group, which signed a 12-year lease for all of the 9,000-square-foot second floor in August 2022. Indoor bouldering company the Font is also housed in the building, as [...]

17.8-Metre Tower in Shoreditch Has Space for 506 Desks and Is London's Tallest Timber Building TOG, the flexible workspace provider owned by Blackstone and Brockton Everlast, has opened central London's tallest mass-timber tower in Shoreditch, with online grocery retailer Ocado already in situ. The Black & White Building, which is the firm's first property to be "built up from the ground", is a 17.8-metre office block, covering 38,315 square feet, which has been constructed using renewable materials and "highly innovative construction methods" for a cost of around £17 million. CoStar News understands that the building is already 50% let, with Ocado Technology, part of grocery company Ocado Group, taking space on the third floor of the seven-floor building. BVN Architects is also located at the property, which is predicted to be full in six to eight weeks. TOG bought 74 Rivington Street in 2013. On the site was an 11,000-square-foot building that was painted black and white, giving [...]

Coworking Group Is Slashing 300 Jobs WeWork, the global flexible space provider, is cutting staff globally. The New York-based company said in a statement today (19 January) ahead of its upcoming earnings call that it plans to axe about 300 roles globally to cut costs as high inflation weighs on company spending on offices. WeWork said in a brief note that its preliminary numbers show the company made gains in revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation through the final quarter of 2022, exceeding the guidance provided in its third quarter 2022 earnings call. But it said that in connection with its "portfolio optimisation" and in continuing to streamline operations, it is pursuing "headcount reductions" which will account for around 300 roles in its global workforce. This is understood to affect around 10% of its UK workforce. It employs 500 staff in the UK and operates 50 locations in London, four in Manchester and one [...]

Group Says £62.5 Million Price is a 25% Discount to Asking Price in June Darin Partners has bought 6 Duke Street, a multilet office and gallery in London's St James's for £62.5 million or a 4.27% net initial yield. In a LinkedIn post Darin, an investor on behalf of global private clients, said the price paid reflects a discount of 25% from its June 2022 asking price. The building has been bought from Abrdn. It comprises 27,300 square feet of offices and 7,700 square feet of gallery space. The offices are multilet with the 4,400-square-foot fourth floor vacant. Darin Partners chief executive Dave Bell posted on LinkedIn that the building had been bought for long-term capital appreciation, and it was now focused on driving value, "through active asset management". Darin was advised by RX London; CBRE advised Abrdn.  

Deal Signed With Israeli Entrepreneur Hagag-Gaya to Operate Holborn Offices Flexible workspace group InfinitSpace has signed for a second London location, taking 24,000 square feet of offices at Kingsbourne House in Holborn, CoStar News can reveal. The company was founded by Wybo Wijnbergen, the former European managing director of US coworking group WeWork, and his brother, tech entrepreneur Wilco Wijnbergen. It partners with landlords to redevelop traditional office space by creating and operating white-label flexible workspace brands. The new space will be operated under the "Beyond" Brand. The company launched its first flexible workspace in London's Aldgate Tower in March 2022. The Holborn office at 229-231 High Holborn is owned by Hagag-Gaya, a company founded by Eido Hagag, an Israeli entrepreneur and co-founder of the publicly traded Hagag Group, one of Israel's leading property developers. Hagag-Gaya has entered a partnership with InfinitSpace to manage all of the seven-floor building. InfinitSpace created a new flexible workspace totalling 24,000 square feet, which opened on [...]

London Developer Says Offices and Retail Developments Have Been Letting Up Strongly GPE, the central London focused developer and investor, said strong leasing had continued into 2023 as it published an update for the quarter to 31 December 2022. Toby Courtauld, chief executive, said a strong quarter has seen it secure its largest prelet at 2 Aldermanbury Square with law firm Clifford Chance, while it had made substantial progress leasing the remainder of its retail space at its Hanover Square and 70-88 Oxford Street developments. Courtauld added that robust demand for the best spaces in central London meant the group was confident in the "attractions of our highly sustainable, flexible, tech-enabled spaces in a market where high quality product is increasingly scarce". GPE signed 29 new leases and renewals generating annual rent of £34.3 million (its share: £33.1 million), with market lettings on average 2.1% ahead of March 2022 estimated rental value. Alongside the 321,000-square-foot 2 Aldermanbury Square [...]

Chinese Social Media Giant Taking 140,000 Square Feet at Topland and Beltane Building Topland Group and Beltane Asset Management have secured social media platform TikTok Information Technologies for a major London office prelet at their Verdant development in Farringdon. Comprising 140,000 square feet of offices, the scheme is in the heart of the "Cultural Mile" and connects 150 Aldersgate Street and 3-4 Bartholomew Place in Farringdon. It is due for completion in the third quarter of 2024. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a China-founded technology company. Mark Kingston, managing director of Topland, said in a statement: “We are delighted to have transacted with this growing, cutting-edge brand that was seeking exceptional modern office space in the heart of London. “Our decision to build speculatively demonstrates our confidence in the London office market, which has now been borne out by signing such a quality client. Verdant provides truly sustainable next generation office space which appeals to a wide range of occupiers.” [...]