The mood is lightening with recent evidence pointing to a faster economic recovery in southern England than in other parts of the UK. The pattern of improvement now appears to spread along the south coast from Kent to Dorset. There seems to be a healthier commercial property market in many parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex and, in particular, Croydon, where ambition to grow dominates.

The Kent Property Market Report from Kent County Council and Cluttons produced by Locate in Kent had the unusual message of “a healthy and encouraging performance in 2008/2009, exceeding expectations on a number of fronts.” Of all things, rental values grew marginally and demand for property in rural areas “remained strong.”

The report revealed that there was particular demand for space from manufacturing, transport and logistics companies together with the construction and property sectors. This can only be improved with the high speed rail services coming in soon.

Kent County Council leader Paul Carter commented: “This report shows that Kent is resilient and is coming out of the recession fighting and has fared well in comparison to the rest of the UK.”

His optimism was echoed by Paul Wookey, Chief Executive of Locate in Kent. He said: “During the year we recorded 246 new projects, which was an increase on last year.”

The improvements in transport are playing a key role in the economic improvement, notably the high speed rail services. This will continue because Network Rail has published a plan for future rail services in Kent and Sussex that envisages increased capacity on the routes to the south coast and a more frequent service between Gatwick (for the airport) and Reading.

In many parts of Kent the roads have been upgraded and now after much pressure, the Department of Transport has re-confirmed its support for a link road between the A259 Bexhill and Hastings with the next step a public inquiry.

After a spate of lettings at its Henley Business Park, Guildford, St Modwen has submitted a planning application for the old factory buildings on the site for a complex of 19,974 sq.metres (215,000 sq.ft.). Three deals at the park totalled 3,066 sq.metres (33,000 sq.ft.), one of which was a sale, with two units let to StoreCore, a service provider to the oil and gas industry.

David Bowen of Vail Williams said: “Following the lettings, the business park is now over 80% let and we are confident of securing occupiers for the remaining units.” Henley Business Park is part of the 183 acre industrial estate formerly occupied by the Vokes Group.

In addition St Modwen has completed its first lettings at Brighton Office Campus in the third phase of the small unit scheme.

Kings Hill has scored again with construction and engineers’ joint venture, Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald taking 1,913 sq.metres.

This caps a period in which all the existing occupiers whose leases came up this year stayed at the park. Andrew Blevins of Liberty Property Trust. owners of Kings Hill, said: “This is a tenant selected by the government to implement an important regional infrastructure contract for design and construction services for the strategic road network in the south east.” Liberty has an active programme of improvement at Kings Hill and this year started a scheme for art exhibitions in flagship office buildings in conjunction with Arts and Business, an organisation that aims to enhance the workplace through art. Sculptures, paintings, textiles, ceramics and photographs are on shown in five of the park’s buildings.

Elsewhere in Kent, Mike Lewis of Michael Rogers said “there are two or three deals in the pipeline that could add up to 5,574 sq.metres.” Even so the market is “somewhat fickle at the moment, partly because lawyers appear to be spinning out deals. But the freehold market appears to be coming back in Bromley and Richmond.”

RREEF Spezial Invest has bought a 21,991 sq.metres logistics centre near Maidstone from Aviva Investors for £16.36 million. It is let to DHL Corporation which handles fresh produce for Sainsbury.

Carisbrooke and Woking Council are teaming up to develop a 5.5 acre site into a mixed use development in the centre of the Surrey town. The concept is for a 69,675 sq.metres (750,000 sq.ft.) scheme of offices, shops, flats and a hotel that will act as a gateway to the town.

It is on a site between Albion House (which Carisbrooke already owns), Cawsey Way, the High Street and Commercial Way. The scheme, designed by architects, PRC Group, could start construction in 2011.

Ashford is stepping up the pace of its expansion with a plan for a 54,811 sq.metres (590,000 sq.ft.) business district which is being promoted by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).

The aim is to take advantage of the high speed rail links to London by locating the commercial space next to the railway station. The Javelin trains have slashed the journey time to London to 37 minutes, which has a knock on effect of helping access to the Midlands and North. Also in Ashford, planners have given the green light for two residential schemes.

Crest Nicholson will build 43 homes at Cheeseman’s Green as part of the East Stour Village project, which will also have commercial space and more housing. The other is Barrett’s plan for another 74 homes at Brisley Farm, increasing the estate to 500 units.

Tilfen Land is progressing well with Phase One of their Veridion Park development at Erith. This will provide 3 speculative business/ production units able to accommodate requirements of between 8,202 sq.ft. and 24,833 sq.ft. when completed in November 2009. The new units will be adjacent to the LB Bexley’s £8m Thames Innovation Centre and the Regional Distribution Centre of the Musgrave Group.

Key design features include attractive glass and timber panelled elevations, and mezzanine level comfort cooled offices occupying circa 15% of the total floor area. Veridion Park will provide up to 680,000 sq.ft. of light industrial, warehouse, office and R&D accommodation within a landscaped setting of 67 acres. the property will be marketed by Hindwoods Hunter Payne.

Owning the oldest airport in the country at Shoreham, Sussex, which has a Grade II* listed terminal building, imposes a responsibility. That is fine by Geoff Egan of Egan Lawson, which manages the Albermarle Syndicate which owns it. Indeed the syndicate, groups of wealthy individuals, many of them already successful in business, banded together in limited legal partnerships(LLP) to own a range of property assets in the south east, including the Fairoaks Airport near Chertsey, Surrey.

“We plan to restore the Art Deco terminal to its full glory as part of an upgrading of the airport which has 360 acres of land with industrial and office space adjacent to the A27 trunk road,” Egan said.

As part of the plan Egan is “talking to credible operators about having scheduled services to Paris, Jersey and the Isle of Man,” a logical extension of the airport activities in the prosperous south east.

The development of the properties will bring 5,574 sq.metres (60,000 sq.ft.) of retailing and offices around the terminal. “Our experience at Shoreham and the 350 acre Fairoaks, where we have development plans, has been good so we are looking to buy a couple more airports. The nature of the LLP means that we can call on our investors for business expertise and gain impetus from time to time to reinvent ourselves, “Egan said.

Among the variety of assets in the different syndicates are hotels (Conway, North Wales); two prime located offices in Croydon which will be redeveloped as a high rise commercial scheme; a £35 million town centre scheme in Egham, Surrey with Waitrose as the anchor and shopping centres in other parts of the UK.

Kent Science Park is planning for a £25 million investment programme over the next five years by expanding the park on a new site to the south of the existing boundary. It wants to pull in new occupiers for the 11,984 sq.metres (129,000 sq.ft.) of new commercial space.

This would house 400 employees and bring the total at the Sittingbourne, Kent, park to 1,600. Andrew Bull of Jones LangLaSalle Investment Management said: “The park is a success story and we continue to attract new tenants and are not sitting back and waiting for the upturn. We must plan for the future and this investment will also help to ensure that Swale is well placed to bounce back when the recovery comes.” The most recent development on the park is a new arrival centre.

The Courtyard, Gillingham Business Park

Location:
Gillingham Business Park is one of the most popular business locations in North Kent. It is located about 2 miles north of the M2 motorway (Junction 4) and immediately adjacent to the A2.

Description:
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Current Availability:

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Features:

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Terms:
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Watson Day 01634 668000

Full steam ahead appears to be the watchword for Croydon Council as it pushes forward a number of schemes to upgrade the town.

It has a new champion to pursue that objective in the guise of Tony Kildare, Chief Executive of Croydon Economic Development Company (EDC), who said: ”My aim is to drive forward the economic development to take Croydon from ‘good’ to ‘great’.”

He takes the wider view that his job is not only to push Croydon forward but to do it as part of change in south London and to even aim for a new international business status for the Surrey town.

“There is strong support and enthusiasm from the business community, developers and others, including Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London,” he said. The concept is for Croydon becoming a “superhub” for London and an economic driver for the City.

Kildare has considerable business experience, the last as Director for Government and Public Sector Business at Ernst & Young, an accountancy and consultancy firm.

Meanwhile, Croydon Council is embarking on a new policy for its most blighted schemes in order to keep the development process rattling along. Croydon Chief Executive Jon Rouse said: “Croydon has missed three economic waves. We don’t want to miss the next one.”

For its part, the council and John Laing kicked off the £450 million urban regeneration plan with a council headquarters of 36,231 sq.metres (390,000 sq.ft.) building at the junction of Fell Road and Mint Walk.

Adding to the picture of a brighter future, Stanhope and Schroders are to submit a 550 unit private rented quarter at their Croydon Gateway scheme. This is part of revisions for the 130,0060 sq.metres (1.4 million sq.ft.) Ruskin Square development which includes lowering the heights of some of the buildings.

Another scheme that will be changed is Menta’s £500 million plan for four towers adjacent to East Croydon railway station.

The council is rejecting the proposal because it would be over developed and should have more affordable housing than the 35% on offer.

The government is attempting to kick start Land Securities’ massive Ebbsfleet mixed use development with a USA style tax increment financing deal. It is one of a 100 projects that the government is considering for the scheme in an effort to keep development in the UK rolling. The Ebbsfleet project is for 1.58 million sq.m. which includes 10,000 homes. The TIF scheme works through a cash raising operation by allowing councils to sell bonds after the initial infrastructure has been put in place.

John Wilkins, a former partner of Cluttons, & Marie Green have formed a new company, Wilkins Green, which will provide estate management services to the business community.

There are plenty of encouraging signs that the commercial property market in the three counties has overcome the worst of the recession.

Perhaps the strongest sign, and one that is likely to be making headlines for some time, is the determination of Croydon Council to transform the town into a world class business centre. It is ambitious given the strength of Docklands and the City, but it certainly worth aiming for.

It will not be an easy process, with plenty of setbacks likely on the way. But Croydon could become a real fulcrum for economic development in the south east since it has all the ingredients, notably the transport infrastructure.

Indeed the whole of the south east is set to gain from transport improvements with plans being discussed for rail improvements on top of the arrival of the 140mph service through Kent to St Pancras. This must have an impact on economic growth.