An Historical Opportunity!
Battersea Power Station bids to be made in early 2012 | SW Londoner
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Collapse of Battersea's Latest Plans
A not so flattering assessment of the owners, but informative nonetheless. Article from Julia Kollewe at the Guardian.
Battersea power station, a grade-II listed building, was decommissioned in 1983. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
The flamboyant Irish property tycoon Johnny Ronan and his business partner Richard Barrett have kept a low profile since their £5.5bn plan to revamp Battersea Power Station ignominiously collapsed into administration last week.
They bought the 16-hectare site with the derelict London landmark, Europe's biggest brick building, which has stood empty since it was decommissioned 28 years ago, for £400m in 2006. Five years later, their Real Estate Opportunities (REO) vehicle had run up debts of more than £500m and still not found an investor for the south-west London site.
REO's main lenders – Lloyds Banking Group and Ireland's state "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) – lost patience and put the power station holding company into administration in the hope that this would facilitate a sale of the site. Nama is thought to favour Chelsea football club, which has hired developer Mike Hussey and international "starchitect" Rafael Viñoly to draw up a plan for a potential 55,000 stadium at the site.
The Malaysian property firm SP Setia, whose previous bids were spurned by REO and the lenders, and a number of UK developers, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds are also understood to be in the frame.
Some developers say the Irish duo failed to attract a partner for the Battersea revamp partly because of their reputation for being litigious. At one stage in the past, their company Treasury Holdings, which owns 50.7% of REO, was involved in more than 30 lawsuits simultaneously. "REO are a good developer, but [Ronan and Barrett] are exceedingly litigious," said a London-based developer. "A lot of investors didn't want to work with them."
Legal chaos
Barrett once wrote to Paul Clinton, a property developer with whom the pair had clashed repeatedly over a Dublin shopping mall: "Certain opponents of ours have underestimated our ability to cause legal chaos to their detriment."
Michael Smith, former chairman of conservation agency An Taisce, National Trust for Ireland, described Treasury as "cavalier, litigious and gratuitously truculent", referring to court papers.
Further hurdles were the large debts run up by the pair. To some extent, the latest failed redesign for Battersea has fallen victim to the Irish property boom and bust. In April 2009, the Irish government created Nama to buy up impaired property loans from Ireland's struggling banks. Treasury, one of the largest Irish property developers, had €1.4bn (then about £1.2bn) of its €2.7bn loans taken over by Nama.
Not long after, in March 2010, Ronan had a public bust-up outside a pub in Ranelagh with his glamorous former girlfriend Glenda Gilson, a model and TV star. After the fracas, Ronan, now 57, whisked their 25-year-old mutual friend Rosanna Davison, a former Miss World and daughter of singer Chris de Burgh, off in his private jet to Marrakech for a reported €60,000, week-long extravaganza. Along with a female friend of Davison, they checked into the €500-a-night La Mamounia Hotel. Davison later described it as a "bout of Sunday afternoon drinking gone crazy" to the Irish Independent. Officials at Nama were furious.
Since then, the bearded and pony-tailed tycoon – known in the Irish press as "the Buccaneer" – has had to tone down his lavish lifestyle and even sold his private jet this summer, along with his black Maybach limousine. He reportedly left the country for a while, but has been sighted in Dublin recently.
The son of a pig farmer in Tipperary who later branched out into property, Ronan trained as an accountant but soon followed his father into developing offices. In 2009, his wealth was listed by the Sunday Times as €239m but by May 2011 both Ronan and Barrett had dropped off the list of Ireland's richest. Ronan's son, a pony-tailed "Mini-Me", also joined the property world and worked for REO on the Battersea site for some time, where he was described as "very charming and agreeable in an Irish kind of way" by a local resident.
Ronan met Barrett at Castleknock College, a private secondary school for boys in Dublin, and they later decided to become partners after bumping into each other on the same deal. A barrister who hails from a wealthy grain merchant family in Co Mayo, Barrett keeps out of the limelight. He is described as "very bright" and the brains behind Treasury.
One London developer described the pair as "the only financially sophisticated developers in Nama – with [virtually] no personal guarantees or borrowings who did everything on a corporate structure".
Treasury was formed in 1989 and named after the pair's first major development, the Treasury building in Dublin (now, coincidentally, home to Nama). The company controls more than 130 property projects across Ireland, the UK, Russia, Singapore and China, with a value of more than €4.6bn, and is one of the most prominent western developers in China. A £125m bid for the Millennium Dome in London in 2001 collapsed after Tony Blair stepped in to block the sale.
Battersea power station, a grade-II listed building, was decommissioned in 1983. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
The flamboyant Irish property tycoon Johnny Ronan and his business partner Richard Barrett have kept a low profile since their £5.5bn plan to revamp Battersea Power Station ignominiously collapsed into administration last week.
They bought the 16-hectare site with the derelict London landmark, Europe's biggest brick building, which has stood empty since it was decommissioned 28 years ago, for £400m in 2006. Five years later, their Real Estate Opportunities (REO) vehicle had run up debts of more than £500m and still not found an investor for the south-west London site.
REO's main lenders – Lloyds Banking Group and Ireland's state "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) – lost patience and put the power station holding company into administration in the hope that this would facilitate a sale of the site. Nama is thought to favour Chelsea football club, which has hired developer Mike Hussey and international "starchitect" Rafael Viñoly to draw up a plan for a potential 55,000 stadium at the site.
The Malaysian property firm SP Setia, whose previous bids were spurned by REO and the lenders, and a number of UK developers, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds are also understood to be in the frame.
Some developers say the Irish duo failed to attract a partner for the Battersea revamp partly because of their reputation for being litigious. At one stage in the past, their company Treasury Holdings, which owns 50.7% of REO, was involved in more than 30 lawsuits simultaneously. "REO are a good developer, but [Ronan and Barrett] are exceedingly litigious," said a London-based developer. "A lot of investors didn't want to work with them."
Legal chaos
Barrett once wrote to Paul Clinton, a property developer with whom the pair had clashed repeatedly over a Dublin shopping mall: "Certain opponents of ours have underestimated our ability to cause legal chaos to their detriment."
Michael Smith, former chairman of conservation agency An Taisce, National Trust for Ireland, described Treasury as "cavalier, litigious and gratuitously truculent", referring to court papers.
Further hurdles were the large debts run up by the pair. To some extent, the latest failed redesign for Battersea has fallen victim to the Irish property boom and bust. In April 2009, the Irish government created Nama to buy up impaired property loans from Ireland's struggling banks. Treasury, one of the largest Irish property developers, had €1.4bn (then about £1.2bn) of its €2.7bn loans taken over by Nama.
Not long after, in March 2010, Ronan had a public bust-up outside a pub in Ranelagh with his glamorous former girlfriend Glenda Gilson, a model and TV star. After the fracas, Ronan, now 57, whisked their 25-year-old mutual friend Rosanna Davison, a former Miss World and daughter of singer Chris de Burgh, off in his private jet to Marrakech for a reported €60,000, week-long extravaganza. Along with a female friend of Davison, they checked into the €500-a-night La Mamounia Hotel. Davison later described it as a "bout of Sunday afternoon drinking gone crazy" to the Irish Independent. Officials at Nama were furious.
Since then, the bearded and pony-tailed tycoon – known in the Irish press as "the Buccaneer" – has had to tone down his lavish lifestyle and even sold his private jet this summer, along with his black Maybach limousine. He reportedly left the country for a while, but has been sighted in Dublin recently.
The son of a pig farmer in Tipperary who later branched out into property, Ronan trained as an accountant but soon followed his father into developing offices. In 2009, his wealth was listed by the Sunday Times as €239m but by May 2011 both Ronan and Barrett had dropped off the list of Ireland's richest. Ronan's son, a pony-tailed "Mini-Me", also joined the property world and worked for REO on the Battersea site for some time, where he was described as "very charming and agreeable in an Irish kind of way" by a local resident.
Ronan met Barrett at Castleknock College, a private secondary school for boys in Dublin, and they later decided to become partners after bumping into each other on the same deal. A barrister who hails from a wealthy grain merchant family in Co Mayo, Barrett keeps out of the limelight. He is described as "very bright" and the brains behind Treasury.
One London developer described the pair as "the only financially sophisticated developers in Nama – with [virtually] no personal guarantees or borrowings who did everything on a corporate structure".
Treasury was formed in 1989 and named after the pair's first major development, the Treasury building in Dublin (now, coincidentally, home to Nama). The company controls more than 130 property projects across Ireland, the UK, Russia, Singapore and China, with a value of more than €4.6bn, and is one of the most prominent western developers in China. A £125m bid for the Millennium Dome in London in 2001 collapsed after Tony Blair stepped in to block the sale.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Setback for the Battersea Powerstation Redevelopment
Another setback for the project that received all approvals including the greenlight on Wandsworth Underground extension. It seemed like all the pieces were in place except for... financing!
Andrew Winning/Reuters
By Chris Spillane and Neil Callanan
Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The owner of Battersea Power Station, the London landmark slated for a 5.5 billion-pound ($8.6 billion) redevelopment, was put into administration by a U.K. judge after it failed to repay senior creditors.
Judge Geoffrey Charles Vos in London today granted a request by creditors led by Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency to appoint an administrator to sell the site. The group will try to recover the entire 502 million pounds owed by the project’s owners by selling the site, two people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
Ernst & Young was appointed to administer investment units of Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle Ltd. including REO Power Station Ltd. REO Site Assembly Ltd., REO 88 Kirtling St. Ltd. and REO 8 Brooks Court.
“We came to the conclusion -- with the other lenders -- that such a move would offer the best means of getting the sales process for the site back on track, and through that moving on with the regeneration of the site,” NAMA spokesman Ray Gordon said by telephone.
Planning Consent
The 38-acre (15-hectare) site was valued at 500 million pounds, developer Real Estate Opportunities said on Oct. 26. REO was given planning consent a year ago for the redevelopment of the site, which is 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) by car from the Houses of Parliament. Existing plans include a commitment to contribute more than 200 million pounds toward extending a London Underground subway line.
The assets of REO, which are in Ireland, aren’t affected by the administration order, the company said today in a statement.
Creditors called in loans to Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle on Nov. 29. Chelsea Football Club Ltd., owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, hired developer Almacantar SA to help it find a place for a new stadium and said one of the options was at the Battersea site.
“After several months of discussions and still no acceptable offers on the table, administration is the only means we have to ensure that a sales process is put back on track,” Lloyd’s spokesman Emile Abu-Shakra said in a statement. “Without a financially stable owner, the site’s future remains unclear and that’s a situation we want to avoid.”
Battersea Power Station, featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album “Animals,” was designed by Giles Gilbert- Scott, who also devised the red public telephone box, and built in two stages, according to its website. The plant supplied a fifth of London’s electricity in the early 1950s, according to the Battersea Power Station Community Group website.
“The uncertainty over Battersea Power Station redevelopment has been known for some time,” a spokesman for the London mayor’s office said after creditors called in the REO loans. “We are totally confident that new investors will come forward to take over the Battersea Power Station development.”
--Editors: Jeff St.Onge, Ross Larsen.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Spillane in London at cspillane3@bloomberg.net; Neil Callanan in London at ncallanan@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net.
Andrew Winning/Reuters
By Chris Spillane and Neil Callanan
Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The owner of Battersea Power Station, the London landmark slated for a 5.5 billion-pound ($8.6 billion) redevelopment, was put into administration by a U.K. judge after it failed to repay senior creditors.
Judge Geoffrey Charles Vos in London today granted a request by creditors led by Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency to appoint an administrator to sell the site. The group will try to recover the entire 502 million pounds owed by the project’s owners by selling the site, two people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
Ernst & Young was appointed to administer investment units of Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle Ltd. including REO Power Station Ltd. REO Site Assembly Ltd., REO 88 Kirtling St. Ltd. and REO 8 Brooks Court.
“We came to the conclusion -- with the other lenders -- that such a move would offer the best means of getting the sales process for the site back on track, and through that moving on with the regeneration of the site,” NAMA spokesman Ray Gordon said by telephone.
Planning Consent
The 38-acre (15-hectare) site was valued at 500 million pounds, developer Real Estate Opportunities said on Oct. 26. REO was given planning consent a year ago for the redevelopment of the site, which is 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) by car from the Houses of Parliament. Existing plans include a commitment to contribute more than 200 million pounds toward extending a London Underground subway line.
The assets of REO, which are in Ireland, aren’t affected by the administration order, the company said today in a statement.
Creditors called in loans to Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle on Nov. 29. Chelsea Football Club Ltd., owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, hired developer Almacantar SA to help it find a place for a new stadium and said one of the options was at the Battersea site.
“After several months of discussions and still no acceptable offers on the table, administration is the only means we have to ensure that a sales process is put back on track,” Lloyd’s spokesman Emile Abu-Shakra said in a statement. “Without a financially stable owner, the site’s future remains unclear and that’s a situation we want to avoid.”
Battersea Power Station, featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album “Animals,” was designed by Giles Gilbert- Scott, who also devised the red public telephone box, and built in two stages, according to its website. The plant supplied a fifth of London’s electricity in the early 1950s, according to the Battersea Power Station Community Group website.
“The uncertainty over Battersea Power Station redevelopment has been known for some time,” a spokesman for the London mayor’s office said after creditors called in the REO loans. “We are totally confident that new investors will come forward to take over the Battersea Power Station development.”
--Editors: Jeff St.Onge, Ross Larsen.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Spillane in London at cspillane3@bloomberg.net; Neil Callanan in London at ncallanan@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Progress on the Ryugyong Hotel
An article showed up yesterday on the "All That Is Interesting" website, with a photograph of what appears to be the near completion of the Ryugyong Hotel's curtain wall. Not easy to substantiate but, I don't think there is much point to any skepticism as there has been a trickle of images and reports showing progress on this giant, mysterious phantom over the past few years.
photo from: All That Is Interesting website.
As a Catabolist, I have naturally been intrigued by this structure and have been following the transformation since the Egypt's Orascom Group took over its construction in 2008 in a deal with the North Korean government that would guarantee the completion of what had been dubbed in the West as the "Hotel of Doom", among other things, and gave Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. the rights build and run a "consumer" 3G cell phone network and possibly a foreign-invested banking facility in the impoverished country.
Reports that Orascom, through its construction arm, Orascom Construction Industries, would initiate this investment in North Korea by building a modern concrete manufacturing facility outside Pyonyang and re-initiate the construction efforts after some 16 years, led to a meeting with Orascom Group's chairman Naguib Sawaris in 2008.
My meeting with Sawaris, who is stepping down from chairmanship of Orascom to pursue more direct ambitions within Egypt’s evolving political climate, was meant to spark interest in developing the project’s documentation. The idea was met with muted enthusiasm by Sawaris and his public relations people. Muted I say because yes, what great PR this would spark for his multi-billion dollar concern, doing what they do best – entering into risky developing countries with a 3-prong solution - develop industry, real estate and communications and what better place to showcase their vision than within such a challenging climate as North Korea. Not only for Orascom but for the North Koreans as well, in a potentially game-changing dive into transparency and openness…
Speaking of barriers to entry!
Well, I consider this one of my greatest failures as a Catabolist - not having been successful in knocking down the plethora of barriers and gaining some sort of access to the structure. I had been haunted and consumed by visions of what it would be like in the dark, empty corridors. The thousands of crumbling cement portals looking out onto Pyongyang’s streets and surrounding hills.
Well, it looks like Orascom is on track to finish the building next year, in time to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, whose spirit is most certainly lurking around Ryugyong’s corridors.
Below is the brief article from “All That Is Interesting” as well as some more detailed accounts of the hotel, deal and overall project.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/JL23Dg01.html
http://ryugyonghotel.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel
The Transformation Of The World’s Worst Building
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/post/6938332046/the-transformation-of-the-worlds-worst-building
Ryugyong Hotel is a 105-story skyscraper in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea renowned for once being dubbed the “World’s Worst Building” after having remained hallow for over 20 years. Construction began in earnest in 1987 and, if it had been completed as schedule in June 1989, would have been the tallest hotel building and the 17th tallest building in the world.However, Ryugyong Hotel was not completed in June 1989. After the crumbling of the Communist bloc and the deterioration of the North Korean economy, construction halted after the outside of the hotel was complete. What remained for almost 2 decades was a window-less, empty shell of the hotel in the middle of Pyongyang, which media outlets called “The Worst Building in the World”,”Hotel of Doom” and “Phantom Hotel”. Below, one can see how the Ryugyong Hotel stood for these years:
photos from: All That Is Interesting website.
photo from: All That Is Interesting website.
As a Catabolist, I have naturally been intrigued by this structure and have been following the transformation since the Egypt's Orascom Group took over its construction in 2008 in a deal with the North Korean government that would guarantee the completion of what had been dubbed in the West as the "Hotel of Doom", among other things, and gave Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. the rights build and run a "consumer" 3G cell phone network and possibly a foreign-invested banking facility in the impoverished country.
Reports that Orascom, through its construction arm, Orascom Construction Industries, would initiate this investment in North Korea by building a modern concrete manufacturing facility outside Pyonyang and re-initiate the construction efforts after some 16 years, led to a meeting with Orascom Group's chairman Naguib Sawaris in 2008.
My meeting with Sawaris, who is stepping down from chairmanship of Orascom to pursue more direct ambitions within Egypt’s evolving political climate, was meant to spark interest in developing the project’s documentation. The idea was met with muted enthusiasm by Sawaris and his public relations people. Muted I say because yes, what great PR this would spark for his multi-billion dollar concern, doing what they do best – entering into risky developing countries with a 3-prong solution - develop industry, real estate and communications and what better place to showcase their vision than within such a challenging climate as North Korea. Not only for Orascom but for the North Koreans as well, in a potentially game-changing dive into transparency and openness…
Speaking of barriers to entry!
Well, I consider this one of my greatest failures as a Catabolist - not having been successful in knocking down the plethora of barriers and gaining some sort of access to the structure. I had been haunted and consumed by visions of what it would be like in the dark, empty corridors. The thousands of crumbling cement portals looking out onto Pyongyang’s streets and surrounding hills.
Well, it looks like Orascom is on track to finish the building next year, in time to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, whose spirit is most certainly lurking around Ryugyong’s corridors.
Below is the brief article from “All That Is Interesting” as well as some more detailed accounts of the hotel, deal and overall project.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/JL23Dg01.html
http://ryugyonghotel.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugyong_Hotel
The Transformation Of The World’s Worst Building
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/post/6938332046/the-transformation-of-the-worlds-worst-building
Ryugyong Hotel is a 105-story skyscraper in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea renowned for once being dubbed the “World’s Worst Building” after having remained hallow for over 20 years. Construction began in earnest in 1987 and, if it had been completed as schedule in June 1989, would have been the tallest hotel building and the 17th tallest building in the world.However, Ryugyong Hotel was not completed in June 1989. After the crumbling of the Communist bloc and the deterioration of the North Korean economy, construction halted after the outside of the hotel was complete. What remained for almost 2 decades was a window-less, empty shell of the hotel in the middle of Pyongyang, which media outlets called “The Worst Building in the World”,”Hotel of Doom” and “Phantom Hotel”. Below, one can see how the Ryugyong Hotel stood for these years:
photos from: All That Is Interesting website.
However, in 2008 construction resumed after Orascom — an Egyptian cell phone company — was given the rights to the hotel. After 3 years, the exterior of the hotel is now finished, with work progressing on the interior for a planned completion date in 2012.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Battersea Power Station London : Rafael Viñoly Scheme
photo: from eArchitect website
Location: Wandsworth, west London15 Feb 2011
Battersea Power Station Redevelopment Approval
The £5.5bn redevelopment of Battersea Power Station has cleared the final regulatory hurdle after Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, gave the scheme the green light.The decision means Treasury Holdings, the developer, could start construction in 2012. However, Treasury first needs to secure a capital injection to finance the project. Rob Tincknell, managing director of Treasury, said talks with potential joint venture partners were "productive".The power station is one of London's most recognisable landmarks but has lain dormant since 1983 despite attempts by a collection of owners to develop it. Treasury's proposals comprise 10m sqft of offices, shops and 3,400 homes. However, the Irish-backed developer must also agree financing terms on a £600m extension to the London Underground. First phase architects were named as Ian Simpson Architects and dRMM.12 Nov 2010
Full project profile and images at eArchitect: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/london/battersea_power_station.htm
Is this Structural Catabolism? - Battersea Power Station reimagined as Transformer
Battersea Power Station reimagined as Transformer
http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/9105089.Power_station_transformed_into_popular_cartoon_robot/
12:00pm Saturday 25th June 2011
It is one of London's most iconic landmarks - and now Battersea Power Station has been reimagined as a character in a classic children's cartoon.
A Transformers artist has brought the station to life in the form of one of the popular robots.
Taking inspiration from the famous architecture, the artist - from toy-maker Hasbro - has worked to create a quirky likeness of this treasured national landmark.
The image has been released to celebrate the launch of the new Transformers: Dark of the Moon game from Activision, which was released on Friday (June 24).
http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/9105089.Power_station_transformed_into_popular_cartoon_robot/
12:00pm Saturday 25th June 2011It is one of London's most iconic landmarks - and now Battersea Power Station has been reimagined as a character in a classic children's cartoon.
A Transformers artist has brought the station to life in the form of one of the popular robots.
Taking inspiration from the famous architecture, the artist - from toy-maker Hasbro - has worked to create a quirky likeness of this treasured national landmark.
The image has been released to celebrate the launch of the new Transformers: Dark of the Moon game from Activision, which was released on Friday (June 24).
Friday, June 24, 2011
REO To Move Forward With Battersea Power Station Project
photo © Nick Weall
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110623-704303.html
By Sonya Flechon
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
JUNE 23, 2011, 6:59 A.M. ET
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Real Estate Opportunities PLC (REO.LN), which invests in Irish and U.K. property, Thursday said it had completed a restructuring program, releasing funding for its long-delayed multibillion-pound redevelopment of London's iconic Battersea Power Station.
REO invested heavily in the Irish housing market during the property boom and was left deeply in debt after the collapse of the market there in 2008. Throughout the last fiscal year, it's been struggling to restructure its portfolio with the help of the National Asset Management Agency, set up by the Irish government to deal with risky loans threatening the banking industry.
Now its reoganization is complete, REO is showing signs of stability. Debt is expected to fall to GBP1.5 billion from GBP1.73 billion at the end of February and the company has reduced its losses after tax to GBP77 million from GBP828 million last year.
In Ireland, where REO remains one of the largest property investors, the company has acquired both long-term income cash flow and short-term funding, enabling it to continue making progress on its Irish portfolio. Recent examples include the sale to Google Inc. (GOOG) of a building in Dublin.
In the U.K., the main focus is on the Battersea Power Station project. In May, REO issued over 111 million shares to help fund the project, which has been delayed since 2007. Recent currency movements have also boosted the project as, when currencies such as the euro weaken, investors turn to stronger ones including sterling and, according to REO's director Rob Tincknell, that offers the "opportunity to sink quite a bit of cash into one project."
Plans include reusing the facility as a power station, fueled by biomass and waste, as well as developing housing, office and retail units. The construction has suffered from REO's debt situation but is still on track to begin in 2012.
REO's Tincknell said the situation is "complex, and could turn into a consortium." The next step involves choosing equity partners among a list of potential investors and it expects to have one on board by the end of the year, possibly from the Middle East.
The company reported a fall in property income to GBP34 million from GBP44 million for the 14 months ended in February 2010 and the value of its property portfolio, which amounts to GBP1 billion, has decreased by 8.5%.
"While there are satisfactory underlying trends with the operating performance, challenges do of course remain," said Chairman Rob Horney. "There remains the significant task, in a difficult trading environment, of realising or refinancing assets in order to repay the liabilities owed to NAMA and other creditors."
By Sonya Flechon, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9295; sonya.flechon@dowjones.com
Monday, May 30, 2011
How Sweet It Will Be: Judge Gives Domino Go-Ahead | The New York Observer
How Sweet It Will Be: Judge Gives Domino Go-Ahead The New York Observer
By Matt Chaban 5/25 6:12pm
photo ©Eric P. Laverty
The transformation of the massive Domino sugar refinery into an even bigger condo development has passed its last hurdle–besides finding financing, of course–as a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a suit seeking to stop the project.
Even with 30 percent of the 2,200 units set aside as affordable housing, the project came under stiff political opposition from some local politicos and neighbors. They felt the project should have had more affordable units and was so large it would overwhelm the community. After some wriggling, the project was approved unanimously by the City Council last summer. That did not stop a group of still-smarting locals from suing over what they felt was their disenfranchisement in the city’s land-use review process.
CPC Resources, the developer of the project, plans to break ground on the first phase of the project, an apartment complex on the one non-waterfront parcel east of Kent Avenue next summer. “We remain on track to commence construction of the New Domino,” project director Susan Pollack said in a release. Local council rep Diana Reyna also expressed her support for the court’s decision.
And with that we seem to be running out of boom-time development battles to chronicle. Bring on the next cycle before everybody gets bored and leaves town.
By Matt Chaban 5/25 6:12pm
photo ©Eric P. Laverty
The transformation of the massive Domino sugar refinery into an even bigger condo development has passed its last hurdle–besides finding financing, of course–as a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a suit seeking to stop the project.
Even with 30 percent of the 2,200 units set aside as affordable housing, the project came under stiff political opposition from some local politicos and neighbors. They felt the project should have had more affordable units and was so large it would overwhelm the community. After some wriggling, the project was approved unanimously by the City Council last summer. That did not stop a group of still-smarting locals from suing over what they felt was their disenfranchisement in the city’s land-use review process.
CPC Resources, the developer of the project, plans to break ground on the first phase of the project, an apartment complex on the one non-waterfront parcel east of Kent Avenue next summer. “We remain on track to commence construction of the New Domino,” project director Susan Pollack said in a release. Local council rep Diana Reyna also expressed her support for the court’s decision.
And with that we seem to be running out of boom-time development battles to chronicle. Bring on the next cycle before everybody gets bored and leaves town.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Welcome to Structural Catabolism!
Structural Catabolism is a vision of the re-animated built environment that reveals layers of history, use and meaning as builders reconcile the past with contemporary realities of rebuilding.
This blog will showcase selected adaptive reuse and building projects taking place around the world and is an accompaniment to structuralcatabolism.com, a website and practice that defines a genre of photographic and artistic inquiry.
Be sure to check in regularly for the latest developments and take part in the discussion.
This blog will showcase selected adaptive reuse and building projects taking place around the world and is an accompaniment to structuralcatabolism.com, a website and practice that defines a genre of photographic and artistic inquiry.
Be sure to check in regularly for the latest developments and take part in the discussion.
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