Latest news with #officeblocks
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- The Guardian
Convert offices into flats, not nightclubs
Your article (Turn empty London office blocks into 'late-night party zones', report suggests, 13 July) misses the real opportunity to promote using those ghastly, unsightly Towers of Babel for something useful: housing. Forget partying, think existing. Let's redeem the disasters of the past and give people somewhere to TomlinsonAndover, Hampshire Jonathan Jones says: 'This is where celebrity artists get it wrong: they think art is fun but art is suffering and madness' (Ed Sheeran's Pollock homage has energy but no feeling or truth, 9 July). Is he not confusing 'art' with 'art criticism'?John WarburtonEdinburgh The correspondence on beards (Letters, 13 July) reminds me of when I was in the civil service and, at a meeting, one of our managers warned us: 'Never trust a man with a beard.' This was in full hearing of one of the other managers who was ArnottWerrington, Peterborough A beard is not always a good travelling companion. In the 1970s, my husband was stopped at the Czechoslovakian border because he had a beard but his passport did not. The border guards made him shave it off before they would let him CrawshawLondon Somerset cows bunch nose to tail so that one cow's tail is another's fan and fly swat (Panting, gular fluttering and sploots: how Britain's animals try to keep cool, 11 July).Prof Terry GiffordWookey, Somerset Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cambridge Beehive Centre planning inquiry hears neighbours fears
Concerns about the impact of building "enormous" office blocks and laboratories next to people's homes have been raised as the inquiry into a shopping centre redevelopment scheme proposes to knock down The Beehive Centre, in Coldhams Lane, Cambridge, to make way for new offices and claim high rise buildings will block out daylight for neighbouring homes, although the developer Railpen said the loss of light would be at an "acceptable" City Council opposed the plans, but lost the ability to make a decision after the application was called in by the government's secretary of state for housing, sparking the inquiry. Cafes, restaurants and "flexible community spaces" could also be built, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service. During the five-day inquiry, an inspector will hear from both sides, before making a recommendation to the government, who will have the final statements on Tuesday were made by the council's legal representatives and developer, while concerns from the public, councillors and city groups were also heard. Rupert Warren KC, representing Railpen, said the proposals offered a "transformational redevelopment", turning the Beehive site from a "low-density, car-intensive retail park" into a "high-quality local centre, workplace, and innovation cluster".The inquiry heard how the new buildings could range in height from three to seven Warren explained there was "no dispute" between the developer and the council on the principle of redevelopment, but the disagreement was about taller buildings blocking daylight for nearby recognised there would be an impact, but said the developer believed it would be at an acceptable level. Height fears Josef Cannon KC, representing the council, highlighted the application had been called in by the government minister "just minutes before the committee was due to consider it".He said the local authority would have rejected the plans based on the daylight issue as well as the impact buildings could have on the views from neighbouring Cannon said if offices and laboratories were built to the maximum heights, the loss of light was a "substantial departure" from "acceptable" added while the developer had also put forward an illustrative scheme that set out some lower building heights, the permission requested was for the taller maximum Leonard, representing the developer, said the difference in heights between the two plans was needed to allow flexibility. Councillor Katie Porrer said the proposed heights could have a "permanent, irrevocable, and damaging" Ball, from Better Beehive Cambridge, a community group set up in response to the redevelopment, said it would have an "unacceptable harm to the amenity" of its neighbours."An alternative development with mixed use, including housing, would have genuine and local community benefits and be more appropriate," he said.A member of the public, Martin Lucas-Smith, also suggested it would have been better to include housing as there was a shortage in the city, and another "fundamental issue" was the potential loss of shops. Heritage impact Sarah Nicholas, of the Cambridge Past, Present and Future group, said the charity also believed a mixed-use development including housing would be better. She wanted the inspector to consider any impact on heritage buildings Nicholas said council evidence showed there would be enough office and laboratory space to meet future inquiry should finish next week, after which inspector Jonathan Bore, a chartered town planner, will make his recommendation to the government. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
News.com.au
24-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
NSW Farmers in city sell-off
Australia's largest state farming organisation is selling two lower north shore office blocks, in prime redevelopment zones, to improve its services for member farmers. NSW Farmers paid $60.2m for a 10-storey commercial site, including its head office, on the Pacific Highway in 2018 and more than $12m for a three-storey office block in St Leonards in 2010. Both are now being offered for sale by Colliers Sydney North, which has recently sold prominent sites in the area for between $17m and around $58m. The NSW Farmers Board said it was seeking to capitalise on the emerging opportunities in the St Leonards/Crows Nest area, following the opening of the Metro train network and the state government's housing priorities. The sale will also allow NSW Farmers to invest further in providing improved member services and advance advocacy outcomes. Tom Appleby of Colliers wouldn't be drawn on price expectations but said the Crows Nest/St Leonards/Greenwich precinct was hotly contested both for current use and potential redevelopment within a once-in-a-generation planning environment. 'While value-add office groups and developers are likely to show predominant interest, we also anticipate a number of medical operators, particularly mental health, respite care and pharmaceuticals to express interest given both properties' convenient position very close to one of Sydney's pre-eminent health hubs,' he said. No.154 Pacific Highway is on 3080sq m of land, 600m from St Leonards Station and has the potential for 32 per cent more gross floor area – taking it to 9240sq m. No.40 Oxley St, St Leonards is a renovated block on 1684sq m of land 200m from Crows Nest Metro Station and within the Transport Oriented Development precinct, with a 64m height limit in that area. Both sites have expressions of interest campaigns closing on July 17.
