AROUND DERBYSHIRE – MARKET COMMENTARY BY BEN WISHER, RIGBY & CO
Anyone who has had to deal with financial institutions recently, will be well aware just how volatile the current economic climate is and how schemes depending on finance are being ruthlessly tested.
Just when we thought the current financial crisis couldn't get any worse and perhaps the slowdown in the property market had bottomed out, came the tumultuous events of the 15th to 19th September. The events involving first Lehman Brothers and then HBOS have once again seriously shaken global financial markets.
The outlook for both residential and commercial property markets remains uncertain.
However, despite this, there is an increasing and significant amount of activity taking place around Derby, which supports the view that the city is bucking the trend. Cedar House Investment's office scheme, The Point, the final development that will take place on Pride Park, will be completed in November. Two thirds of Phase 1 of this scheme have already been sold or let off plan, with real encouragement drawn from the rental levels being achieved.
Plans were released this week for the comprehensive redevelopment of the 20 acre Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site on London Road. The proposed scheme includes around 50,000 sq.ft of new retail space, 300,000 sq ft of offices and 140,000 sq ft of hotel/convention space on the corner of London Road facing Westfield Derby. The site will also deliver a high quality residential development of townhouses, as well as retaining some of the more prominent buildings for community uses. Rigby & Co have been retained by the NHS Trust on this disposal.
With other developments being planned across the city centre, these are exciting times for Derby with the city skyline drastically altering month by month. With this increasing level of investment and development activity, Derby will continue to improve its competitive position over other cities in the region as the place for business to locate and thrive.
