NEWS

The latest property stories coming out of the Thames Valley

04/21/2017

£35m Abbott House deal imminent at Maidenhead

A £35 million deal to sell Abbott House in Maidenhead to Saudi Arabia-based Tamer Group is imminent according to Property Week. The group which is involved in importing, marketing and distributing pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and consumer goods, is under offer to buy the 76,579 sq ft building in Vanwall Business Park from AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets. Property Week says Tamer Group is believed to have beaten off competition from four other Middle Eastern investors to land the
04/20/2017

Councils split over Thames Valley Science Park application

Proposals for phase two of Thames Valley Science Park go before planners from two councils this month with one recommending approval and the other objecting. Planning committees at both Reading and Wokingham borough councils will consider plans for the 57,110 sq m phase two development at respective meetings on Thursday, April 26. But while Wokingham councillors – who will make the decision - have been recommended to approve the plans, Reading’s have been advised to object on the grounds of
04/20/2017

Swindon Town announces plans for new training centre

Swindon Town FC has announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art training centre and club headquarters at Twelve Oaks Golf Club at Highworth. The club says the 80-acre site has been initially secured by chairman Lee Power but will be ‘vested’ in the Nigel Eady Trust which is partnering the club in the project. The trust holds a fund, said to be in the region of £2 million left by lifelong fan Mr Eady, for the long term benefit of the club and community. The new facilities will include gym,
04/20/2017

Virtus expands on Slough Trading Estate

Segro has announced Virtus Data Centres has agreed to expand within Slough Trading Estate. Segro says the new building, London3 which connects to its existing London4 building, provides 3,000 'net technical metres' of IT space. The development boosts the estate’s position as Europe’s largest data centre cluster and the second largest campus for data centres globally. Virtus has signed a 20-year lease on the new building which is expected to be in operation by Summer 2018 to enable Virtus to
04/20/2017

Approval for major business and retail parks in Bicester

Approval for two major planning applications, just yards apart in Bicester, will see major redevelopment in the Oxfordshire town. Plans for Bicester Gateway retail park and phase one of Bicester Gateway business park were both approved by Cherwell District Council’s planning committee on April 13. They fall within the Kingsmere masterplan area. The business park (phase one), proposed by Bloombridge LLP, is for a hotel of up to 149 bedrooms plus almost 15,000 sq m of hi-tech business space
04/19/2017

Affordable homes policy 'could threaten smaller schemes'

Developer John Fisher says the requirement for affordable homes on small developments could threaten the viability - and therefore deliverability - of those schemes. Mr Fisher, managing director of Thames Valley housebuilder T A Fisher, says small developers seeking to maintain a high threshold of quality could find it difficult to incorporate both affordable houses and developer infrastructure contributions on smaller projects. Government changes to national planning policy have sought to
04/19/2017

Approval for £50m health and life sciences building

Planners at Turley helped secure planning permission for a new £50 million health and life sciences (HLS) building at the University of Reading. Work on the project, which is at the Whitenights campus is due to start this year with completion in Summer 2019. It will allow the school of biological sciences to relocate from disparate buildings across the campus into a bespoke facility within the ‘science’ zone. Delivering state-of-the-art laboratories, collaboration spaces and seminar rooms the
04/18/2017

View from the riverbank: The Thames Valley awaits Royal approval

As the country goes to the polls and starts one torturous process; that of voting for a new Government on June 8th, another major project; Royal Elm Park, is now coming to the end of its own painful journey to get planning approval. Whilst we appreciate the emotion around the approval, which is planned for April 26th when Reading Borough Council will consider plans for the scheme, it is also important to remember that Royal Elm Park will bring a major bit of kit in the shape of a convention

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Independent Property
NEWS & VIEWS

Reporting daily from the Thames Valley tvproperty.co.uk

News

£35m Abbott House deal imminent at Maidenhead

Councils split over Thames Valley Science Park application

Swindon Town announces plans for new training centre

Virtus expands on Slough Trading Estate

Approval for major business and retail parks in Bicester

Affordable homes policy 'could threaten smaller schemes'

Approval for £50m health and life sciences building

View from the riverbank: The Thames Valley awaits Royal approval