Montagu Evans

Criterion Capital has secured planning consent from The City of Edinburgh Council to transform 109-112 Princes Street into a hotel and pod hotel, with Montagu Evans acting as planning consultants. The proposal includes a roof-top bar offering unrivalled views of Edinburgh Castle, the city centre and Fife. It marks the developer’s first hotel outside of London to be managed under its hospitality brand, Zedwell Hotels. The former Debenhams building has remained vacant since the retailer’s closure in 2021.   The Edinburgh project will expand Criterion’s portfolio of 22 hotels, joining existing locations in Greenwich, Piccadilly Circus, and the world’s first YMCA site at Tottenham Court Road. It will also complement the upcoming Zedwell Manchester, set to open in 2026.   Fraser Littlejohn, Partner at Montagu Evans, added: "Really pleased to have been working with my colleague Katherine Innes, Criterion, and the wider multi-disciplinary team, including CDA and Simpson & Brown to deliver planning permission and associated listed building consent for the proposed development of this iconic building. Princes Street continues to evolve, and this new development will contribute to activating the street and this part of the city centre.”   Read the full story on Green Street News: https://lnkd.in/e68MMFpj   #MEPlanning #MEScotland #Edinburgh #HotelDevelopment #PlanningConsent

If you could step into a time machine and land in 1995, what’s the one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?   Would it be about career choices? Life experiences? Investing in Bitcoin before it was cool? Or would you simply share your wisdom and let life unfold as it did?   Check out my thoughts in the video below, and drop a comment - what advice would you give your younger self? (Even if you were born after 1995! 😆)   Also, keep an eye out for my upcoming article next month: Six Takeaways from Six Years as Chair of the Residential Development Agents Society.

LB Croydon’s Planning Committee has resolved to grant permission for 52 High Street, Purley - a major multi-use redevelopment that will transform this key site in the town centre.   The scheme will deliver a leisure centre, assisted living and full-time care units alongside new public space and improved connectivity.   Montagu Evans’ Historic Environment and Townscape team was appointed in 2021 to provide heritage and townscape advice to Polaska, working alongside Assael Architecture. Through the pre-application process, we successfully demonstrated that the site could accommodate a larger scale of development than initially allocated, ensuring the scheme’s viability while maintaining design quality.   Lucy Markham, Partner, said: "This scheme will significantly enhance Purley’s townscape, replacing inactive frontages with vibrant public spaces and active ground-floor uses. The introduction of new routes to the station will improve connectivity, while the leisure centre reprovision ensures community benefits remain at the heart of the development. Throughout the process, collaboration between the design team and local community has been key to shaping a scheme that both respects the area’s heritage and contributes positively to its future."   A great outcome for our team, which also included Ben Tosland, Benjamin Clark, and Barnaby Coates. We now look forward to building on this experience with a nearby site coming forward in 2025.   #MEPlanning #MEHEAT #PurleyRegeneration

Thank you, UKSPA - The United Kingdom Science Park Association – for the opportunity to be interviewed on the challenges of inclusivity in new life science developments. Jenny Rydon and I were delighted for the opportunity to discuss some of our Social Impact projects at Montagu Evans, as well as highlight some of the inspirational approaches we’re seeing from our clients – such as Lateral, Ballymore, Barts Health NHS Trust, NHS Property Services Ltd, and The Crown Estate – when designing for new life science spaces. Achieving inclusivity in life sciences requires a complex, systems-change approach, but at Montagu Evans, we’re excited about the levers we believe real estate investment can offer in this journey. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g2ATNWWA

Final Reminder: Applications for our 2025 Apprenticeship Scheme close this Thursday – don’t miss your chance to apply ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g6PceZMd Our apprenticeship runs for five years in partnership with the University College of Estate Management. Your time will be split between studies, one day per week and our offices, four days per week. During the first three years of your studies, you will work in our Advisory or Agency teams and complete 3 x 12-month rotations in three different teams. For the final two years, you will automatically join our graduate rotation programme, where you will work towards completing your APC to become RICS qualified.

Opportunity London has launched their latest prospectus highlighting 20 major investment opportunities across the capital introduced by the Mayor of London at MIPIM this week. Montagu Evans are closely involved in many of them, including Earls Court in the west; Camden Film Quarter and the Lambeth NH6 portfolio; and Bow Goods Yard and The Royal Docks further east. These, and many other schemes across London that we're supporting clients with, are setting the standard for future development and growth across the capital and we are pleased to be playing our part in their delivery.    Read Opportunity London's prospectus here: https://opportunity.london

The UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard (NZCBS) is set to bring much-needed clarity to net zero in UK real estate. But will it be enough?  ➡️https://lnkd.in/etXrrQr2   Currently in its pilot phase, the NZCBS establishes a single agreed definition of a net zero carbon building in the UK. Amongst other requirements, it sets forth clear embodied carbon and operational energy performance limits for new builds and retrofits – plus a third-party verification process to ensure buildings truly deliver on their net zero claims. The potential impacts are huge, including a levelled playing field, streamlined elements of design, planning and procurement, greater consumer confidence, and ultimately, increased likelihood of UK property achieving net zero by 2050. But what does it mean for the office market – further polarisation between the prime and secondary segments? Development viability challenges? More projects choosing to retrofit rather than demolish and rebuild?   Oli Pye, Head of Sustainability at Montagu Evans, breaks it all down.

🔎 Market Pulse: UK Property Insights – Q1 2025 Edition 🔗 https://lnkd.in/esqCWMda In the latest edition of Market Pulse, our quarterly insights series led by Jon Neale, Head of Research & Insights, we analyse the key economic and political forces shaping the UK property market. In this edition, we explore: ✔️ Economic outlook – Will GDP increase, or could inflation derail rate cuts? ✔️ Investment & offices – Recovery is underway, but why are offices still struggling? ✔️ Sector performance – Retail Warehousing & Industrial lead on returns, what’s behind it? ✔️ Housing market – Prices are rising, but is development finally gaining momentum? Click the link above to read the full report.

Montagu Evans’ Historic Environment & Townscape and Viability teams support Curlew Capital on a project to transform a brownfield site in London King’s Cross, delivering 121 student beds and 63.3sqm of community space. Designed by Sheppard Robson, the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme, located between Britannia Street and Wicklow Street, will provide much-needed student housing while activating the frontages on both streets. Located in a Conservation Area and constrained by railway infrastructure, the site required a creative massing approach, including a cantilevered pavilion. Considerations included the setting of the Grade II-listed Derby Lodge and the impact on the St Pancras/King's Cross Conservation Area, informed by VuCity analysis and AVRs from Cityscape. Close collaboration with Camden Council ensured a context-sensitive design. Kate Falconer Hall, Benjamin Clark, Florence Loader provided expertise on heritage and townscape, while Will Seamer and Harry Wackett advised on viability. Kate Falconer Hall commented: “It has been a great opportunity working with Curlew and the design team to unlock this complex and constrained site. Throughout the design development process, heritage, townscape, and visual analysis were key to informing discussions with officers at LB Camden. The end result is a contemporary building of high architectural quality that responds well to its context and will make a positive contribution to the streetscene in this important conservation area. We are excited to continue working with LB Camden through the determination process and look forward to a positive outcome in due course.” More on Architects’ Journal here: https://lnkd.in/edyADu23 Image source: Oleksandr Levytskyi and Viktoriia Aloshyn via Artchitects' Journal

South East England is one of the key regions for Industrial and Logistics property in the UK. What makes it such an attractive area for development and how the property market in the region is performing? 👇 Kieran Webber, Partner and I&L occupier advisory specialist at Montagu Evans, comments in this month's Logistics Manager about challenges and opportunities impacting the South East market. "Supply chain optimisation has been key and the proximity of ports plays a vital role for many logistics operators in their journey to drive efficiency across their business. “There is a broad diversity of occupiers in addition to the typical industrial & logistics operators. The South East is a hot spot for the film & TV, pharmaceutical and data centre sectors in particular and the wider supply chains of these sectors provide a great depth of occupier demand. "Flight to quality continues. Industrial and logistics developments with strong technical and ESG specifications that are situated in prime locations (like the South East) have seen the greatest levels of demand – even with record-breaking rents being sought." Read more in the March edition of Logistics Manager Magazine: https://lnkd.in/emwYsjke.