The Grossman Companies, Inc.’s Post

One of the most enjoyable parts of being a regeneration lawyer is watching great ideas turn into reality. The Pattern Shop is one such example - built in the 1880s it was once part of Robert Stephenson’s celebrated locomotive works, but had fallen into a state of disrepair, before it was rescued and redeveloped using public funding. There have been some significant bumps along the way, including the collapse of Tolent. However, the public and private sector team in charge have always managed to find a way through. Today is a day for celebration because the works to create modern offices for the creative and digital sector within this heritage asset are now complete. I started by saying how satisfying it is to watch regeneration projects take shape - the Pattern Shop is next door to DWF’s Newcastle office, so my colleagues and I have been able to watch each stage of the revitalisation of this important heritage asset. Well, not quite every stage, because we now get to watch new businesses moving in and contribute to the regeneration of the local area… https://lnkd.in/eW6qCn2C #Regeneration #PublicFunding #Newcastle #LocalGov

Member Tone Wheeler, President of the Australian Architecture Association, writes about the challenges Environa Studio experienced delivering two recent infill housing projects for clients in busy Inner West locations and why developing housing on Parramatta Road may be more complicated than the PM expects - “At first, it seems an ideal place for more residents. It’s in the city’s “missing middle” where TOD, or Transport-Oriented Developments, can take advantage of existing public transport, infrastructure and services. Inner West Council has made the eastern part more attractive to smaller developers by zoning it as “shop-top housing”. But new housing developments are thwarted at every turn as the combination of design challenges, council demands and builders’ restrictions create almost insurmountable obstacles. Two recent projects I designed and managed show how devilishly hard building infill housing can be. Both are less than a kilometre from where Albo grew up, but are a million miles from the halcyon days when good social housing – the kind he called home – was well supported and easy to achieve.” What do you think? What could make developments like these possible and keep project costs and lengthy delays down? Comment below👇 Read Tone’s opinion piece (paywall): https://lnkd.in/grXqiQ4k And read the original story: https://lnkd.in/gJjzHbE9 #planning #infill #socialhousing #affordablehousing #boardinghouse #parramattaroad tone wheeler

Major developments are underway in the UK construction industry. Olympian Homes gets approval for Bristol's tallest residential structure. Around 350 jobs are at stake while buyer hunt is on for business recovery. A mixed-use scheme promoting health across life stages is also set to start. A new specialist school is being built in Cosmeston, near Penarth. A case of a disqualified director misusing funds from a housing company is under consideration by the court. LinkedIn has introduced "Open to Work" flags on profiles. Objections are raised against a seemingly hasty plan for 300 flats above a Georgian mansion. The Competition and Markets Authority is probing a duct firm's acquisition of a competitor. Plans are in motion for a volumetric developer's project in West Ealing and the restoration of historic buildings in the summer. Developer Salboy has submitted a plan for a 76-story residential tower in Manchester. The Government supports the scheme of 424 flats and 600,000 sq ft of tech and lab space despite controversy.

Clowes Developments’ Dove Valley Park. The saving grace for lack of space? Dove Valley Park at Foston just off the A50 between Derby and Uttoxeter has seen terrific growth over the last few years, with just under one million sq. ft. built and either sold or let to expanding local and indeed national companies including Hines, MEG, GXO Logistics, Inc., TopHat and JCB to name a few. It’s also one of the few locations in the East Midlands where bespoke built warehouse or manufacturing space can be offered for sale as well as to rent and it’s possibly the reason why we are seeing increased levels of activity centred on the park in early 2024. Design and build is very much a ‘posh phrase’ for having something built to an occupiers’ needs and their exact specification, but the message that such buildings can often be delivered within as little as 12 months from initial discussions seems to be permeating the local and regional market, particularly as with Dove Valley Park where freeholds can be offered as well as leasehold opportunities. Given that buying an existing building can often take many months and even then, it might not be ideal for an occupier, if of course a vaguely suitable building can be found, then design and build becomes a more and more keenly followed route when occupiers try and procure new space. Dove Valley Park can offer property solutions to buy from as little as 30,000sq ft upwards in what is an excellent location, just off the A50 between Derby and Stoke on Trent, providing great access to both the East and West Midlands markets. https://lnkd.in/eGgdFHcA

Good or bad depending on what side of the fence you sit, but I don't want to get into that. Regardless this will surely increase footfall into the town. Frome has a buzzy centre and supporting areas such as Badcox and the Train Station with it's small businesses but there are some gaps that could compliment or enhance the existing provisions. Coming up Funlab Architecture will be highlighting a number of the empty spaces in Frome, some on the market others seemingly vacant with no sign of live. We will also include ideas* for potential uses that might add to the town and not just be residential. Hopefully this will inspire the entrepreneurial types... *Clear and obvious caveat these ideas will be purely hypothetical with no planning or budgetary input, OK internet! 😁 But if course Funlab can assist interested parties. #frome #towncentre #development https://lnkd.in/eAyAucCy

Could the City of London's tower cluster be on the verge of a new construction boom? At least 18 major office schemes are being planned for a strip of land centred on Bishopsgate, many of them scheduled to be built over the next five years. The reality is that only a handful of these will get going due to capacity limitations both in the market and the industry. So what gives a scheme the best chance of getting off the ground? Building Magazine has spoken to some of the experts most involved in the discussions now taking place across the City as developers eye their next move. With some schemes expected to cost more than £1bn to build, whatever happens will be hugely impactful for the industry in the years to come.

//MAB Corporation, the developers behind a long-standing 24-year-old development application in Melbourne’s Docklands, have secured unanimous endorsement from the City of Melbourne. The nod comes after meticulous revisions and alterations to the original 1999 application, aligning it with the requirements of city planning officials. 🔥 Initially conceived in 1999 as a proposal for a 50-meter commercial building at 396-416 Docklands Drive, the revised application envisions a dynamic mixed-use precinct featuring two triangular podiums – one on the east and one on the west – accompanied by a total of five towers. The updated plan outlines towers ranging from 50 to 70 meters in height, situated over two 20-meter podiums, catering to residential, office, and retail needs at 396-416 Docklands Drive. Developer: MAB Corporation Architecture: ARM Architecture Architecture: rush\wright associates #propertydevelopment #architecture #architects #urbanplanning #property #propertymanagement #propertyinvestment #capitalmarkets #melbourneproperty #melbournerealestate #commercialproperty #construction #melbourneconstruction #urbanrenewal #docklands https://lnkd.in/gKERrXCx

The Surrey City Development Corporation (SCDC), the municipality's for-profit development arm, appears to have officially resumed activity as the City has now received a revised rezoning application for the SCDC's Centre Block project, reported Storeys. "Established by the City in 2007, the SCDC was later dissolved in 2020 before being resurrected last year. In the fall, the City said that it had "re-engaged" the teams involved in the SCDC's Centre Block and Gateway projects — which never reached the construction stage — hinting that those would likely be the corporation's priorities." "The Centre Block project is a transit-oriented mixed-use development on the land surrounding the Expo Line SkyTrain's Surrey Central Station, just north of the Central City Shopping Centre and Simon Fraser University's Surrey campus, and will primarily consist of non-residential uses, much of which would be integrated with the station." "The master plan was developed by Toronto-based planning and design firm Urban Strategies and Toronto-based architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects. The rezoning application for the first and second phase of Centre Block was considered by Council in July 2021, after which it was granted a first and second reading. A third reading was then granted in September 2021." "After remaining dormant for a few years, the project team has now submitted a revised rezoning application to the City, which will consider the application on Monday evening. Due to the revisions, the rezoning process will now restart, being granted a first and second reading and forwarded to a public hearing once more, if approved by Council this evening." https://lnkd.in/g5nCh4rQ #surrey #mixeduse #development #office

According to Axios, a developer called Space Craft is constructing 361 extra units for its existing 83 unit parking-free complex, The Joinery. This is in Charlotte. Over 400 units in a development with no parking. *In Charlotte* Meanwhile in Atlanta: Cul de Sac, who built a car free development in Arizona, has had their Murphy Crossing project delayed for two years. We've heard rumors that part of the holdup is about the BeltLine insisting on parking. Whether that's the case or not, it's sad that Atlanta isn't leading the way among sunbelt cities with this kind of innovation. We should be! And we can start now. Thanks to some recent work by City Council, there are no parking requirements for the Beltline overlay area, and there have been no parking requirements in a half-mile radius of MARTA stations in the city for decades. We've got the ability to host this kind of innovation regarding pedestrian-focused construction, in much of this city, within our zoning. Sunbelt cities like Charlotte should be looking to us as leaders. https://lnkd.in/eGaSaAU5

Matthew is 100% correct. Boston deserves the best. The city has already bungled the redevelopment of the Seaport, and now seems intent on repeating its mistake by creating another non-neighborhood at Columbia Point. Developers and city officials ought to look to neighborhoods that people want to live in and visit (e.g. South Boston, the South End, Beacon Hill) as models for new development. Of course, I understand that zoning laws of the last century have made that sort of low-rise, high density, and human-scale development exceedingly difficult, but the proliferation of these soulless and, frankly, ugly projects should serve as proof of how misguided said zoning laws are, if not in their intent then at least in the outcomes they inevitably produce. New development ought to blend harmoniously with its surroundings. Projects like these, on the other hand stick out like a sore thumb. It’s a shame that developers and city officials are so enamored of “innovative” designs and styles like this. The irony of course, is that innovative projects like this feel outdated before their ever even complete. When it comes to building great neighborhoods, I say innovation is overrated. We figured out the best way to build decades ago. It’s not old fashioned, it’s timeless. Let’s finally consign these 1960’s style mega projects to the trash heap of history