MORNING NEWS: £250m Canary Wharf tower sale pulled

Good morning. Here’s your daily round-up of the latest news and views from EG and a collection of industry-relevant headlines from the nationals. The £250m sale of Cargo, a 300,000 sq ft, 15-storey tower in London’s Canary Wharf has been pulled after its potential new buyer got jittery about the state of the London office market. Blackstone was selling the block, the former headquarters of the FCA and now let to BP, to an Asian buyer. The pulled sale is unlikely to do any favours for Canary Wharf, which is already battling with what to do with several high-rise office blocks that make up London’s second financial district. In the capital’s main financial district, however, City of London policy-makers are gearing up to pull even more big names to the Square Mile from the Wharf and other global financial centres. In an interview with the FT City of London Corporation policy chair Chris Hayward said the authority was “hungry for growth” and would be “flexible” in its approach to lure more big names to the City. It has already attracted HSBC from Canary Wharf. While Blackstone holds fire on the sale of Cargo, saying it is no forced seller, EG with help from Carter Jonas takes a look into the portfolios of the UK’s local authorities, which may be forced to sell assets to shore up their finances. The deep dive looks at just how much councils have invested, in which sectors and what might have happened to values over the past decade. Talking of values, in this week’s EG editor’s comment, we ponder whether there needs to be a change of focus on what value means for the real estate sector and how this might change the perception of the industry. Can the sector ever be seen as a factory for improved social outcomes? If you think it can, or if you just want to show off about this wonderful world of real estate, then make sure you start compiling your entries for this year’s EG Awards. This year we are celebrating our 20th anniversary and we are going big. We’ve freshened up the criteria, added a new category especially for you to show off your marketing prowess, and are moving to a snazzy new venue. Entry is free and because it’s a big birthday, we’re even offering a special early-bird discount on tickets to the event. Click here to check it out.   All this morning’s headlines: McLaren chosen to repurpose Oxford Street HoFGPE scores World Rugby for Bermondsey office Property’s new purpose: factories of improved social outcomesInside the UK’s local authority real estate portfoliosStrategic land must be part of the development sector’s ESG story London retail park top seller at Allsop auction Manchester consultancies merge in expansion plan Blackstone shelves Canary Wharf tower sale City promises flex approach to bring in big firms Rate cut hope as inflation steadiesDunelm plans London expansionBlackstone breaks ground on new London HQ Posh parentals members club on the brink Most creditors set to lose out in Body Shop collapseSEGRO appoints agent on retail and office portfolio