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Positive Outcomes

3 Nov
06:53

Carbon reduction - From Zero to Hero

Submitted by Jonathan Berney, EC Harris, Head of Client Solutions, Asia

Hong Kong will be hosting a C40 cities workshop at the end of this week. I've attended the "carbon tale of three cities" conference hosted by Britcham where Hong Kong, London and Toronto were represented.  While Hong Kong represents 0.1% of the total global carbon emission, buildings are estimated to be responsible for more than 50% of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions. Some simple, tried-and-tested actions that can be implemented for... Read More

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Carbon reduction - From Zero to Hero
30 Mar
08:31

Hong Kong... Victim of its own success?

Submitted by Wade Cruickshanks, EC Harris, Partner

Carrie Lam, Secretary for Development hosted a seminar on Office Development in Hong Kong last week.  John Tsang gave the opening address and several highly respected speakers from the industry. The seminar was held in response to a growing concern in the private sector: Hong Kong is facing a crisis of quality office space. Predictions are that the annual average supply of new office space over the next 3 years will be 50 % of the past 15 year annual average which will... Read More

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Hong Kong... Victim of its own success?
24 Mar
04:46

China... Bears Gather (not Pandas!)

Submitted by Oliver Jones, EC Harris, Head of Corporate Real Estate

The annual CoreNet Asia conference is always a test of market confidence and in Hong Kong today, the vibrancy of the region showed clearly as 400 delegates from corporate end users and service providers from all around the world gathered in Hong Kong.  The opening address therefore came as a bit of a shock to many as Dr Jim Walker of the economic research and consulting business Asianomics, presented a very bearish analysis of the prospects for China… Get 2 economists in a room... Read More

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China... Bears Gather (not Pandas!)
27 May
14:56

Different Residential Uses

Submitted by Richard Jones, EC Harris, Head of Residential, Regeneration & Growth

One of the things that I am beginning to hear a lot more about in the market is that of the specialist residential uses. For example, with a growing student population, the need for good quality student accommodation is increasing. This represents an attractive opportunity for developers. One of the bases for a successful model is the opportunity to be able to lever the planning regime, particularly around such areas as density, which are not as constrained with student accommodation as they... Read More

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Different Residential Uses
25 May
17:28

Understanding the economics of house building

Submitted by Richard Jones, EC Harris, Head of Residential, Regeneration & Growth

The successful applicants for the first bid round of The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) 2011 – 2014 have been announced. Disappointingly most of the money was targeted at the light and heavy manufacturing industries where, perhaps, it is a lot easier to create a direct link between funding and employment created. Only two housing related schemes or “infra-structure” (as they are defined) projects received funding, both of which were in the old Housing Market Renewal (HMR)... Read More

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Understanding the economics of house building
21 Oct
14:57

Getting Britain building again

Submitted by Richard Jones, EC Harris, Head of Residential, Regeneration & Growth

There has been a lot of activity in the last few weeks with various conferences and strategic meetings all trying to make sense of the market conditions we now find ourselves in. Most notably we had the RESI conference down at Celtic Manor. The conference was well attended and the fringe discussions seemed to revolve around a recovering market driven by the private sector particularly in the south. There was a lot of posturing as many different types of suitors tested the appetite of each... Read More

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Getting Britain building again
7 Dec
09:07

A Competitive Contracting Market

Submitted by Richard Jones, EC Harris, Head of Residential, Regeneration & Growth

A Competitive Contracting Market In most recessions and more importantly the recovery phase, tender prices for residential projects take on a new competitiveness as contractors strive to maintain workload and cash-flow. Recently, projects in London and the South East are experiencing prices at a level 20% lower than what were already competitive budgets; prices in the fourth quarter of 2011 are similar to those in the 2004-2005 era. With the expectation that tender prices will... Read More

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A Competitive Contracting Market
12 Dec
14:42

The Bristol 2050 Vision

Submitted by Richard Bonner, EC Harris, South West Location Leader

The announcement by Nick Clegg that Britain’s "core cities" are to be asked to negotiate a series of deals with Whitehall providing them with unprecedented powers to raise funds to shape public transport, incentivise growth through new business and organise the local labour market sits neatly alongside the Bristol 2050 city region vision.   Launched last week by the GWE Business West Initiative, a group of influential business leaders,... Read More

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The Bristol 2050 Vision
16 Dec
09:50

Developer Led Infrastructure

Submitted by Richard Jones, EC Harris, Head of Residential, Regeneration & Growth

I am beginning to see a different and more innovative approach to Developer Led Infrastructure (DLI). Recognising that it is the upfront costs associated with the projects infrastructure (including remediation, roads and utilities etc) that act as the barrier to moving a project forward, developers are looking at new and innovative ways to help fund these works. The industry has talked about InfraCos for a long time but it is only recently that we have begun to see the real emergence... Read More

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Developer Led Infrastructure
2 Mar
09:01

All about behaviour!

Submitted by Annabelle Taylor, EC Harris, Marketing manager

I’ve received an email from the Climateers this morning and they were asking people to go beyond the hour of the Earth Hour and set our own energy saving targets to reflect on and change our energy consumption habits. It really got me thinking and especially as a communication professional, you can never neglect the power of your employees! Involve your employees in saving energy. Don’t forget security guards and cleaners--often the lowest-paid support staff can make a... Read More

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All about behaviour!
22 Mar
01:16

Views on 2012 February Property price in China

Submitted by Mark Budden, EC Harris, Area Leader, North Asia

Here are some of my thoughts on last month Property Price report in China. On property prices As China’s Premier Wen Jiabao recently reiterated, the central government is determined to continue its efforts to curb real estate speculation. These policies are expected to be maintained for the foreseeable future. As a result, I believe that China’s property prices will likely continue their downward trend, likely going into the... Read More

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Views on 2012 February Property price in China
30 Mar
04:06

Leading by example

Submitted by Christopher Chew, EC Harris, Senior Project Manager

 As I walked pass the contractor’s site office this morning, lights were turned on, computers flashing graphics and the air-conditioning working hard (maybe since yesterday?!). And there’s hardly anyone in yet! Here’s a reality check - It is Earth Hour tomorrow and this is a gentle reminder we all need to watch out our energy consumption. This month also marks one year since the tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan. As we take a solemn moment... Read More

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Leading by example