"You wouldn't get planning consent for 12-storey apartment blocks in town centres now, so these buildings offer great opportunities," says Nicholas Tubbs, managing director of the Comer Group. Tubbs says there are many who subscribe to apartment living in towns and the rate at which Comer's Towerpoint apartments in Enfield are being snapped up appears to bear him out - the first phase of 43 apartments has already sold at prices of from £115 000 to £159 000.
The former British Gas building is being converted into 140 apartments and eight penthouses and is in a great location, according to Tubbs. "Ideally you want to develop in areas with a life of their own, which aren't merely dormitory towns for large cities. Strong regional centres such as Enfield have lots of shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities and people don't have to go to London to socialise." Buyers at Enfield include commuters who don't want to live in central London and parents who want to buy their children flats close to the family home. One attraction for residents is the Esporta health and leisure centre, which is incorporated into every large scheme. Unlike many developments with leisure facilities, the Esporta clubs are open to the public, which works to Comer's advantage.
"The health and leisure centres answer some of the employment arguments that local authorities put forward during planning. Situated on the ground floor, the health and leisure centre adds vitality and movement to the street, unlike typical apartment blocks, which are dead at street level," says Tubbs.
The leisure facilities also help showcase the development, says Tubbs. "There was a feeding frenzy when the club at Enfield opened - 5000 people visited in the first month, and most of those looked at the show flat. There is huge added value in having a health and leisure facility," says Tubbs. Integrated health and leisure clubs are a good long-term bet, too - Esporta is paying Comer £300 000 a year in rent.
As a private company Comer can take risks. "We often buy office buildings with two to three years left on the lease knowing the tenants will be leaving after that time," says Tubbs. Before taking on the freehold Tubbs makes sure repair liabilities are taken into account, which helps pay for the conversion of the building.
The company's private status also enables it to react quickly to commercial opportunities. Recently Tubbs realised the potential of a new accounting reporting standard called FRS12 that changes the way liabilities are recorded. "It's always worth looking into the implications of any new financial directives," says Tubbs.
FRS12 obliged companies to declare liabilities as a capital sum rather than an annual outgoing. So where a company had an 11-year lease on a building which was costing them £300 000 a year it would have to declare a single capital sum of £4.4m in the accounts, making the liability unacceptable to shareholders. Tubbs found two companies that held empty properties on a long lease and bought the buildings. It then offered to cut short their leases for an appropriate sum. "We effectively got the buildings for nothing," says Tubbs.
Although Tubbs says current high land prices offer fewer buying opportunities to developers like Comer, he is still bullish about his company's growth prospects. As well as office conversions it has a number of large Victorian developments including the continuing conversion of Friern Barnet Hospital into 345 flats and the former International University in Bushey, Hertfordshire into 300 000 sq ft of converted apartments and 350 000 sq ft of new build. Comer aims to develop around 4000 units in the next two to three years - enough to catapult it towards the homebuilding top 20.
A balcony for every buyer
All apartments in Comer's office conversions benefit from having large balcony areas. The steel frame supporting the balconies is attached to the original building's shell in three ways. It is hung from the top of the building, supported from the ground and cantilevered off the slab on each floor.
"It's a fantastic system. I don't know why other developers haven't done it," says Tubbs. "It increases the size of a two-bed apartment from 1050 sq ft to 1650 sq ft." At Towerpoint 25% of the balcony is fully glazed, allowing residents to sit out in inclement weather.
As well as being a sellable feature the balconies also assist in planning. "A few local residents complained that the balconies would overlook surrounding buildings, but we pointed out that residents would only be there 10% of the time, so there would be actually less of an overlooking issue," says Tubbs. "It also means that those living in the apartments are screened by the balconies, giving them more privacy." Planning issues are particularly pertinent at a potential development in Bristol - the 145 000 sq ft Tollgate House is currently let to the Planning Inspectorate.
Source
Building Homes
