Soho landlord banking on booming 2012
Soho and Chinatown landlord Shaftesbury is banking on a further boost for London's booming West End next year as visitors flock to the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Hot on the heels of the Royal Wedding, the property firm expects another free advertising campaign for the capital as the world's media descend again in 2012.
Finance director Brian Bickell, today named as the successor to long-serving Shaftesbury chief executive Jonathan Lane, said: "Our tenants are certainly looking forward to next year."
Shaftesbury has £170 million ready to add to its £1.6 billion portfolio in a tight West End property market. Just 1.1% of its estate is empty and rents are up 6% on the same time last year.
Its St Martin's Courtyard office scheme in Covent Garden is also virtually full, with tenants that include Apple, headhunter firm Robert Walters and Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons. Net asset value per share rose 22p to 436p in the six months to March 31.
