Mipim 2010: Wandsworth for sale

Yesterday I had a chat Mike Brook at the London Borough of Wandsworth, the man charged with selling the Nine Elms development to the masses in Cannes. I put it to him that he’s got a tough job until the funding is in place for the extension of the Northern line to the site. Funnily enough he disagreed – albeit very politely. He pointed out that the American embassy have already bought a five acre site to house their new building and that with tenants such as that committed to the project, selling the rest of the site to the world is a lot easier. Hard to disagree with that, but I’m still reserving my right to be sceptical about the project until the thing is built: there does seem to be quite a momentum building around the project, but it’s just been empty for so long.

POSTED BY ADAM BRANSON

Mipim 2010: No Cannes do

The R&R bandwagon rolled into Cannes last night to cover the annual homage to excess that is the Mipim property show. Except... except that it really does feel quiet, almost subdued. Last year a lot of folk commented to me that the conference was a lot quieter than in previous years, but as a new comer it still felt pretty hectic. This year I know what they mean. Of course, all things are relative. The bars when our train pulled in close to midnight were only half full (or half empty, depending on your frame of mind), but it was a Monday night, after all.

Housing and regeneration quango the Homes & Communities Agency's presence is minimal this year following some negative (largely unfair) press covereage of their outing last year. But some UK cities are still willing to brave the inevitable "junket" headlines in their local papers. Manchester, as usual, is a major presence at the conference. And London's marquee just gets bigger and bigger, although I am judging this from the view from the press tent - will report back once I've actually been there.

Speaking of which, the Boris show rolls into town after lunch. He's giving a speech about his administration's approach to planning at some point this afternoon - check back later on for an update.

POSTED BY ADAM BRANSON

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary #6

The team behind the nascent economic development company for Leicester and Leicestershire has just concluded its Mipim launch. The company’s new chair Nick Carter gave a speech and introduced a particularly slick marketing video.

Nick’s appointment is interesting because he comes straight from editing the local newspaper, rather than from a straight regeneration background. He assures me that this means that Leicester and Leicestershire Economic Development Company’s will do its best to avoid regeneration jargon.

The company will have its formal launch in Leicester next month, with an event in Westminster to follow. I fully expect the launches to be done in the spirit of partnership working, with public and private sectors achieving maximum buy-in, a black-box approach to achieving regional goals, targets and outcomes, and to avoid a one-size-fits-all rationalization of forthcoming corporate strategies.

Click here for more regeneration jargon-blogging

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary #5

Reactions to London mayor Boris Johnson's many but not so varied speeches here at Mipim have been, well, varied.

Everyone agrees that the Blond has consummate comic timing, but there are worries that he is rather light on content. “He’s banging on about the price of Big Macs and chewing gum on the pavement,” muttered one disappointed delegate. “Is that really what he wants to look back on in five years’ time?”

It was also noted that Boris has been learning some lessons from the flamboyant standup comic Eddie Izzard, who is wont to repeat his act in French when an encore is required. Last night, gazing down at pretty much the same audience he had addressed a mere two hours earlier, a baffled looking Boris decided simply to switch languages and give the same speech over again. The crazy thing is that – as per Izzard – it was just as funny when you had trouble understanding what he was saying.

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary #4

Something that has been raised again and again at meetings at Mipim this week is the possibility of building a robust, professional private-rented sector in the UK. It may be the state of the housing market that is prompting such discussions, but it is a reminder that in good times or bad we in the UK take a very different attitude towards housing to that of those on the continent.

While my British contempories worry (and talk) endlessly about "getting on the housing ladder", friends in France, Germany and Belgium simply do not care about such things, being happy to rent until much later in life. One such friend, a successful diplomat, has never raised the idea of buying a house in conversation so far as I can remember.

It's also the case that irresponsible mortgage lending in Britain and the US is in large part responsible for the mess the economy is in. Perhaps it's time that we adjusted our attitudes towards housing and looked to make the private rental sector a more appealing option. At the moment, the vast majority of homes for private rent are in the hands of small investors who have more important things to think about in their day-to-day lives than the needs of their tenants. If the sector were made more professional, perhaps the national desire to get a mortage at any cost could be suppressed.

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary #3 - addendum

Boris (see below) has evidently been following the R&R blog. In a final rallying cry to his audience he declared: "You don't have to come to Cannes to have a Cannes-do attitude."

Either he's stealing my puns or I need to put some more thought into this blog's title...

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary #3

The blond one has arrived. London mayor Boris Johnson has just officially opened the London stand to a packed house - and it was classic Boris.

He was cheeky: “I’m pleased to see so many people here, as Michael Howard used to say… when visiting prisons.”

Partisan: “You used to be able to buy the London Evening Standard for 50 pence. Now, after a decade of Labour, you can buy the entire newspaper for a pound.”

And above all else funny: “I don’t know what Mipim stands for. May I push you into the Mediterranean?”

The audience lapped up every word of it.

However, Boris did raise an interesting point. How many people actually know what Mipim stands for? I’m not embarrassed to say that I had to look it up. It’s Marche International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier, in case you were wondering.

For more blogs from our man at Mipim click here

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary - #2

It's official - graffiti has gone mainstream. And the evidence at Mipim is overwhelming.

First came the invitation to a lunch hosted by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation that had incorporated a photograph of one of Banksy's lesser known works as part of the event's marketing.

But then came the final blow. A press release has just popped into my inbox to announce that "concealed in balaclavas and camouflage, two graffiti artists are expected to attack the DLA Piper stand at MIPIM 2009". So far, so odd. after all, not many graffiti artists would be in gainful employment if they gave advance warning of their activities - that would just be making it too easy for the police.

However, the release soon cleared things up. "Armed with paint and the unpublished thoughts of senior property executives from around the world," it continues, "the artists plan on telling the story of the commercial property industry's past, present and future." Charles Saatchi's helicopter, it is rumoured in the press tent, has just landed.

"Attack in progress on Tuesday afternoon," the press release concludes. Radical.

Cannes do attitude - R&R's Mipim diary

According to reports, delegate numbers are 30 per cent down, but Cannes is still full of Mipim devotees, with public and private sectors alike sporting over-sized sunglasses and firm handshakes.

The topic that is on everyone's lips, naturally, is the recession, and more specifically how to keep projects going. Inevitably, the role of the public sector is a major talking point.

At an event this morning hosted jointly by Leeds and Bradford councils Eammon Boylan, deputy chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, was feeling the pressure when Professor Michael Parkinson stressed that the quango must ensure not just that regeneration projects maintain momentum through the downturn, but also that the sector doesn't just build "crap" in order to keep going.

"No pressure," added Parkinson.

"Cheers Michael," replied Boylan.