The tallest skyscraper in the EU is about to officially be unveiled in central London.
The Shard, a gleaming feat of glass and gravity-defying engineering, stands at 309.6 metres, dominating the city’s skyline and towering over existing landmarks such as 30 St Mary Axe - "the Gherkin" - and One Canada Square.
Rising from the depths of the economic downturn, thanks to an almighty investment from Qatar, the skyscraper has been £1.5bn and 12 years in the making.
First sketched on the back of a restaurant menu in Berlin in 2000, the designs received planning approval in 2003, but securing the finances took significantly longer.
Funding stalled during the credit crunch, until Qatar intervened in 2009, taking on 95% of the investment.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud al Thani, the governor of Qatar Central Bank and chairman of the board of directors of Shard Funding Ltd, said: "The Shard is the newest London landmark and a beacon of the city of London’s resilience and expansion, even during tough economic times."
"It is a symbol of Qatar’s belief and commitment to London both today and in the future."
However, the skyscraper's office space has yet to be occupied - it will open with 26 floors vacant, although the developers say they are in discussion with a number of companies to fill them.
Rents for the best offices in London's financial district - the yardstick used by Shard developer Irvine Sellar for the offices at the bottom of the tower - have been £55 per square foot since September 2010, property consultant CBRE said.
That is the longest period rents have not risen since records began in 1960.
A spectacular light and laser show will mark the formal inauguration of the building tonight, after a ceremony attended by Qatar's prime minister and the Duke of York.
A combination of 12 lasers and 30 searchlights will light up the night sky from the 95 storey building, accompanied by live music from the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Irvine Sellar, the chairman of Sellar Property, said: "The Shard is an iconic addition to the capital’s skyline and will be one that all of London can access and enjoy."
"It will become as essential a part of a visit to London as going to the top of the Empire State building is for visitors on a trip to New York.
"It will become a new symbol for the city and something London can be proud of. The Shard is fast becoming one of the most recognisable London skyline silhouettes."
The name "The Shard" is derived from the architect, Renzo Piano's description of the development as a "shard of glass" during planning stages.
Inspired by Canaletto's paintings of the Thames and the masts of the tall ships once anchored here, the idea was to create a kaleidoscope of a building - to reflect the city back at itself.
Renzo Piano told Sky News: "If London is a city of mobile sky, this building is a building of mobile view - it’s never the same.
"The shards, instead of being vertical, are at an angle, and so they reflect the sky."
Thursday marks the formal completion of the outside of the building, but work will continue inside to create the ten luxury residences, five star hotel, three floors of restaurants and office space, which will become, in the words of the developers, a "vertical city".
A viewing platform on the 69th floor will open to the public from February next year.
Source: news.sky.com
She didn't do it alone: Katie Holmes' attorney father is said to have helped 'orchestrate her sudden split' from Tom Cruise - Daily Mail
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It's already been reported that he is helping his daughter with her divorce, but it seems that Katie Holmes' father may have been the one behind the big decision in the first place.
The 67-year-old attorney is said to have helped his youngest child set the wheels in motion when she decided she wanted to divorce her husband of five years, Tom Cruise.
According to People magazine, Martin Holmes 'helped orchestrate his daughter's sudden split' from the Hollywood actor.
The mastermind: Katie Holmes' attorney father Martin is said to have orchestrated her split from Tom Cruise
'Marty is very rigid – it's his way or the highway,' a Toledo attorney who has worked with Martin told the magazine.
'Marty believes there are only two sets of rules: the rules of the court and his rules, and he carries himself that way.'
The father-of-five is said to practice in areas including personal injury, business litigation, probate and matrimonial law, and is therefore the best person for Katie to turn to for advice.
It also seems that Martin is relieved to finally have his daughter back, following constant reports that he and his wife Kathy felt that the Mission Impossible star was controlling their daughter.
Fighting it out: Martin is said to be helping his daughter with her divorce proceedings as her five year marriage to Tom Cruise comes to an end
When Katie began dating Tom, 50, back in 2005, rumours quickly emerged that the actress's parents were wary of the relationship.
However, in public Martin was always supportive of Cruise, calling him a 'humanitarian' in a statement to Access Hollywood, and Katie was also quick to deny any stories of tension between them.
'Some of the crap that's out there – the stuff that's said about my parents and my siblings not hitting it off with Tom, it's really frustrating,' the mother-of-one told Vanity Fair in 2006.
Yummy: Katie took her daughter Suri out for the first time yesterday since the shock announcement on Friday
But Martin and Kathy are clearly behind their daughter's decision to divorce Tom - which was revealed to the world on Friday.
The actress has since moved to Manhattan with Suri and last night took her daughter out in public for the first time since announcing the split.
The pair visited a local ice cream parlous where the dark-haired child was spotted tenderly stroking her mother's face as she enjoyed the cold treat.
Number one priority: The pair enjoyed ice cream and a cuddle before heading back to their New York apartment
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London's Shard tower opens with empty floors, flat rents - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Superstar architect Rienzo Piano calls the European Union's new tallest building a "vertical city", but when his stunning Shard tower opens on Thursday over London Bridge it will house the equivalent of a whole vacant neighborhood.
The elongated glass pyramid, built atop a train station in a scruffy neighborhood near the Thames, will open with 26 floors of vacant office space, and developers have to fill it at a time when rents are at the flattest in at least 50 years.
The Shard's developers are spared from market wrath solely because the building was built with funding by the deep-pocketed royal family of Qatar, rather than a publicly listed firm, said John Cahill, a property analyst at Investec.
"With the Shard's office floors still empty, it would be panic stations if it was a listed developer behind it," he said.
Long gone are the days in London's commercial real estate market when the Foster + Parners-designed 30 St Mary Axe, known as "the Gherkin" because of its oblong shape, opened in the financial district in April 2004 with all floors already let.
The Shard is just one of several skyscrapers now sprouting across London with nicknames that reflect the silhouettes they cast on the skyline. But with a financial crisis having blown in since architects first came up with designs for the "Walkie Talkie" and the "Cheese Grater", lettings have been muted.
Rents for the best offices in London's financial district - the yardstick used by Shard developer Irvine Sellar for the offices at the bottom of the tower - have been 55 pounds per square foot since September 2010, property consultant CBRE said. That is the longest period of flat rents since its records began in 1960.
"The only reason rents haven't started to fall is the relatively low level of available space at the moment," said Kevin McCauley, head of central London research at CBRE, who expects rents to remain flat for the rest of the year.
The Walkie-Talkie, also known as 20 Fenchurch Street, is being developed by Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group. The Leadenhall tower - the official name of the Cheese Grater - is being funded by British Land and the property arm the Ontario, Canada city workers' retirement fund.
NEW MODEL
Developers say a wave of lease breaks and expiries over the next several years will prompt tenants to move into well-appointed new offices.
"Why would you drive around in a 1970s car when you can have a 2012 model?" said Sellar, an entrepreneur who began his career with a clothing store on London's Carnaby Street.
So far, it hasn't worked out that way. Work has halted at the Pinnacle skyscraper on Bishopsgate, which will remain a stump in the ground until a major slice is let. And developers of a neighboring tower at 100 Bishopsgate say they will only begin once a large tenant is signed up.
If the climate is bothering the Qatari funders of the Shard, they did not say so at an opening event on Wednesday.
"Recovering our investment is a minor thing at the moment," said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud Al Thani, governor of Qatar Central Bank.
The development cost of the Shard, a neighboring office building called The Place and communal areas around London Bridge train station is about 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion).
"We have confidence in the London market and a long relationship with London," he said, emphasizing that a slowdown was part of a normal economic cycle.
The only tenant so far is the 195-room Shangri-La hotel, which will occupy floors 34 to 52 of the 87-storey tower. Sellar expects the rest of the building to be fully occupied by the end of 2014, conceding it was a long-term view he could take only because of the Qatari backing.
He will have to lure tenants like media and financial firms to venture to the opposite bank of the Thames from the City, the traditional financial district. He says the Shard's location will save commuters who arrive by train from walking across London bridge in the rain. Others are unconvinced.
"A lot of traditional City tenants refuse to cross the river to even have a look," said Simon Wainwright, managing director of property consultancy J Peiser Wainwright. "In a nutshell it's a bridge too far for many," he said.
Sellar scoffed. "That's absolutely ridiculous... We've been very selective as to who can even come and view the building. Just look up the road at Ernst & Young and PWC and you realize you are in the middle of a financial district."
Discussions are underway with tenants for about a third of the office space, he said.
The Qataris, who also London's Harrods department store and the luxury One Hyde Park apartment scheme in Knightsbridge, are not the only rich foreigners buying into London real estate.
Overseas buyers have invested 15.8 billion pounds in London offices since 2010, 64 percent of the total, CBRE said. Middle Eastern investors accounted for 11 percent, or 2.8 billion pounds. And foreign ownership of the City financial district stands at 52 percent, Development Securities said.
"Clearly the recent appreciation of Sterling has had little effect on overseas investor's views that central London is providing both good value and a safe haven," said Simon Barrowcliff, a CBRE executive director.
But the next wave of investors do not appear to be putting so much money into skyscrapers. Ken Shuttleworth, the architect who led the team behind the Gherkin while at Foster + Partners, said no plans for London skyscrapers were crossing his desk.
"In the current economic climate, we are basically only working on skyscrapers in the Far East," he said. ($1 = 0.6378 British pounds)
(Reporting by Tom Bill)
Source: uk.reuters.com
National Book Publicity Tour for Famed Attorney Jeffery Leving’s, How to Be a Good Divorced Dad - Online PR News
This summer, veteran matrimonial attorney and author Jeffery M. Leving is conducting a promotional tour to discuss his newly released book, How to Be a Good Divorced Dad.
Online PR News – 04-July-2012 –This summer, veteran matrimonial attorney and author Jeffery M. Leving is conducting a promotional tour to discuss his newly released book, How to Be a Good Divorced Dad and is offering advice to fathers on how to best stay connected with their children when going through divorce and relationship conflict.
Radio Tour Dates:
Sarasota, FL
July 5: WSLR-FM Jumping Mullet Report Show with host Doug Miles at 11:30AM (CST) Streaming - http://wslr.org/main/wslr-news/local-news
Rochester, NY
July 17: 1420 WACK-AM Morning Show with host Dr. Rus Jeffery at 7:35AM (CST) Streaming - http://www.1420wack.com
Nationally Syndicated Shows:
July 10: Radio America Network Good Parenting Show with host Matt Bubala at 9AM (CST)
July 13: The Mike Fitzgerald Show with host Mike Fitzgerald at 1PM (CST)
July 23: LA Talk Radio Answers for the Family Show with host Allen Cardoza at 1PM (CST) Streaming: http://www.latalkradio.com
July 23: Blog Talk Radio The Art of Relating Show with host Christine Kniffen at 7PM (CST) Streaming: http://www.blogtalkradio.com
Listeners can also download archived podcast radio shows on http://dadsrights.podbean.com.
Levings new book offers advice to fathers offers insights about legal system trends and other factors that dismantle father-child relationships. It is filled with stories showing how fathers have struggled to save and protect their relationships with their children. The book helps men meet the challenges and overcome the obstacles that stand in their way of becoming fully-involved parents.
This practical guide has garnered praise from President Obama and an endorsement from Francis Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who said This is a pain-filled book that offers good advice about how to preserve a family born of a marriage that has failed. Its a book that is, unfortunately, more and more needed.
How to Be a Good Divorced Dad is currently available bookstores, libraries and in the Amazon Kindle Store online.
About the Author and Attorney
Jeffery M. Leving (http://dadsrights.com) was named one of Americas Best Lawyers by Forbes Radio. He authored two previous groundbreaking books: Fathers Rights and Divorce Wars and co-authored the Illinois Joint-Custody. His book, Fathers Rights is the #1 best-seller on Amazon.com in its Children Family & Health category.
Leving was recently honored in Resolution No. 995 by the Illinois House of Representatives for his forward-thinking initiatives in the field of law and fathers rights and that Leving serves as a model of hard work, integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of Illinois.
For more information, please contact Jennifer Whiteside at 312-296-3666.
Source: www.onlineprnews.com
Kate's Dad is going to take Tom to the cleaners on this split. He is a top ace attorney that loves his daughter. He will spend no expense making certain Daddy's little girl is victorious in divorce court.
- tuliplover, usa, 04/7/2012 22:29
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