A new normal? We live in interesting times. People talk of a ‘new normal’. Looking forward to a new steady state - not necessarily a welcome one, but at least a landscape to get to grips with and within which to operate. But, in reality, after such seismic shocks - reaching a steady state will be years away. For the time being the new normal is going to be one of constant change. One impact of that will be Registered Providers, and other developers, holding property that, without some thought, will be lying idle. Development sites that were all ready to go may stall for a while. A number of commercial tenants will unfortunately not survive. Many tenants of office premises will have concluded that they can operate from their kitchens and will be looking to hand back their keys to save costs. At the same time, we are likely to see an increase in new small start ups as the economy tries to get back on its feet. This means a likely increase in meanwhile uses for the foreseeable. Window of opportunity At their most basic, meanwhile uses are interim uses of properties whilst they await redevelopment or the finding of the right long-term users. To put it a bit less blandly, they are windows of opportunity for landowners, occupiers and often the community at large to extract value from properties that would otherwise sit vacant. Meanwhile uses range from the big and glamourous (think your Boxparks and Mercato Metropolitanos) to the small and humble such as (*deep breath*): community spaces, cafes, pop-up shops, restaurants, yoga spaces, youth centres, communal gardens, business hubs, art spaces…. In short, they are extraordinarily varied. Like the proverbial App – “there’s a meanwhile use for that”. Meanwhile uses will not always be the answer to an unused piece of land. It is something that needs to be considered carefully on a case by case basis. Given the diversity and scope of potential meanwhile uses, and the types of property they affect, a one-size fits all approach is definitely not going to work. Neil Toner Partner, Head of Real Estate 020 7065 1823 [email protected]David Bullock Solicitor, Real Estate & Projects 020 7065 1852 [email protected]IT’S THE LAW: Meanwhile Uses – what have you got to lose? Alexandra Benion Solicitor, Real Estate & Projects 020 7880 4342 [email protected]
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IT’S THE LAW: Meanwhile Uses – what have you got to lose?
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A new normal?
We live in interesting times. People talk of a ‘new normal’.
Looking forward to a new steady state - not necessarily
a welcome one, but at least a landscape to get to grips
with and within which to operate. But, in reality, after such
seismic shocks - reaching a steady state will be years away.
For the time being the new normal is going to be one of
constant change.
One impact of that will be Registered Providers, and other
developers, holding property that, without some thought,
will be lying idle. Development sites that were all ready to go
may stall for a while. A number of commercial tenants will
unfortunately not survive. Many tenants of office premises
will have concluded that they can operate from their kitchens
and will be looking to hand back their keys to save costs. At
the same time, we are likely to see an increase in new small
start ups as the economy tries to get back on its feet.
This means a likely increase in meanwhile uses for the
foreseeable.
Window of opportunity
At their most basic, meanwhile uses are interim uses of
properties whilst they await redevelopment or the finding of
the right long-term users. To put it a bit less blandly, they are
windows of opportunity for landowners, occupiers and often
the community at large to extract value from properties that
would otherwise sit vacant.
Meanwhile uses range from the big and glamourous (think
your Boxparks and Mercato Metropolitanos) to the small
and humble such as (*deep breath*): community spaces,