The best new commercial buildings in Scotland have been revealed at the property industry’s largest celebration held in Glasgow last night.
The winners in the independent competition which celebrates achievements in delivering commercial and public property in Scotland, were revealed in front of 700 guests at the Hilton in Glasgow.
The top award of the night, Property Company of the Year, sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, was presented to Artisan Real Estate, the acquisitive developer which has delivered New Waverley, the £200m, seven-acre regeneration in Edinburgh City Centre, and has also made several strategic acquisitions in the last year.
However, it was Glasgow which picked up the bulk of the prizes with the City of Glasgow College City Campus collecting two awards for Architectural Excellence (public buildings) and for Development of the Year (public buildings). KR Developments, the student residence developer, collected two awards for The George Street Apartments in Glasgow and for Rising Star of the Year.
Other awards were also presented to Kirkintilloch Town Hall, Dundee Waterfront Phase 1, Marischal Square in Aberdeen and the Restoration Yard in Dalkeith.
The Individual Contribution Award was presented to Danny O’Neill the co-founder and Director of Ediston Real Estate for delivering a landmark year in 2017. Sponsored and presented by Bank of Scotland, O’Neill was commended for growing the net asset value of the Ediston REIT by 60%, acquiring 4 retail parks at a price of £144m and raising £88.7m of new equity and £54m of debt. 2017 ended with the business selling £145m of property and acquiring £254 million of assets. In a pre-recorded speech broadcast by video, O’Neill commented;
“I would like to thank the awards committee for bestowing this accolade on me; I am very proud of it. Anything I’ve achieved in the last 25 years has been part of a team whether at Standard Life Investments or with my team at Ediston Real Estate. I’ve been really fortunate to work with some really good people who I trust and who have helped us to get to where we are.
“As I look forward, I think we are facing the most exciting and perhaps the most disruptive times in property. There will be new things which we are talking about in five years which we haven’t even heard of yet. In my opinion disruption is here to stay and I encourage everyone to embrace it - it may even define the industry in the next five years.”
Judging in the competition was largely complete in December but three categories were determined more recently, including the PMP Deal of the Year which assessed 7 significant transactions noted for complexity, size, risk and value. The winner was selected via public text vote which closed at 9pm last night after receiving over 1000 votes.
Fiona Morton, Chair of the Judging Panel, commented;
“Congratulations to all the finalists and winners in the 5th annual Scottish Property Awards. Judging in the awards is immensely rewarding for everyone involved as we take time out of our busy schedules to celebrate our achievements in commercial property. I hope all the winners take further time to acknowledge colleagues and to recognise and reward hard work executed brilliantly.”
Andrew Sutherland, Chair of the Scottish Property Federation, commented:
“It’s very rewarding to see a collection of such high achievements in commercial real estate. The SPF is very proud to support the Scottish Property Awards in its annual celebration. Many congratulations to all the finalists and winners this year.”
The awards are also sponsored by Peace Recruitment, who for the first time in the history of the awards hosted an after party at 29 Glasgow.
Chris Peace, Managing Director, Peace Recruitment commented;
“The Scottish Property Awards is without a doubt the event of the year in Scottish real estate. Good networking opportunities are vital for us as we provide specialist recruitment services in construction, property and engineering. We are delighted to support these crucial industries in the delivery of a high-quality awards celebration.”