MIPIM Property Fair 2008

By day MIPIM is a premier global property fair, by night the glamorous seaside resort of Cannes , last week became a networking extravaganza with many of the worlds leading real estate players looking for the next property hotspot and finance and glamour meet to close multi-million pound property deals.

Property themes this year focused on the continued regeneration of Old Europe with the city centres of France, UK, Germany and Italy attracting particular attention. Major waterfront property schemes in London, Bordeaux and Hamburg are very much en vogue in the property development world where fashionable housing still makes a statement.

The UK property market has been booming over the last few years, and even though we are seeing signs of a softening for housing demand, there are still many new and exciting off-plan projects planned in various areas of the country. Among the UK projects under discussion are :-

Manchester
A £750 million regeneration of the central spine of Manchester, creating the first new pedestrian street in the city for decades. Ask Developments having enjoyed previous success with their affordable housing development Abito, in their new project will see up and coming Hulme connected to the Mancunian Way, Whitworth Street West and on to the main area of the city.

Birmingham
The redevelopment of Birmingham’s Eastside with an array of commercial property, office space and leisure facilities. The Ventureast site should see building start in 2009 as soon as planning applications have been approved by the council.

Scotland
Urban Splash is also set to announce plans for a £70 million development at Irvine Bay on the West coast of Scotland. Chairman Tom Bloxham will be releasing details of the venture after his company were confirmed as the preferred bidder by the Irvine Bay Regeneration Company. The 11 acre project which will see over 300 new homes created in the area. As previous award winners at MIPIM with their innovative Chimney Pot Park project in Manchester, this project will be watched with much interest.

With the growth of the international property market, MIPIM has grown in popularity with last years record attendance of 26,000 visitors and 2,523 exhibiting companies expected to be surpassed this year. The property show is attracting attention worldwide with over 83 countries represented last year alone. It seems that as well as the place to announce new and exciting projects, there are property networking opportunities aplenty!