Twelve Days of Christmas 2009

It is almost that time of year once again, time for a trip down memory lane........or have they privatised that now???

A SENIOR city councillor has landed himself in hot water by making an obscene one-fingered gesture to carol-singing protesters.
Remember this from December 2006?
Full story here -Councillor in One Finger Salute

Below is one of the carols adapted and sung by a group of Save Our Old Town Campaigners as councillors, architects and other wanabees entered a champagne reception hosted by Caltongate Developers Mountgrange at The Fruitmarket Gallery on Market Street, close to the proposed development.

Mountgrange director Manish Chande, lied in the press in May 2008. He claimed that the wife of Trevor Davies had verbal abuse shouted at her from one of the carol singing campaingers . We are still awaiting a retraction of this blatent lie.Full story here

On the twelfth day of Christmas my council sent to me :

Twelve diggers digging

Eleven planners planning
Ten global chain stores
Nine builders building

Eight PR spinners Seven legal experts


Six cows a conning

A five star hotel
Four wrecking balls

Three cheap homes

Two office blocks

and Mountgrange now in admin....is...tra...tion

Down Memory Lane

Yes, it was a year ago that the UNESCO delegation visited our fine city, in this weeks Guardian there is an article looking at Bath and her struggle to keep her outstanding universal values in the face of the onslaught of inappropriate development. Article here

The following is from the piece on Edinburgh

Dresden proves that Unesco has teeth; the city's loss of status may well affect tourist revenue and inward investment. And this year, a Unesco report on Edinburgh (its Old and New Towns have heritage status), has prompted the collapse of two new developments: a 17-storey hotel, and Caltongate, a complex incorporating a hotel, conference centre, 200 flats and offices, which would have entailed the demolition of listed buildings. True, the recession has played a part, too: the developer for Caltongate, Mountgrange Capital, has gone into receivership. But if the development has been knocked on the head, Unesco has played its part.

BBC piece here from March 2009 Caltongate Developers in administration

Mountgrange Greed knows no bounds

Full Article here in Reuters

from article -

'LONDON (Reuters) - Fund manager Mountgrange spies more money-spinning opportunities in the housing market than in commercial property, where prices are rallying fast under the glare of the world's wealthiest bargain hunters.

Nick Berry, a partner at the privately owned fund manager, said sheer weight of money chasing discounted UK offices and shops was inflating values quicker than the fundamentals alone would support, pushing the firm to consider alternatives.

"There's a stronger case for optimism in the residential sector at the moment. There is an overwhelming shortage of housing, in particular affordable housing so demand is easily identified," Berry told Reuters.

"Available commercial property stock is much less abundant and when you're thinking about where demand is coming from in that sector, it's not so obvious. Unemployment is rising and that is pushing up vacancy rates too," he said.

Berry said the appeal of the residential sector was underpinned by lower construction costs and cheaper land prices, as well as a willingness on the part of some UK banks to take action on their problematic residential assets.'

Mountgrange, which was set up by veteran property entrepreneurs Martin Myers and Manish Chande, made its last acquisition in August 2008 when it bought a portfolio of retail and office properties from PRUPIM for 140 million pounds.

Berry said Mountgrange's investors -- a mix of sovereign wealth funds, European and North American fund of funds and state pension investors -- have been supportive of a decision to remain on the sidelines and placed no pressure on them to rush back into the UK property market.

"I'd say that whilst rents continue to fall and it is unclear where new occupier demand is coming from, it is difficult to argue that funds who have adopted this approach are in danger of missing out," he said.

This is the same Mountgrange (another one of the companies now in administration) that owes £18,000 n rent to the City of Edinburgh Council for the rent on the council tenancies they had cleared to make way for a 5 star hotel and luxury housing.....and owes HBOS £70million smackeroonies see BBC piece here

You couldn't make it up. Have these people no shame?

Mountgrange wants a Divorce!

Breakdown of Caltongate marriage

By Steven Vass Sunday Herald 24th May 2009

THE DEVELOPER behind the collapsed £300 million Caltongate project in Edinburgh has indicated for the first time that it will not attempt to revive the project.

Manish Chande, co-owner of Mountgrange Capital, which was forced into administration by its banker Lloyds in March, told the Sunday Herald he was "close to divorce" from the project, expressing impatience with the planning delays and heritage objections that have dogged the four-year project.

Chande's decision to draw a line under Mountgrange's involvement in Caltongate comes as administrator Deloitte said it had held talks with other potential developers and that a deal could be "months if not weeks" away. This runs contrary to reports that Lloyds was leaning on the administrator to mothball the site until the commercial property market picked up in value.

Chande said of the development, which was to include a five-star hotel, more than 200 homes, offices, cafes, bars and a public square: "We have had our separation, and we are getting close to our divorce.

"We may not be the best buyer. After four years of work, we saw the issues that arose and we are perhaps slightly affected by it."

Chande's comments contradict speculation at the time of the Mountgrange Capital administration announcement that he and business partner Martin Myers would push to buy back the development from Deloitte at the earliest opportunity.

Chande responded that it was unlikely he and Myers would agree with the administrator's valuation of the site. Mountgrange Capital paid £20m for Caltongate in 2004, but it is not thought to be worth anything like that now.

John Reid, Deloitte's administrator for Caltongate, said he had not heard from Chande or Myers but added: "We have been talking to a number of other potential developers and expect to conclude within months if not weeks. It is our intention to move forward as quickly as we can."

Clearly The Evening News are not keeping up with divorce proceedings, with their front page headlines "Caltongate set to be revived by failed firm's ex-bosses"

The Great Calton & Gate Swindle part 2

Publicity shot for the forthcoming movie The Great Calton & Gate Swindle part 2

From an article in today`s Property Week

"Manish Chande and Martin Myers have re-emerged from the administration of Mountgrange Capital with £850m to spend on ‘the next big thing’

Martin Myers and Manish Chande reached the nadir of their careers in March with the administration of their company, Mountgrange Capital."

Myers says: ‘In the summer of 2006, we thought we would launch a fund and wind down the old Mountgrange – Mountgrange Capital – to launch the fund.

‘We saw autumn 2006 as the peak of the market and, although we did not anticipate the fall that we have seen, we saw that the market had reached its peak.’

Chande adds: ‘In autumn 2006 we saw the rate of growth beginning to slow.’"

Meanwhile here in the republic we are asking did the council officials and councillors know that they had no intention of continuing with the company that they had entered into a questionable land deal with? A Land deal which is currently being investigated by the EU?

If they did how was it that this information was not made known to the public?

Now we know all about what has been revealed in Westminster, surely now it is time to cast the net wider and increase transparency and accountability over decision making at local level.

Would the CEC consider selling off 'council land' at the bottom of the market to the same people just because they have changed their name and got money from different people?

A company which couldn't even cough up £18,ooo for council homes they had the council empty on their last round of pie in the sky promises?

also from article in Property week -

"So it seems remarkable that just weeks later a phoenix is rising from the ashes in the form of an £850m opportunity fund.

Chande and Myers, who have worked together since 1983, founding, running and selling Imry before the 1990 crash, and setting up Trillium, which they sold for £330m to Land Securities in 2000, suffered a bitter blow earlier this spring.

Their lender, Bank of Scotland Corporate, refused to lend a string of Mountgrange companies – including those developing the £300m Caltongate scheme in Edinburgh and the 160 acre Phoenix Park in Linwood, Paisley – any more money and, as the values of schemes continued to fall, they were forced into administration.

Among the assets sold by administrator Deloitte are horses from a stud farm that was owned by one of the Mountgrange companies, to raise money for creditors.

But it has now decided to hold on to the projects and is attempting to complete them to sell at a more profitable time.

Bank won`t sell New Street Site ?

From todays Evening News 29 April 2009

THE massive Caltongate site is set to mothballed for a year or more after the Bank of Scotland ordered administrators not to sell the site on the cheap.

The Edinburgh-based bank is owed £73.8 million by Mountgrange Capital and is concerned that, in the current market, the site would not sell for enough to get it the money back.

Remember when the republic broke the news of Mountgrange having no cash back in September last year, of course no one believed them as they were not a PR spin doctor like Mark Cumming of Never Beaten PR or Donald whaur`s yer troosers? Anderson of the infamous pr outfit PPS Group

The Great Calton & Gate Swindle

There is so much news today, go to google news and enter caltongate, you will see who Mountgrange`s administrators are and their plans to re-invent themselves, any ideas for their future company`s name welcome, and remember to send your caption for the pic of Manish Chande and his spin doctor Mark Cummings below....
BBC and Stv news tonight are covering story.

Caltongate the Movie

STARRING


"The Developers"

Martin "The Silent One" Myers

&

Manish "Its a 5 star hotel or nothing" Chande

Manish Chande, aged 51, graduated with a diploma in Accountancy from the City of London Polytechnic in 1975 and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. In 1997, he co-established the Trillium Group and was chief executive prior to its acquisition by Land Securities plc in 2000. Mr. Chande joined the board of Land Securities, before resigning in 2002 to establish Mountgrange Capital plc. Mr. Chande continues to serve as chief executive of Mountgrange. From 1985 to 1997, Mr. Chande worked as chief executive officer at Imry plc, prior to which time he spent four years working at Deloitte Haskins & Sells (Chartered Accountants) London (presently PriceWaterhouseCoopers). Mr. Chande also served as non-executive chairman of National Car Parks plc from 2003 to 2005 and as a non-executive director of MITIE plc from 2003 to 2006 and Property Fund Management plc from 2002 to 2004. In 2003, Mr. Chande was appointed as a Commissioner of English Heritage.

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/LSECWS/IFSPages/MarketNewsPopup.aspx?id=1486080&source=RNS

"The Cooncil"

Jenny ""Its grotesque and hideous, lets approve it" Dawe present city leader

Jim "laugh a minute" Lowrie present planning convenor

Donald " How I made Edinburgh"" Anderson, former City Leader, now Director of Mountgrange`s PR firm PPS Group Scotland












Trevor " the finger " Davies, former planning convenor

"The Architects"

Allan "Caltongate or Edinburgh must die <>" Murray

Malcolm "heritage bodies are toxic " Fraser


co starrring

Spin Doctor
Mark "Never Beaten PR" Cummings

Ron "rent a gob" Hewitt, Head of Chamber of Commerce


Historic Scotland

Architecture Design Scotland

now they are doon the tubes.........