LONDON-John Laing Property Business Space has lodged a planning application for the final three buildings on its Drakes Meadow Business park at Swindon in Wiltshire. Units from 15,000 to 36,000 sf are proposed.

LONDON-CLS, the Anglo-French investor, has bought two more office properties in Lille, Northern France to add to its high-yielding portfolio.

LONDON-AOL Time Warner subsidiary Turner Broadcasting is continuing to rationalise its property holdings in London's West End. Both CNN and The Cartoon Network have moved into Turner House, freeing up 49,000 sf for disposal.

LONDON-The economic downturn is likely to be sharper and will last into 2002, following the events of 11 September. But investors see property as a relatively safe haven according to LaSalle Investment Management.

LONDON-Further evidence of the downturn in the serviced office sector emerged today with MWB Business Exchange conceding that occupancy levels and rental levels were down sharply even before 11 September.

PARIS-Hammerson has sold its prime retail development at 54 boulevard Haussmann, to the German open-ended fund DEKA for FFr 1.08 billion ($143 million). The 138,000 sf of retail space is let to Galeries Lafayette, H&M and Burton.

LONDON-The Central London office market proved resilient in the face of the global slowdown over the first half of 2001 according to Insignia Richard Ellis. But the broker says market prospects are more uncertain after 11 September.

LONDON-The South Bank district--until now seen as one of London's strongest emerging markets--is in danger of oversupply, according to new research from Cluttons.