Built Environment

Combining in-depth sector knowledge with technical legal excellence, we provide exceptional advice to support you at each stage of your building’s lifecycle.

Overview

If you are developing, investing, occupying, funding or maintaining the built environment, from within the UK or offshore, our award-winning, multi-disciplinary sector group is here to support you.

With over 140 built environment lawyers, qualified to practice throughout the UK, including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland we can advise wherever the location and whatever the scale of your project.

Advising on the full asset lifecycle, we are experienced in a range of industry sectors and asset types. Whether you’re operating within offices, industrial & logistics, retail, hotels, mixed-use regeneration, healthcare & retirement living, build to rent, student accommodation, life sciences or data centres, we have lawyers with specialist knowledge and understanding of the nuances of each asset class, helping to maximise the value of your project and protect it from risk.

Recognising that real estate and the wider built environment goes far beyond the individual assets, we also work hand-in-hand with our energy, net zero, transport, public sector and infrastructure sector groups to ensure your asset is protected for the future.

Who do we advise? We advise both the private and public sectors, including: institutions, sovereign wealth funds, private and listed propcos, developers, investors, fund managers, banks and other financial institutions, private individuals, contractors and consultants, occupiers, local authorities and central government.

Areas of focus

Our expertise in the built environment sector includes the following:

Experience

Investment & Capital Markets

A global sovereign wealth fund on its substantial portfolio of UK hotels.

Funds advised by Octopus Investments on the corporate acquisition of Elivia Homes.

Aerium Group providing legal advice in relation to its £500+ million UK wide real estate portfolio.

Acting for the shareholder of a specialist care provider on the sale of a £100 million portfolio of 16 residential care homes, 3 mental health hospitals and a further education college across England and Wales.

West Ranga on the simultaneous £24 million sale and leaseback of 5 Cazoo sites in the UK (4 in England and 1 in Scotland).

Zetland Capital on its acquisition of well-located hotels & leisure assets across the UK, including the £100+ million acquisition of the 338 bedroom Macdonald Manchester Hotel and the 156 bedroom Macdonald Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh and the £23 million purchase of a portfolio of 12 historic pubs in central London.

Development and Regeneration

St Modwen on the development of many of its industrial and logistics assets throughout the UK.

YOO Development Limited on a joint venture with Atenor and Ascendal Group Limited, for the regeneration of a 1.5-acre site in Westbourne Park, West London.

Greater London Authority on multiple housing-led/mixed-use redevelopment and regeneration projects worth many billions across London.

YTL on the redevelopment of Filton Airfield, the birthplace of Concorde. We advised on obtaining outline planning for 2,675 new homes, 62 acres of employment space, acres of parkland, new schools and education district and a thriving town-centre.

University of Bristol in relation to the development of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus Bristol, one of the largest single development projects in the South West.

Real Estate Finance

A US funder on the debt funding of a new 24,000 seat arena.

A UK housing developer as borrower on a £18 million development facility in relation to a residential housing project in Felixstowe.

MetLife on the debt funding provided for the refinance of two office properties in prime locations in Jersey’s financial district with a total value of over £131 million.

HSBC and RBS on a joint £180 million investment and development facility to a student accommodation provider.

Facilities Management

MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation on its £multi-billion programme to provide facilities management services across the MoD estate (including Built Estate; Training Estate; Housing Management and Maintenance and US Visiting Forces). This is believed to be one of the largest ever call-offs from a Crown Commercial Services framework.

DEFRA on its Workplace and Facilities Management Project, a long-term and complex programme (worth c.£770 million) to deliver FM services across Defra's diverse and strategically important estate.

FCDO on its procurement and mobilisation of a global Dynamic Purchasing System worth c.£1.5 billion for FM services across the FCDO’s global estate of over 5,000 properties, as well as competitions under that DPS for the Asia Pacific region and Europe.
Government Property Agency on its procurement of the Workplace Services Transformation Programme (a large, complex, multi-lot procurement to outsource FM arrangements).

Tenants & Corporate Occupiers

St James’s Place Wealth Management in relation to the occupation and management of St James’s Place’s UK-wide office portfolio. Including strategic asset management advice on exit from and acquisition of multiple leases.

Beauty Pie on its acquisition of new HQ office space at Colegrave House, 70 Berners Street. London. Beauty Pie, the first luxury beauty buyers’ club, has taken its new office space, by way of an underlease from Gamesys Group. The team supported Beauty Pie in both the real estate and construction aspects of its move.

Virgin in relation to management of Virgin’s UK property portfolio, including advice on the company’s exit from The Battleship Building, Paddington and 66 Porchester Road to move to its new HQ at Whitfield Studios, Fitzrovia.

King & Wood Mallesons on the lease of the 11th floor of 20 Fenchurch Street (the Walkie Talkie), along with fit out licence, construction advice and collateral warranty pack in relation to fit out, wayleave agreement and other ancillary documents.

Meet the team