Printed from the Field Fisher Waterhouse web site
Web address: http://www.ffw.com/practices/real-estate/development.aspx

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Development

In a difficult market that offers both large issues but also significant opportunities, you need a responsive, commercial approach as well as solutions from your lawyers, coupled with legal analysis and support.  

Our service

We can help you in areas such as rights of light, ransom strips and adverse title claims, negotiating overage agreements and other pricing structures, anticipating issues arising from development and joint venture agreements, advice on appropriate professionals, squatters rights, and advice on particular sectors.

We advise on a wide range of projects, from City headquarters, industrial and distribution parks and office complexes through to hotels and leisure and residential developments both in the UK and abroad. 

We focus our services on your needs and provide solutions-based advice. We tailor our approach to your requirements and the way you work, building our teams to fit with yours. That teamwork means we also work closely with your other consultants to ensure a thorough understanding of the project and potential issues.

Our team have well respected credentials in the industry and we advise an impressive selection of clients in a variety of sectors. The advice extends to considering the appropriate tax structures and most tax efficient vehicles, advising on funding sources and development finance – and introducing clients to potential sources of finance, dependent on the nature of the scheme.

Our experience

The following gives a flavour of our recent development advice:

  • advising landowners in relation to a joint venture agreement for mixed-use redevelopment, taking into account their respective interests and economic requirements
  • advising the developer of a listed building comprising luxury apartments and a luxury hotel, where part of the development was over a railway terminal, with complex construction issues
  • advising the developer on the phased development of a business park including a local centre, pub and office buildings, as part of a joint venture agreement
  • advising retailers on development agreements for lease of stores, focussing on ensuring the handover of completed anchor stores in fully operational shopping centres
  • advising regeneration clients undertaking mixed use (retail, leisure, hotel and residential) developments, incorporating complex issues such as overage, contamination and development within a flood plain
  • advising banks on multi-million pound loan facilities, where the developer is constructing mixed-use sites, comprising residential, health clubs, sports pitches, pubs and bars
  • advising developers on joint venture agreements to secure strategic land acquisitions and promotion of substantial landholdings for residential use
  • advising public sector clients undertaking substantial regeneration projects, including mixed use development of brownfield sites, the selection of the preferred developers, development agreements, CPO powers, gap-funding and state aid, complex grant funding arrangements, construction advice of a sports track, negotiating relocation agreements, leaseback agreements, discretionary and advance payments