Real estate
‘Norton Rose offer clients a comprehensive real estate practice, and the team can draw upon a considerable international network. Clients appreciate the firm's strong client-service ethic: “We always entrusted urgent and intricate matters to Norton Rose knowing that the job would get well done, and on time.” Commercial awareness is also a strong point of this team, with sources citing the lawyers' “knowledge of the market, professional services, data accuracy, understanding of pertinent matters, and intellectual capabilities.”’
Chambers UK, 2013
Our global real estate team is involved in some of the largest and most innovative development and investment transactions and infrastructure projects in the UK and throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Central Asia.
Our multidisciplinary practice brings together broad sector expertise including banking, corporate, taxation, litigation, capital markets, environment, safety and planning, and construction. Our focus on key industry sectors allows us to provide a truly expert and tailored service to clients working in the fields of financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
We act for clients on innovative development, regeneration and real estate finance transactions and projects, including joint ventures, leasing structures and outsourcing. As the market leader in Islamic finance, we have extensive experience of real estate work using Islamic financing techniques and are advisers to the UK Government on Islamic financing.
Our areas of work include:
- Corporate real estate
- Environment, safety and planning
- Real estate finance
- Real estate litigation
Our recent work:
- Acting for a consortium comprising SP Setia Berhad, Sime Darby Berhad and the Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia, on the £400 million purchase and financing of the iconic Battersea Power Station in London
- Advising a syndicate of Middle Eastern banks led by ABC International Bank plc in relation to a senior Shariah compliant facility to King’s Reach Estates Limited, a joint venture between London developer CIT and Jadwa Investment for the redevelopment and refurbishment of the King’s Reach Tower in Southwark, London
- Advising DP World on London Gateway – its new 3.5 million TEU container port alongside Europe’s largest logistics park
- Advising Rabie Property Group, a large property developer, in relation to various real estate aspects of its ZAR 15 billion Century City development. The client started 8 years ago with the establishment of a new residential and business node functioning as a suburb of Cape Town. Our Cape Town team has advised extensively in relation to various aspects associated with the residential, commercial and retail property development which also includes a hotel and spa. Our continuous advice ranges from drafting of agreements, attending to land use management and property management issues
- Advising Mubadala Development Company on its joint venture with Gulf Related to develop, lease and operate “The Galleria at Sowwah Square”, in Abu Dhabi, a mixed-use development of 355,000 square feet which is to include retail space, luxury hotels and Grade A office space
- Representing Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. in the purchase of the 50% interest held by its partner, German asset manager Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft mbH, in four prominent Canadian shopping centres. This transaction has increased Ivanhoe Cambridge’s investment in these prime retail assets in Canada by $508 million dollars, including the assumption of $138 million of debt
- Advising Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) on the development of its privately owned land surrounding its racecourse into a new major urban development project, which will create a new urban village known as Caulfield Village seven kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. The development will take 15 years to complete the major infrastructure works that will be undertaken. There will be more than 1500 residential dwellings together with retail areas, office complex, a new boulevard for integrated retail areas, a transport hub and lifestyle facilities
- Advising GPT, one of Australia's largest diversified property trusts, on a deal reported to be worth AU$180 million to buy land at 150 Collins St, Melbourne and to forward fund the development of a 12-15 Storey premium grade office building. The building was 80% preleased to Westpac. The transaction involved issues including a complex matrix of head leases and existing agreements with tenants, the proximity of the site to a heritage listed church, car parking restrictions, complex planning restrictions, innovative security structures and the difficulties of dealing with multiple parties with divergent interests