The global real estate market is dynamic and complex. To navigate this challenging and fast-moving industry, you require responsive legal advisers with an in-depth knowledge of international and local markets: responsive, accessible and able to execute your transactions seamlessly.
Gowling WLG is home to one of the world's strongest multi-disciplinary real estate legal teams. We're committed to providing you with timely, practical advice to help you meet the demands of customers, partners, regulators and investors.
We work alongside many of the sector's most successful companies and have helped to deliver numerous high-profile projects, advising throughout their lifecycle.
Our large, diverse team brings extensive personal experience of a wide range of assets. That means even where you are dealing with an unusual asset, we are likely to have experience in that area. Our services encompass railway stations, air and sea ports, bridges, recycling plants, district heating schemes, exhibition centres, power stations, schools, hospitals and many others.
We also have a strong track-record in the tech sector and so are well placed to respond as digital technologies begin to transform the way we use and manage our buildings, towns and cities.
While advancing your business goals is always our top priority, we know that your budget is finite. With this in mind, we optimise your legal spend by implementing efficient fee strategies, offering competitive rates and anticipating costs as far in advance as possible.
Fully integrated, we offer legal services across our global offices. Whatever the matter, we deliver quality that enables you to derive maximum value from your deals and resolve your transactions quickly and efficiently.
Because every job is different, every team we build is different. Your needs will be matched with the right expert in the right location. At all times, we look to save you money by using our people who work outside higher cost centres and utilising innovative proprietary systems for the delivery of legal services.
Our dedicated asset management team works alongside a market leading investment practice. Unlike many law firms, this is a core business for us, which enables us to give asset management the right priority and resources.
Working in the assisted living or supported living market requires specialist knowledge. While it's a public service, to pay for the development of assisted living facilities, a fund must invest. Our team advises developers, investors and funds, meaning we have extensive knowledge across all areas of the market.
Commercial leasing is a unique aspect of real estate and commercial law that requires specialised knowledge and skills. Our team offers a full range of commercial leasing services, including preparing the RFP, negotiating the offer and related leasing documents, and advising on the orderly turnover at the end of the term.
Our Corporate team has in-depth transaction expertise combined with sector knowledge. That means that whatever your requirements or ambitions, we have the skills and experience to provide an exceptional service.
Hotel developers, investors and managers competing in a highly challenging and fast-changing sector need legal advisers who embrace change and give you commercial, pragmatic and insightful advice to help you thrive.
Our real estate experts in this sector are one part of a large, cross-discipline team, covering advertising and marketing, intellectual property, real estate, finance, corporate, employment and equalities, commercial contracts and IT, privacy and data protection and dispute resolution.
A growing demand for large industrial sites and distribution centres fuelled by more people shopping online has led to resurgence in the logistics market. Our sector-focused experts have been at the heart of the latest large-scale transactions.
We advise on the full life cycle of an asset from acquisition, development (including large scale regeneration), management and lettings, through to sale of all types of property. These include mixed use offices, shopping centres, business and retail parks, hotels, industrial estates and logistics parks, residential, private rentals, healthcare, retirement and student accommodation.
Combining sector insight and technically excellent legal advice across student housing, residential, co-living, build to rent (BTR), affordable housing, hotels and senior living asset classes, our team has a deep understanding of the Living sector helping developers, operators, investors and funders target this growth opportunity.
We have advised on millions of square feet of office space across the full real estate lifecycle. Our experience is extensive and includes representing UK and overseas institutional investors, asset managers, developers, banks, public bodies and corporations in their HQ relocation projects, office pre-lets, investments, disposals, developments and general corporate real estate.
Planning is a core service area of any legal practice and our planning experts are proud to have acted on some of the UK's highest profile commercial, residential and infrastructure projects. Whether a landowner, developer or public authority, for example, we have the knowledge and resources to advise on all aspects of planning law, policy and procedures across the UK.
We achieve a negotiated solution wherever possible, but we also have considerable experience of planning appeals and call-in inquiries, examinations into local plans, compulsory purchase orders and judicial review litigation.
Disputes are best avoided, but if you cannot avoid them you need to know that your legal team will get you the best outcome available.
With several of the best known names in the field, our specialist Real Estate Litigators do exactly that. Whilst being proudest of those cases which settled on good terms without reaching Court, they represent clients in arbitrations, expert determinations and Court proceedings at all levels. As well as a specialism in telecoms, they have acted on many of the leading cases on issues such as rights to light, contracts/options, negligence, lease renewals, service charges, landlord consents, rent reviews, original tenant guarantees, and restraining protestor activity. They also work closely with the planning team on major CPO compensation claims, for example caused by HS2.
Incorporating Advocates the team can provide a one-stop service if required but in any event bring trial expertise to even the earliest stages of the case. Whatever problem you are facing, you can be sure that we will resolve it as quickly and commercially as possible.
We act for a wide range of developers, funders and local authorities, delivering innovative and commercial solutions to often complex specifications, quickly and efficiently.
Planning restrictions have eased, land values are still relatively low post-credit crunch and the mortgage tap has been turned on. We operate a complete service for all aspects of development work from large scale consortium developments, joint ventures, public/private partnerships to the sale of residential units.
We also provide a fully rounded service for high net worth individuals focusing on due diligence and the protection and value of the asset.
We are well known for our expertise in shopping centres and retail parks. Our specialist team acts on all aspects in their lifecycle, from acquisition, development, funding, letting and asset management to sale.
We act for owners, developers, local authorities and operators of some of the largest shopping centres, retail parks and high street retail portfolios.
Knowing how to combine real estate development with transport facilities will allow you to make the very most of transport connections and turn your development into a genuine destination.
We have significant experience of working both for, and on the other side, of transport organisations. Our work advising Barnett Council on the multi-billion pound Brent Cross Cricklewood scheme to create a new town centre is just one example of our ability to advise on large, complex redevelopment projects.
Such knowledge and insight enables us to support clients through the challenges of achieving successful development projects in the context of the safety and operational constraints of transport operators.
Examples of our work
We act for clients involved in all aspects of the Real Estate sector, here is a small selection of examples of recent work, advising:
- Blackstone on the acquisition of UK student accommodation company IQ from Goldman Sachs for £4.66 billion, this being a portfolio of 76 student accommodation sites across the UK
- Rockwell on a £106 million investment deal with Aviva Investors to forward fund the development of a 400-bed Premier Inn hotel in Canary Wharf
- Counsel to Fiera Properties Limited in the launch of its diversified open-ended property fund, the Fiera Properties CORE Fund - the largest Canadian open-ended core property fund in more than 20 years - representing $352 million in equity capital from investors
- Stamford Land, a Singaporean investment company, on the £260 million acquisition of 8 Finsbury Circus, a £260 million 177,000 sq ft Grade A development from Mitsubishi Estate London Limited
- Aldgate Developments on the 15 year lease of the One Braham office development in Aldgate, London to BT for its UK headquarters
- Counsel to a new Canadian real estate fund created by Standard Life Investments, which raised $77 million in initial equity
- IM Properties on their pre let of 2,940,000 sq ft to Jaguar Land Rover at IM's site at Junction 11 of the M42
- Arden Cross Limited on their proposals for the HS2 Interchange Station in Solihull.
- A joint venture between Blackstone and Telelreal Trillium on the acquisition of the £1.4 billion Network Rail commercial estate portfolio of 5,200 properties in England and Wales
- Counsel to Brookfield Capital Partners Ltd., the private equity group of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., in the provision of a US$130-million senior-secured term loan to North American Palladium Ltd
- Wise Living (part of SDL Group) in putting in place a £36 million facility to fund acquisitions of new homes for the Build to Rent market.
Learn more
We're eager to hear about the challenges you face, and to help you seize the next opportunity. Please contact any member of our team to learn more about the legal services we offer.