Development Acquisitions

When you are looking to build something, you first need to be certain that you are starting from a firm foundation. We understand that our role in a development acquisition is to “product test” a development site’s suitability for the form of development that our client has in mind from all angles: that the necessary planning and other statutory approvals are available or can be obtained before commitment; that the extent of land ownership doesn’t leave any gaps for access and servicing; that the access and servicing infrastructure required is available or can be delivered; that there are no third party rights or interests in the land which could obstruct the project or have significant cost consequences (from restrictive covenants through public or private rights over the land to neighbouring buildings’ rights of light); that the land doesn’t come with inherited liabilities that will unduly burden delivery of the project (whether in the form of environmental clean up costs, undischarged planning obligations, overage requirements or other ongoing expenditure exposures).

We aim to provide every client with a clear picture of what lies “under the bonnet” of the land interest they are looking to acquire, to identify and quantify issues and risks where they exist, and where possible seek commercially sensible solutions to problems in liaison with our client and its other project specialists, always with a view to moving a project forward rather than back. We understand that development acquisitions are sometimes a “long game” seeded from options, promotion agreements, conditional contracts, forward sale or development agreements, site assemblies and leading on through sometimes complex project financing and planning processes, building contract and professional team appointments, the construction itself and ultimate project delivery and use. We look to bring the firm’s considerable experience to bear in delivering projects efficiently and effectively across a myriad range of procurement routes.