Magic Circle real estate withdrawal isn’t a myth, but it’s not that simple

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In a 2011 piece on the decimated real estate market in the City, we noted that few senior property partners were in their mid-40s, due to the fact that law firms largely ceased hiring junior real estate lawyers following the early ’90s crash. It looks like history will repeat itself in roughly 15 years’ time: post-credit crunch, the most established real estate practices went into hibernation. Some started to disintegrate. Either way, if you were a trainee interested in real estate around 2010, pickings were slim.

But, as we report in ‘Back in the game’ on pages 48-54, real estate is back with a vengeance and some partners would have you believe it never really went away. The most popular line of argument is that there is a wealth of opportunity out there for City and national firms because the Magic Circle has been progressively retrenching in property for years.

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Back in the game – revival at last for real estate but the players have changed

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As investors place their bets on London’s property market, battered real estate teams are finally seeing a revival after the bleak post-Crunch years. Legal Business talks to the property lawyers who are back at the table.

Any Londoner will tell you that the Capital resembles a mass construction site these days. Around Victoria, for example, the noise of jackhammers perpetually fills the air, the result of a £2bn Land Securities redevelopment project to provide new luxury homes, shops, offices and improved transport facilities. This development has seen City real estate heavyweights Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Nabarro, CMS Cameron McKenna, Hogan Lovells and Eversheds lead on the legal side.

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Dealwatch: Baker & McKenzie and Norton Rose Fulbright lead on Battersea Power Station £1.4bn real estate financing

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In what constitutes one of the biggest UK real estate financings in recent years, Battersea Power Station has raised £1.4bn from a syndicate of Asian and Middle Eastern banks with Baker & McKenzie and Norton Rose Fulbright landing key advisory roles.

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Taylor Wessing and BLP advise on £97m Heron Plaza sale as City real estate mandates stack up this summer

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Taylor Wessing and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have both secured roles on the latest major real estate deal to emerge in the City this summer, advising on property group UOL’s purchase of the Heron Plaza site for £97m.

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Real estate: Ashurst and Reed Smith lead on prime £300m New Bond Street acquisition

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Ashurst’s head of real estate investment David Jones has advised opposite Reed Smith on the £300m purchase of a 50,000 sq ft strip of prime real estate on New Bond Street, the first time in 40 years that the privately-owned Central London properties have been on the market. Continue reading “Real estate: Ashurst and Reed Smith lead on prime £300m New Bond Street acquisition”

Eversheds real estate head and tax partner to form high-end boutique

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William Naunton and Clive Jones to depart after year-long notice period.

The head of Eversheds’ international real estate group, William Naunton, is to leave the firm alongside tax partner Clive Jones to set up a high-end real estate boutique, after both have served a one-year notice period.

Jones and Naunton, who was a main board member until he stepped down in 2011, made their intentions clear when they handed in their notices in January, meaning they will be free to set up on their own in the New Year of 2015, with the unusually long notice period understood to reflect Naunton’s significant book of business.

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