Brabners Chaffe Street Solicitors – Commercial Property Development

Commercial Property Development

Our commercial property development team in Liverpool is playing an active part in the regeneration of the City, with significant involvement in the Grosvenor Scheme, the development of the Princes Dock Estate and the construction of the canal link between Albert Dock and the Leeds/Liverpool canal in front of the City's prestigious "Three Graces".

The team is one of the largest in Liverpool with 13 fee earners (of which 7 are partners) dedicated to commercial development work advising a range of clients from private individuals through to PLCs.

We offer advice on all aspects of the development process which can be tailored for individual developer's needs, from the earliest stages of planning and site acquisition through to onward disposal (whether by letting and/or selling the finished product or by forward funding agreements) and our in depth knowledge combined with our commercial, proactive and thorough approach means that we build and maintain long-standing relationships with our clients.

The team profiles below are intended to give a flavour of the types of work we are involved in, the level of our experience and the clients for whom we act. However, for more detailed information or if you would like to discuss a specific project or proposal, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team.

Meet the Commercial Property Development Team

Jeff Gillbanks
Partner & Head of Department
jeff.gillbanks@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3364

Jeff has enjoyed over 15 years of specialist experience in property development, acting principally for investment landlord developers. Jeff acts for Maple Grove Developments, Priority Sites, Chieftain Construction, Dransfield Properties and SITA UK one of the largest waste management companies in the country.

Efficient, approachable and with a wealth of personal experience, Jeff encourages a work ethic of firm but fair tactics among the team to ensure that the right result is achieved for the client. In so doing, he has succeeded in building a reputation the department has long enjoyed of providing a comprehensive 'cradle to grave' service for the most sophisticated of deals.

Jeff's significant deals include advising on:

The ongoing redevelopment of Morpeth Town Centre.
The acquisition of Birkenhead Market, Merseyside.
The redevelopment and forward sale of 58 Mosley Street, Manchester.
The development of Caernarfon Criminal Justice Centre.

Sandy Chapple Gill
Partner
sandy.gill@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3414

Sandy has undertaken a wide range of development work acting for local authorities and public agencies, developers and end users. His experience includes hotel and leisure schemes, retail, office and residential.

Sandy has recently acted for:

Peel Holdings on Liverpool Waterfront developments.
St Helens Council on the development of a retirement village.
James Hall on the acquisition from English Partnerships of premises for a new 500,000 square foot distribution depot and office complex.

Sandy's clients also include J D Wetherspoon plc, T J Hughes, NWF Group and UK Land and Property.

Rupert Jackson
Partner
rupert.jackson@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3396

Rupert has a broad range of experience including retail, office and residential development. He acts principally on acquisitions and site assembly of residential schemes and on the site assembly of commercial schemes in preparation for development. Rupert has also acted for joint venture partnerships on site preparation for sales and options with developers.

Rupert acts for Associated British Foods plc, Flame Estates, Belgrave Homes, Abbotsford Developments and Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Ian Hardman
Partner & Head of Construction Team
ian.hardman@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3342

Ian has wide-ranging experience in all aspects of non-contentious and contentious construction and engineering matters, both in the UK and internationally. He has advised upon all types of procurement options and on documentation in connection with large building and engineering projects including commercial/retail developments, effluent treatment plants, nuclear storage installations and power and process plants.

Ian has recently advised in connection with the following:

Advising the developer in connection with a £30m city centre hotel development.
Advising James Hall in connection with the development of a new £30m distribution centre.
Advising Ipsen Biopharm in connection with the development of a new £40m pharmaceutical facility.
Advising various funders in connection with the construction aspects of numerous development finance facilities. Examples include a £30m apartment development, a £15m city centre hotel development, a £20m mixed-use development, and a £15 city centre apartment development.
Advising the developer of a new £5m media centre.
Advising a University procuring a £25m laboratory facility.

James Clarke
Partner
james.clarke@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3387

James acts for developers in relation to a mixture of schemes principally being retail, office and industrial uses. He also undertakes work in relation to a small amount of bespoke residential projects. He has acted for tenants of similar schemes and advises on site acquisitions, development agreements, disposals, pre-lets and forward disposals.

Clients which James currently acts for include UK Land and Property Limited, Maple Grove Developments Limited, Princes Dock Development Company Limited, Peel Holdings Limited, Ethel Austin Investment Properties Limited, West Bay Capital Limited and Bilton Ward Developments Limited.

Chris Parkinson
Partner
chris.parkinson@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3343

Chris has wide ranging experience of all property related matters with a particular emphasis on development and regeneration of urban and brownfield sites. His experience includes the strategic site assembly and remediation and pre-lets as well as forward funding and joint venture/partnering arrangements.

Chris has acted for buyers, sellers and lending institutions on investment acquisitions and disposals including large portfolio estates and also for both landlords and tenants on a broad range of commercial lettings.

Chris's client include Ainscough Johnston Properties Limited, Durley Investment Corporation and Priority Sites Limited

Stephen Lewis
Partner
stephen.lewis@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3315

Stephen deals mainly with site assembly for clients who seek to procure a planning ticket for the onward sale of sites to national developers with the benefit of planning. He is used to dealing with multiple vendors and aims to secure sites through all contractual means from exclusivity agreements, options, conditional contracts to pre-emption rights and best bids. Stephen works mainly within strict timeframes, especially in respect of planning and sale mechanisms to maximise return and minimise costs.

Stephen's most recent projects have included:

Site assembly in North Liverpool for Parkmoor Group Plc and dealing with the planning process in conjunction with Lidl leading to an onward sale to Lidl on receipt of planning. He was involved in the initial acquisition of long leasehold interests with conditions in the onward sale contracts to procure the freehold reversion from the Council which was only triggered once planning was granted.
Acquisition of multiple garage sites for Spar to enable development of the site as a retail store with fuel forecourt and ancillary letting of part to Subway.
Site assembly of 30 acres in South Wales on behalf of an Irish developer which included dealing with rights of access, commons issues, major environmental and remediation matters as well as the relocation of a club premises to accommodate the development. This is a phased development to be progressed in conjunction with a national house builder.

Sue Thackeray
Associate
susan.thackeray@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3344

As an Associate, Sue has a breadth of experience acting for both vendors and purchasers on development transactions, including site assembly, development agreements and dealing with pre-lets and forward sales. Sue also has extensive property finance experience acting for both developers and funders in relation to projects covering industrial, leisure, residential and retail developments.

Recent experience includes two large town centre regeneration projects and funding of a number of retail developments and a large mixed use, retail, leisure and residential development in the North West.

Kevin Halewood
Deputy Director of Planning
kevin.halewood@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3365

Kevin is a Chartered Town and Country Planner and a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. He has previously worked within both the public and private sectors and whilst at BCS he has gained a broad wealth of development experience, being involved with mixed use developments, high rise residential/commercial developments, large retail developments, dock/port operations, telecommuications, highway developments, waste operations among many others.

Kevin specifically deals with all town planning enquiries and documentation relating to the sale and purchase of property and the related development work. He has a good knowledge of Compulsory Purchase work and is extremely experienced in dealing with Section 106 planning agreements and obligations and various highway agreements.

Alan Woodward
Solicitor
alan.woodward@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3329

Alan has assisted in the acquisition and disposal of several large development sites as well as having experience acting personally on sales and purchases of many smaller sites, some of which had environmental issues attached.

Tom Dickinson
Solicitor
tom.dickinson@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3386

Tom's work mainly involves the acquisition and disposal of development sites. His clients range from local private individuals to large national companies.

Susan Bennett
Solicitor, Construction
susan.bennett@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3334

Susan specialises in non-contentious and contentious construction matters. She is a qualified architect and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. She has experience working in the construction industry and acting for developers, contractors and tenants in relation to the construction and acquisition of commercial developments.

Helen Brown
Solicitor
helen.brown@brabnerscs.com
0151 600 3435

Helen has assisted on a number of large development projects including retail, leisure and commercial schemes with an emphasis on the coordination of significant due diligence exercises. She has also advised clients on smaller scale retail and leisure development transactions.