Shoosmiths advise Frontier Estates as it breaks new ground with £71m multi-site forward sale deal
October, 2017 - Milton Keynes, England
National law firm Shoosmiths has advised development client Frontier Estates Limited on the first of what could be a number of multi-million pound property deals to ensure the development of a number of much-needed care homes.
Shoosmiths’ real estate team advised the developer on the initial acquisition of the sites in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. It then structured the transaction and exchanged pre-let agreements for lease of the care homes to One Housing Group Limited early in 2017, before recently forward selling the sites to institutional investor Aviva, who will also provide development funding for the project. The entire project is valued at around £71m.
Real estate partner Catherine Williams led the deal alongside partner Steve Wiltshire and associate Kirsty Chalkley. Other specialist support was provided by senior associate Heidi Brennan in construction, partner Dan Kennedy in tax and senior associate Matthew Stimson in planning.
Shoosmiths’ Catherine Williams said: “This represents a major, game-changing deal for Frontier which will provide essential care facilities at various locations in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.”
“For Shoosmiths the deal is a good example of the breadth, scope and talent the real estate team can offer its clients on complex, high value deals.”
Frontier Estates’ Development Director Duncan Ford said: “With many healthcare industry analysts predicting that the UK will need something like 70,000 new care home bed spaces during the next five to seven years alone, we will continue to use our unrivalled site acquisition programme and 15 years’ experience of working in the sector to help our care home operating partners scale-up their expansion plans in the right locations for them. This would not be possible without a dedicated and experienced consultant team behind us, and I am pleased to say that Shoosmiths are at the very heart of this.”
Shoosmiths' real estate group is one of the largest in the UK, made up of teams advising on real estate, construction, planning, property litigation and environmental issues.
Shoosmiths' clients include commercial and residential developers, investors, retail and leisure operators, social housing bodies, major corporates occupiers, banks and other funders and a range of public sector bodies.
