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James D. Roberts

Partner

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Languages: French

James is a Partner in our Real Estate group based in our London office. 

James is a partner in our Real Estate group with over 20 years of experience.

He advises on all types of real estate investment and development work. He has wide ranging experience of acting on high value, complex transactions and leading cross-disciplinary teams on such transactions.

Recent investment transactions include: advising a fund on the acquisition and financing of a portfolio of 8 PBSA properties for a purchase price in excess of £120m; acting on the sale of Network Rail’s 5,200 unit commercial real estate portfolio for over £1.4bn and acting on the acquisition, financing, interim management and subsequent disposal of several mixed use commercial property portfolios.
Recent development experience includes: advising on the proposed redevelopment of two substantial office block sites in the West End including advising on development constraints and potential pre-lettings; advising a fund on the forward funding of the £40m enabling phase of a major town centre leisure redevelopment; advising overseas investors on the forward funding of a new PBSA development; advising a fund on the potential redevelopment of a PBSA property to create new student and BTR accommodation and acting for a fund on the redevelopment of a town centre site to provide a mixed retail/leisure/residential scheme including advising on site acquisition/assembly, negotiation of third party agreements, lettings and disposal.

James’ recent international experience has involved working with our European offices advising a major French retailer on a potential multi-jurisdictional sale and leaseback transaction and assisting a US based corporate on its property requirements across various jurisdictions in Western and Eastern Europe.

James also has extensive experience in property finance transactions and has acted for a variety of lenders and borrowers on investment financings and complicated development facilities relating to properties in the City, the West End and London Docklands.

James's recent investment experience includes:

  • acting for an overseas investor on the acquisition and financing of a portfolio of student accommodation for a consideration exceeding £120 million
  • acting for public sector client on the disposal of a large commercial portfolio for a consideration in excess of £1.4 billion; and
  • acting for a European fund on the acquisition and financing of several multi-asset, mixed-use portfolios, advising on the subsequent asset management of the portfolios and then the disposal of the assets on an individual basis.

James's recent development experience includes:

  • advising a U.K. pension fund on the £40 million forward funding of a new multi-story car park forming the enabling phase for a wider leisure redevelopment project 
  • acting for a European fund on the redevelopment of a town center site in the Thames Valley to provide a mixed retail/leisure/residential scheme, a role which covered site acquisition/site assembly as well as advising on development issues throughout the life of the project
  • advising an overseas investor on the proposed redevelopment of several trophy assets in Central London
  • advising an overseas bank on the £320 million financing of a new residential tower block in London
  • The Legal 500 UK Top Tier 2012
  • Diploma in Legal Practice, College of Law, 1996-1997
  • LLB (Law with French), University of Birmingham, 1992-1996
  • Diplome d'Etudes Juridiques, Limoges University, 1994-1995
James Roberts

Partner

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