We’ll help you navigate the office development and investment sector
In today’s evolving real estate landscape, navigating the office development and investment sector requires clarity, agility and commercial insight.
Shifting occupational requirements, increased finance costs and tightening sustainability and energy efficiency regulations are reshaping the market. Tenant demand continues to focus on high quality, flexible and well connected office space, while older and non compliant buildings risk becoming stranded assets for owners and investors. At the same time, these dynamics are creating opportunities for those able to adapt assets and strategies to meet changing market expectations.
Whether you are developing and pre letting best in class office space, acquiring and refurbishing existing buildings, repositioning underperforming assets, or exploring alternative uses, our market leading office development and investment team provides clear, joined up advice to help maximise value and manage risk throughout the asset lifecycle.
Why Forsters?
We advise on office development and investment across the full lifecycle of an asset, from acquisition and funding through development, leasing, active asset management and exit.
What sets us apart is the breadth of our experience and the depth of our integration across commercial real estate, planning, construction, finance, tax, corporate and real estate disputes. Clients value our ability to anticipate issues early, manage risk proactively and deliver pragmatic, commercially focused advice on complex and often high value office projects in London and across England and Wales.
Supporting office assets at every stage
Our team regularly advises on:
- Office acquisitions and disposals, including complex asset and share structures
- Development, refurbishment and repositioning strategies
- Forward funding, forward purchase, development management and other development structures
- Planning strategy, listed building consent and statutory agreements
- Construction procurement, development documentation and delivery
- Rights of light, party wall and access strategies
- Pre lettings, lettings and asset management
- Investment/joint venture structuring, financing and refinancing
- ESG strategy, green leases and sustainability led refurbishment
- Exit planning and portfolio disposals
Track record
Barwood Capital Eton House, Richmond
Forsters acted for Barwood Capital in connection with their sustainable refurbishment of a 45,000 sq ft office space in the heart of Richmond. With health and wellbeing prioritised through the development, the site includes amenities such as cycle parking spaces, a communal lounge and a gym. ESG also remained at the core of the scheme with many biodiversity and energy efficiency initiatives being implemented and achieved, such as Net Zero in operation, WiredScore Gold, Fitwel 2* certifications and targeting EPC A and a BREEAM Excellent rating. The site reached practical completion in June 2024 and provides high quality office accommodation for the South East market.
Heal’s Building, Tottenham Court Road
Forsters acted on behalf of KKR and General Projects for the reconfiguration and refurbishment of the grade II listed Heal’s building, on Tottenham Court Road, in the heart of London’s West End. The reconfiguration resulted in the Heal’s department store relocating to occupy the whole of the building’s ground and lower ground retail space, with a transformation of the upper parts into new contemporary workspaces – as well as the transformation of a 200-year-old dispatch area for the department store into a new communal entrance, fronted by a street level café and bar. A sensitive refurbishment, the offices boast the history of the building while matching its existing character with modern fixtures and fittings.
Berners Street and Wells Street
Forsters is acting for abrdn and Schroders in connection with the development of a 55,000 sq ft office scheme at 58/60 Berners Street and 14/17 Wells Street, London W1. The sites will serve as a reconfiguration of two buildings to provide new-build office space across eight-storeys within the heart of Fitzrovia. In addition, ground floor units will consist of mixed retail, restaurants and financial services companies. The development agreement has been entered into with the freeholder, Berners-Allsopp Estate, and Schroders Fund was granted a 125 geared leasehold interest on practical completion in August 2023.
Cubex
We are acting for the developer, developing the HQ office premises of Osborne Clarke in Bristol. We acted for the developer in relation to the agreement for lease entered into with Osborne Clarke as the tenant and on the disposal of the asset and forward funding agreement entered into with the funder, Tesco Pension Fund. We provided real estate and construction advice in respect of the delivery of the works and the 116,000 sq ft office building, “HALO”, achieved practical completion in November 2022. The building has been constructed to a specification which delivers one of the greenest offices in the UK.
Meet our team
Ben Barrison
Partner, Head of Real Estate Disputes
Andrew Crabbie
Partner, Commercial Real Estate
Sarah Cook
Partner, Head of Construction
Heather Corben
Partner, Tax
Christine Dubignon
Partner, Corporate
Victoria Du Croz
Partner, Head of Planning
Katherine Ekers
Partner, Commercial Real Estate
Rowena Marshall
Partner, Banking and Finance
Andrew McEwan
Partner, Commercial Real Estate
Very professional and timely in response. They can rationally work through the most complex of issues.
A very well coordinated, and a widely experienced and knowledgeable professional team who have a true client-centric focus.
The team works closely with the client to ensure that even the most complex of situations are managed effectively.
They have an imaginative, consultative, and commercial approach which was attuned to the needs of a complex client.
