Ashurst has advised Westfield on the property and asset management aspects of its joint venture with Hammerson to redevelop and combine the two main shopping centres in Croydon. This included establishing a 50:50 joint venture asset management company and dealing with the acquisition by the new partnership of the Centrale shopping centre and Royal London's 25% stake in the Whitgift Centre.
This mixed use scheme of around 200,000 m2 will include retail, leisure and residential with the potential for hotels and offices, and will create over 5,000 new jobs.
Ashurst partner Hugh Lumby commented:
"Its been great to have been involved in this exciting and ground-breaking transaction, as two giants of retail development come together to create a new and much needed shopping centre hub in south London. It will be wonderful to see in these difficult times much needed urban regeneration taking place in Croydon, bringing jobs and investment to an area which has recently been more associated with riots and decline."
The Ashurst team was led by real estate partners Hugh Lumby and Jamie Chapman, assisted by counsel Jo Senior and senior associates James Ross and Amit Unadkat. Partner Ann Minogue and senior associate Ben Patton advised on the construction aspects.
The team also worked closely with SJ Berwin, who acted for Westfield on the corporate and finance aspects of the joint venture and Freshfields who handled the tax aspects.
The SJ Berwin team was led by partner Michael Goldberg and associates David Fitzgerald and Matt Dickerson and the Freshfields team included head of tax Colin Hargreaves and associate Pay Nassiri.
Clifford Chance acted for Hammerson on the tax and corporate/joint venture matters. Led by head of real estate Jonathan Solomon and head of tax David Saleh, the team also included associates Matt Taylor, Geraldine Pigot, William Reay-Jones and Simon Gilbert. Clifford Chance worked closely with Nabarro, who acted for Hammerson on property aspects and Herbert Smith Freehills who handled the construction aspects.
The Nabarro team included real estate partner Simon Staite and senior associate Alan Crawford, and the Herbert Smith Freehills team included construction partner Nicholas Downing.
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