WBD has advised South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), the first mayoral development corporation established outside of London, on over half of the developable land on the wider Redcar steelworks site. Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, formally signed off the deal yesterday (21 February).

International law firm Clifford Chance has successfully led its client Canary Wharf Group to victory in its £500 million court case against the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the High Court in London.
Mr Justice Marcus Smith handed down judgment today (20 February 2019), comprehensively in Canary Wharf Group's favour, rejecting the EMA's case that their 25-year lease of premises in Canary Wharf would be legally "frustrated" as a result of Brexit, the judgment concluded as follows:

UK law firm Shoosmiths has advised long-standing client Kier Living on its successful bid to provide exclusive, high-quality homes in one of Cardiff’s largest and more prestigious residential developments.

The Churchlands development site in Lisvane, Cardiff, will be transformed into a 1,000-home site with a new school, district centre and extensive areas of public open space, Kier Living will build up to 330 homes on the site from two-bedroom starter homes to five-bedroom properties.

Building work is expected to start later this year.

Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP advised Amundi Real Estate on the acquisition of INK Hotel Amsterdam, located in the heart of Amsterdam.

INK Hotel Amsterdam, MGallery by Sofitel, which Principal purchased in 2012 in a sale-and-leaseback agreement with Accor Hotel, it was sold to Amundi Real Estate’s OPCI fund (a French real estate investment scheme) in December 2018.

This 4-star hotel featuring classic Dutch architecture offers 149 rooms, a bar, restaurant, business meeting facility, and a fitness centre.

Baker McKenzie has advised Taubman Centers Inc., an S&P MidCap 400 Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that invests in shopping centers, on its sale of 50 percent of Taubman Asia’s interests in three Asia-based shopping centers to funds managed by The Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone). Taubman will remain the partner responsible for the joint management of the three shopping centers located in Hanam, South Korea; Xi'an, China; and Zhengzhou, China. The transaction is valued at USD 480 million.

Frankfurt, Berlin—Global law firm Dentons has advised Singapore-based investor IREIT Global on the refinancing of its existing real estate portfolio. The refinancing is provided by a €200,760,000 loan granted by UniCredit to the subsidiaries of IREIT Global. The secured loan will serve to refinance a portfolio of office properties in Berlin, Bonn, Darmstadt, Münster and Munich with a total net lettable area of around 200,600 sq.m.