Ashfords' Real Estate team has advised Exeter City Council on its successful acquisition of the Guildhall Shopping Centre in Exeter. The council has confirmed the shopping centre will continue as a popular retail, food and beverage destination in the centre of Exeter.
Ashfords has a long standing relationship with Exeter City Council and the complexity of the deal resulted in collaboration between multiple legal departments across the firm including: employment, commercial, construction, planning, property litigation, intellectual property and public sector.
The deal involved several of the firm's Real Estate team led by Partner Simon Bailey with support from Robin de Wreede (Partner), Rachel Carter (Legal Director), Charles Pallot (Partner), Hannah Pettit (Solicitor), Sian Gibbon (Partner), Laura Reeve (Senior Associate), Gareth Pinwell (Partner), Jonathan Croley (Senior Associate), Emma Harris (Solicitor) and Angela Watson (Legal Director).
The acquisition builds on the experience of Ashfords' Real Estate team acting on shopping centre investment deals having recently advised both public and private sector clients on the acquisition and disposal of a number of assets across the UK with an aggregate of over 120 occupiers.
Partner Simon Bailey notes: "We were absolutely delighted to assist Exeter City Council on this complex and high profile acquisition. It was a pleasure to work with the team assembled by the council who all worked tirelessly for several months to ensure a successful outcome. The wide range of issues presented by the transaction demonstrated the strength and depth of our practice and expertise. We have no doubt the Guildhall Shopping Centre will continue to thrive as a prominent destination in Exeter."
Michael Carson, City Surveyor at Exeter City Council, added: "It was a pleasure to work with Simon and the team at Ashfords. We were well supported throughout the process with the Ashfords team acting with a level of professionalism and commercial awareness that was critical to making this a successful acquisition."
For more information, please contact our Real Estate team.
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