Gareth Williams
Partner
Contact details
020 7405 2000
Email Gareth
Gareth specialises in advising clients in respect of high-value mixed use and residential led development schemes, including large urban regeneration schemes and also has a wealth of experience in public land deals and in Build to Rent and student housing development.
He advises clients throughout the development cycle, including site acquisition, land assembly, financing, forward funding /development agreements until eventual letting or disposal. Gareth has significant experience in development finance work, which has enabled Gareth to provide advice to clients with an understanding of the different stakeholder interests in such schemes.
Gareth also has wide ranging experience across the spectrum of commercial property work, having been involved throughout his career in advising on high value acquisitions and disposals, restructuring and joint ventures, pre-packaged and trading administration sales, lettings and pre-lets and corporate occupier work.
Main areas of practice
Gareth specialises in residential led development schemes, including large urban regeneration, Build to Rent and mixed use schemes. Gareth also advises on student accommodation schemes and a number of the schemes which Gareth has acted on have been at the forefront of the growth of the Build to Rent and (separately) student housing sectors.
He also has significant experience in development finance work, having acted for major lenders and developers on numerous facility agreements in relation to high value development schemes. Gareth has also acted for funders and developers on significant forward funding deals.
Clients
Gareth acts for developers, property companies, public bodies and registered providers on their real estate matters, lenders/forward funders and trust companies.
Expertise
Career
- Graduated from University of Wales, College of Cardiff in 1997 with a 2:1 (BA Hons) in History.
- College of Law Chester (1998-99) – Common Professional Examination: Commendation
- College of Law Chester (1999-2000) Legal Practice Course: Distinction
- Completed his training contract with Gouldens (Jones Day), qualifying in 2003 into their Commercial Property department. Gareth then spent a year in Halliwells in Manchester before
- joining Dentons in 2005. In 2013 he joined RPC and then moved with their development and construction team to DLA in July 2014.
Contact details
020 7405 2000
Email Gareth
Significant Experience
- Advised a significant UK property company on the construction of a 47 storey residential tower and (including almost 200 private rented units), together with the construction of a new theatre, a seven storey terrace containing affordable housing and retail space at Newington Butts, SE11. This included the negotiation of transactional documentation with GLA and advising on the structuring of the transaction and exit strategies, together with concluding documentation relating to the forward funding of the constituent elements of the scheme and concluding Build To Rent funding with HCA. This was the largest BtR scheme on government land and the first example of foreign long term investment in London housing.
- Advised a significant UK property company in relation to the acquisition and re-development of two sites in the South West and South Wales, to contain over 1000 units of student accommodation and ancillary retail uses, together with advising on a senior financing facility in excess of £100m in respect of both schemes.
- Advised a large U.S. fund on the acquisition and development of a new 180,000 sq. ft. Grade A office development in central Manchester with a Gross Development Value in excess of £130 million. Subsequently advised on the debt financing facility agreement in respect of the redevelopment.
- Advised a major UK developer in respect of the acquisition and simultaneous forward sale and funding of a boutique hotel scheme in Shoreditch with Middle Eastern investors for an initial total value of £57M, together with advising on the management agreement entered into with the envisaged hotel operator.
- Advised a consortium in relation to their successful tender submission in relation to TfL Property Partnerships 2015, advising through PQQ and competitive dialogue stages and advising on the final form of Framework Agreement signed.