Offices

We have close connections with a large number of agents and keep ourselves up to date with developments in the office market including recent updates to the Service Charge Code and IFRS 16.

All of our lawyers are committed to property and have a keen interest in helping our clients achieve their objectives on every transaction we assist with.

Occupiers

The team at Maples Teesdale are experienced in acting for occupiers on all manner of transactions. We have acted on a significant number of head office moves for large organisations, several of which involved the additional task of disposing of or consolidating existing premises, and also for occupiers of portfolios.  We offer a complete service and can guide occupiers through the process – starting with agreeing effective heads of terms and ending with fit-out and occupation itself.

Our advice is commercial and we understand that the key issues in taking space can often be practical in nature, for example agreeing the signage rights, obtaining consent to fit-out and ensuring there is adequate plant and riser space for a tenant’s use. We are experienced in dealing with these issues as well as the more technical legal negotiation.

Our ultimate aim is to assist occupier clients in managing their ‘space needs’ in a way that minimises business interruption. We are used to acting within tight timeframes if required. We are also happy to take on long projects which might involve planning for a client’s future needs.

Once in occupation we are able to assist with the ongoing management work, including assisting with the negotiation of renewals or the exercise of breaks.

Landlords

Maples Teesdale has vast experience acting for landlords in the office sector. We act on lettings for several large funds and are used to dealing with all manner of letting transactions, whether that be in London or elsewhere in the country.

Our recent experience includes acting on various pre-lets, lettings of whole and on lettings of multiple occupancy buildings – some in relation to the most iconic buildings in London.

We strive to work alongside our landlord clients and their agents to become an effective and integral part of the management of a building and are able to assist with all aspects of asset management work. Where appropriate, we will prepare and have to hand a full letting pack for a building. This avoids delays in issuing documents to potential new tenants.

We also have a fully integrated Litigation team that is experienced in dealing with any contentious issues with tenants or third parties which might arise.

Green Leases

We, and some of our clients, were early adopters of green leases. We have advised on over 300 leases which include innovative provisions covering:

• environmentally friendly tenant alterations and reinstatement
• energy, water and waste data collection
• tenant involvement on matters relating to energy, water and waste efficiency

For some clients we also monitor and report monthly on how many of the leases we deal with for them contain these types of clauses.

We have drafted and negotiated lease clauses covering tenant alterations which affect the efficiency of premises, landlords’ ability to do upgrade works, responsibility for upgrade costs and landlord and tenant obligations to ensure premises do not become substandard. In some leases our drafting can also cover the use of environmentally friendly materials for fit out, maintenance and cleaning, green energy and even ‘wonky fruit’ in meeting rooms.

Relevant experience

• Development and letting- We have been advising Thames Brettenham on the redevelopment of Brettenham House, Lancaster Place, WC2. Brettenham House is a magnificent building adjacent to Waterloo Bridge overlooking the Thames positioning on the west side of Lancaster Place. The existing building comprises a 12-storey office block with retail units at ground floor level. The redevelopment aims to improve the performance of the existing building fabric, in particular a new glazing strategy, increased massing, introduction of roof terraces by relocating plant. Underground car parking will be reduced given the shift away from car ownership in London to free up more useable space. A new core and lift strategy is also being developed. The client is keen for a natural ventilation solution which will be a challenge due to the building’s location, and local noise and pollution.
• Development and letting- We are advising Bywater Properties on the redevelopment and letting of the former Costa Roastery, Old Paradise Street, Vauxhall. The 0.37-acre site is a development opportunity in the London Borough of Lambeth, overlooking Old Paradise Gardens, located between Waterloo and Vauxhall. Bywater intend to create London’s first carbon neutral office and an initial analysis suggests the building will be carbon-negative for about 60 years.  We advised on aspects of the sale into a new joint venture entity in which Bywater will continue to participate during the build-out phase.
• Development and letting- We acted for the City Corporation on a development agreement and new investment lease at Stonecutter Court with developer, Ivanhoe Cambridge, in a JV with Allianz Real Estate. This will facilitate a sustainable 250,000 sq. ft, 13 storey, mainly office scheme to be built on the site by 2024. 158,000 sq. ft of offices is pre-let to law firm, Travers Smith, for 15 years. It benefits from efficient floor plates with great natural light, indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, including six roof terraces, and world class facilities for cyclists and runners.
• Sale/purchases – We act for abrdn on several funds and in particular we do all the legal work on the circa £1.4 bn UKCM fund and the Phoenix Life fund. We advised on the sale of its 67,000 sq. ft office building in Temple Quay, Bristol, to Tri7, a value-add real estate investment and asset management firm.  2 Rivergate in Temple Quay, Bristol, has been sold for £14.5m, which is let to The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities until March 2025.
• Sales/purchases – We act for CLS Holdings plc, a London-based office space specialist with a £2.1bn asset portfolio on their UK property portfolio. In 2023 this involved the sale of St Cloud Gate in Maidenhead to a private investor.  The asset was sold with planning approved for 40,000 sq. ft of high-quality Grade A office space along with landscaped roof terrace, ancillary cafe and enhanced public realm. We have been active on asset management matters and CLS have been refurbishing and redeveloping their portfolio and we have worked closely with our construction colleagues on this.
• Occupational – We advised Winston & Strawn on their relocation from City Point to Brookfield’s prestigious tower at 100 Bishopsgate. The deal required W&S to carry out some works for the landlord and contained options for first refusal on other floors and to expand into unlet space on their own floor.
• Occupational – We acted for new client, Acrisure on the consolidation of their London offices and subsequent acquisition of a new 50,000sq. ft. head-office within 40 Leadenhall Street, EC3, a major new iconic development by M&G Real Estate along with Nuveen, a TIAA company, providing over 900,000 sq. ft of office and 80,000 sq. ft. of amenity space. With the building targeting BREEAM Excellent, Well Platinum as well as NABERS 5*, the ESG credentials offered were in line with what Acrisure, as a business, were looking to utilise and promote.