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STARTSUNLaw Company

Practice 04 · Real Assets

Real Estate Development

Every building is first a set of agreements. We draft the ones that decide whether it gets built.

We advise developers and their investors across the life of a project — securing land, structuring the project company, bringing in capital and partners, contracting the build and preparing the exit.

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What we do

Scope of the practice

Project structuring

The project SPV, its shareholders and the contractual chain between landowner, developer, investors and contractors.

Land acquisition

Purchase, lease and development rights over land, with title, zoning and permitting risk assessed before commitment.

Development & construction agreements

Development management, general contracting, design-and-build and consultant appointments — with clear allocation of time, cost and quality risk.

Investor structures & JV

Equity from private investors, funds or landowners, and joint ventures between developer and capital partner.

Financing & project governance

Construction and mezzanine financing, drawdown conditions, and the governance that controls budget, changes and decisions.

Exit structures

Forward sales, forward funding, sale of the completed asset or the project company, and retention as an income asset.

Who we advise

Developers of residential, commercial, hospitality and mixed-use projects, and the investors and landowners who partner with them.

Typical matters

The kind of work this practice handles.

Illustrative of the matters we advise on — not a list of past engagements.

  1. 01Structuring a residential project SPV with several equity investors
  2. 02Joint venture between a landowner and a developer
  3. 03Legal due diligence on a development site before acquisition
  4. 04Negotiating a general contracting or design-and-build agreement
  5. 05Investor documentation for a staged capital raise
  6. 06Construction financing and the related security and drawdown conditions
  7. 07Forward sale or forward funding of a commercial scheme
  8. 08Restructuring a stalled project and bringing in a new capital partner

Approach

How we approach projects

  1. 1

    Feasibility, legally

    Land, zoning, permits and access are tested before money is committed — the legal equivalent of a site survey.

  2. 2

    Capital stack

    Equity, partner capital and debt are arranged so that each party's rights and priority are clear at every stage.

  3. 3

    Contracting the build

    Construction and consultant contracts aligned with the financing and the sale or leasing plan.

  4. 4

    Through to exit

    Governance during construction, handling of variations and disputes, and preparation of the asset for sale or long-term holding.

Focused services

Defined scopes of work within this practice.

Development Project Structuring

Structuring a development project from land to exit — project company, investors, partners, financing and the contractual chain.

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Cross-border capability

Cross-border capability

Development projects increasingly combine local land and permits with foreign capital. We structure the investor side — holding vehicles, JV and investor documentation — and coordinate local counsel on planning, construction and registration matters in the jurisdiction of the project.

Cross-border transactions

Related practices

Significant matters rarely stay within one practice.

03

Real Estate Investment

Acquisitions, disposals, due diligence, ownership and investment structures, financing and portfolio transactions.

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05

M&A & Joint Ventures

Acquisitions, disposals, share and asset deals, joint ventures, shareholders' agreements, closing and integration.

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07

Digital Assets & Tokenization

Digital capital: real estate and asset tokenization, RWA, tokenized securities and digital asset structures.

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How to start

Send an enquiry →
  1. 1Send a short enquiryDescribe the project, the parties and the timing in a few lines. No confidential details at this stage.
  2. 2Initial conversationAfter a conflict check, we discuss the scope, the jurisdictions involved and whether local counsel is needed.
  3. 3Written engagementScope, deliverables and fee basis are agreed in writing before work begins.

Discuss a matter in this practice

Share a short description of the project. We will reply to discuss scope, timing and next steps.

Discuss a Project