Mishcon de Reya advises on Olympic Village investment

Olswang and Mishcon de Reya have advised the joint venture of Delancey and Qatari Diar on the purchase and long-term management of the Olympic Village.

The Olympic Village, which lies adjacent to the Olympic Park, will create a neighbourhood for east London that will deliver the best of city living in one place – high quality new homes, education and healthcare facilities, new parklands, public squares and open space, with transport links making it one of the capital’s best connected centres.

The joint venture will work alongside Triathlon Homes, which will manage the Village’s affordable housing element. The Village will deliver 2,818 new homes, including 1,379 already purchased by Triathlon Homes to become high-quality affordable housing. Delancey and Qatari Diar will acquire the Olympic Development Authority’s (ODA) interests in the remaining 1,439 homes, which will become private housing, along with six adjacent future development plots with the potential for a further 2,000 new homes.

Delancey and Qatari Diar will invest around £557 million for the purchase and long-term management of the Olympic Village. The deal also includes arrangements to provide a future profit-share for the public sector.
The majority of the 1,439 private homes in the Village are to be let on a rental basis, instead of being sold, with the ownership remaining with the Delancey and Qatari Diar joint venture. This will create the first UK private sector residential fund of over 1,000 homes to be owned and directly managed as an investment.

Olswang and Mishcon de Reya together advised both Delancey and Qatari Diar on the acquisition. Real estate partner Stephen Hughes led the Mishcon team, assisted by Nick Minkoff, Philip Freedman CBE, QC (Hon) (both partners) and Louise Tainton (solicitor) on the property side, Daniel Farrand (Head of Planning) in relation to planning, and Simon Hunter (partner) and James Brownlie (solicitor) on the construction aspects. Corporate partner Paul Blackmore led the Olswang team with assistance from partners David Bunker (corporate), Cliona Kirby (tax) Charles Kerrigan and Moni Mannings (finance), together with Simon Armitage (associate, corporate), Matthew Wentworth (associate, tax) and Kerry Langton (legal director, finance).

Speechly Bircham acted for Qatari Diar on the joint venture arrangements with Delancey, with Olswang acting for Delancey. The Corporate Finance team at Speechly Bircham was led by corporate partner Martin Wright, who acted alongside corporate associate Faye Marosif.

Stephen Hughes of Mishcon de Reya said: “The Olympic Village represents a unique residential investment opportunity and will secure a lasting legacy from the London Olympics. It was gratifying to work on the project throughout the bid process, resulting in a successful conclusion. Delancey are a longstanding client and it was enjoyable acting for them and Qatari Diar alongside good friends from Olswang.”

Paul Blackmore of Olswang added: “This has been a fantastic project to be involved with, acting for long-standing client Delancey together with their joint venture partner, Qatari Diar. We are delighted to have assisted the clients in concluding the deal, working closely with the team at Mishcon at all stages of the bid process."

The appointment of the Delancey and Qatari Diar joint venture follows an open and competitive investment process launched in October 2010 which saw submissions from leading property developers across the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Asia. The ODA will now work closely with Delancey and Qatari Diar, together with Triathlon Homes, to develop the long-term plans for the Village.

The ODA was advised by Berwin Leighton Paisner whose team was led by partner Tessa Kimber, head of the firm’s Projects Group, assisted by partners Adam Bogdanor (corporate), Ian Waring (real estate), Nazir Dewji (construction) and Timothy Pugh (planning).