Nick is a commercial property solicitor and experienced adviser to housebuilders, developers and land owners on the acquisition and disposal of strategic development land. Nick has substantial experience of conditional contracts, put and call options, promotion agreements and golden brick development agreements in the context of real estate development projects.
Nick also acts for borrowers and banks on property development projects, as well as providing advice to landlords and tenants engaged with or experiencing issues with development projects.
Nick also has extensive experience of landlord and tenant issues, having previously dealt with all landlord and tenant issues arising at various shopping centres and airports. He has also advised on the real estate aspects of numerous share and asset deals.
Expertise
- Commercial property
- Secured lending
- Property development
- Landlord & tenant matters
Experience
Property Development
- Advised AEM Developments Limited on the sale of a development site in Croydon.
- Acting for a regional housebuilder in its acquisition of various development sites throughout the South East.
- Advised a housebuilder on the acquisition and disposal of a complex development site in the South East.
- Acting for a residential developer of prime residential accommodation in London.
- Advice in connection with a £23m tax structured sale and leaseback of a substantial London property.
- Acting for lenders providing finance for residential and commercial development schemes.
Retail
- Advised Bucherer on the acquisition of prime retail space in the Royal Opera House Arcade in Covent Garden.
- Acted in the acquisition of a portfolio of retail properties for c. £200m.
- Advising a client of a prestigious retail store on various landlord and tenant issues including store refurbishments.
- Acting for the landlords at regional shopping centres advising on unit leases.
- Advising a client on the acquisition of a lease for its retail/office HQ in Soho, London.
Hospitality & Leisure
- Advising a client on raising finance for the development of a mixed-use hospitality, leisure and residential scheme in Portugal with a GDV of c€1.2billion+.
- Refinancing of 5 well-established UK countryside hotels.
- Advising a client on the development of a new hotel and leisure complex in the Bahamas with a GDV of cUSD1billion+.
- Assisting a client in the acquisition of a chain of hotels with a value of £30million+.
- Advising on the sale of a UK car franchise business involving substantial real estate interests.
Telecoms
- Acted for Level 3 Communications on the acquisition of several “points of presence” sites throughout the UK for its fibre network.
- Acted for Level 3 Communications on the acquisition of a data storage centre in the City of London.
- Acted for landowners negotiating leases and easements to telecoms operators.
Other
- Acting on a £5m sale and leaseback of a manufacturing facility in Northampton.
- Acted for an international brewer in its acquisition of newly constructed commercial premises.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
“Nick Smith is excellent at seeing the big picture and focuses on practical solutions.”
The Legal 500 UK 2020
Career
Nick qualified as a solicitor in 1995. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2021, he worked at Marriott Harrison.