Lodders completes £22m deal for Hinton Group

Lodders’ Real Estate group has advised commercial property developer Hinton Group, on the acquisition of the remaining land at Harlequin Office Park in Emersons Green, Bristol.

The £22m commercial scheme will consist of a new 90-bed Travelodge Hotel, a Costa Coffee Drive-Thru,7 and a Greene King Chef and Brewer restaurant, with the development expected to be complete and open for business in early 2021.

This is the third deal Lodders has completed for Bromsgrove-based Hinton Group in the last eight months, and the eighth in the last five years.

Founded in 1993, Hinton Group is a family business specialising in land acquisition, development, architectural design, and construction, principally for the retail and leisure sectors.

Lodders team working on the deal was led by the firm’s managing partner Paul Mourton and included Senior Associate in the Real Estate practice Ian Yarde, planning specialist and partner Victoria Longmore, partner and construction lawyer Heidi Brennan, partner and corporate lawyer Graham Spalding, and corporate law specialist and associate Leanne Lawrence.

Paul Mourton explains: “Lodders has acted for Hinton Group for five years on deals of significant value and involving Grade A tenants and Institutional Pension Funds. These have all involved acquisition of land on a subject to planning basis, the negotiation of lease agreements, and the undertaking of development funding agreements with the funder.

Sizeable deal

“Harlequin Office Park is a sizeable deal for Hinton Group and was a complex transaction involving multiple parties,” he adds. “The deal completed in under 14 months – pretty quick given the need to obtain planning permission for a large commercial development scheme – and we successfully navigated the acquisition of the land utilising Lodders’ integrated approach. This involved several of our specialist legal and sector teams including real estate, planning, construction and corporate and commercial, which worked together to secure the best deal for our client.

“As a longstanding client of Lodders, it has been a pleasure to assist Hinton Group on this deal and play a part in realising its plans to expand the facilities at Emersons Green,” he says.

Competent advice

James Hinton, Managing Director at Hinton Group, comments: “Harlequin Office Park is a significant addition to our portfolio and is ideally located to serve the businesses, community and visitors to the South West region.

“The team at Lodders have been competent, responsive and trusted advisers throughout the entire deal process and their professionalism, expertise and support has been invaluable in driving forward our development plans.”

Paul Mourton adds: “The Real Estate practice at Lodders has seen a spike in the volume of commercial development work already this year, and we continue to act for numerous developers, landowners and private companies looking to take Grade A industrial space on commercial development projects.”

Lodders’ Real Estate practice is one of the largest in the West Midlands with 32 specialist real estate, commercial property, planning, construction, and highways legal experts, including nine partners. The Real Estate team was commended as Top Tier in the 2019 Legal 500 rankings.

Image shows: CGI of Harlequin Office Park at Emersons Green, Bristol, reproduced courtesy of Hinton Group.