Malaysian developer, YTL's acquisition of the redundant 350 acre Filton airfield in Bristol has been heralded as Deal of the Year at the region's annual major property awards ceremony, which took place on 6 October. YTL's masterplan for the strategically critical brownfield site includes the development of over 2,500 homes and 62 acres of office and industrial development.
YTL was advised at all stages of the acquisition by a cross-discipline team of experts drawn from Burges Salmon's real estate, planning, construction and environment teams. The team claimed Property Law Firm of the Year at the same awards for the work undertaken by it on the deal, adding to a brace of other national industry awards earlier in the year for other transactional work. The team currently holds the highly coveted Legal Business and The Lawyer Real Estate Team of the Year titles, for which the UK's top law firms go head to head.
These awards reflect the quality and complexity of the real estate work being consistently undertaken at Burges Salmon and the firm's ability to bring together leading individuals with a wide range of legal expertise to deliver a successful outcome.
Commenting on the deal's success, Ross Polkinghorne, head of real estate development at Burges Salmon, said: “We are pleased to have worked with the YTL team on this transaction and on what will undoubtedly be a transformational development scheme for the region. Having provided pro bono legal advice to Bristol Aero Collection Trust for the Concorde Museum, we have a particular connection with the airfield. Our team of experts played a vital role alongside other key advisors to secure the site so we are particularly pleased to be recognised as property law firm of the year by those working at the heart of the real estate sector."