James is the national head of Shoosmiths’ real estate Development Group and co-leads the firm’s Mobility, Logistics and Manufacturing sector. A real estate lawyer specialising in commercial development, funding and strategic land, James acts for developers and funders in forward funded pre-let developments and on the preparation, servicing and phased disposal of strategic development sites.
James leads key relationships with developers in the industrial and logistics sector, and has a wealth of expertise gained in acting on large-scale strategic schemes involving both residential and commercial elements – often covering land assembly, promotion, servicing and phased disposal – with all the legal and practical complexities they involve.
James's recent experience includes:
- Acting for Stoford on the assembly of an urban promotion site in Digbeth centred around the repurposing of Typhoo’s historic production and distribution plant, together with the pre-let and forward funding of the first phase of that scheme to create new studios and offices for BBC West Midlands.
- Advising Stoford on the acquisition, pre-let and forward funding of a 650,000 square foot distribution centre for Pets at Home in Stafford, sold for £98m to an institutional pension fund on a forward funding basis.
- Acting for Nurton Developments on all real estate matters relating to Branston Locks, a major multi-use urban extension to Burton-on-Trent, including the initial land purchase, site set-up, infrastructure creation and phased disposal of serviced residential development parcels to national housebuilders. James also advised on delivery of the first 500,000 square feet of employment development, funded by US-based investors.
- Advising Feldberg Capital on the development aspects of its JV with HBD, created using £100m of seed properties. The new platform is aiming for £1bn in developments over the next seven years.
- Advising a private investment company on securing a long-term option and promotion agreement for a 400 acre strategic development site in Staffordshire, which was sold in 2024 for the delivery of over 2,000 homes.