Real estate lawyers from the Bristol office of international legal practice Osborne Clarke have advised on one of London’s largest regeneration projects. 
The team is working with Vistry Partnerships (formerly Galliford Try Partnerships) on the development agreement for Meridian One, the first phase of the £6bn, 20-year Meridian Water development led by Enfield Council. The scheme covers 210 acres of north London between Edmonton, Tottenham and Walthamstow.
Enfield Council and developer Vistry Partnerships have signed the development agreement, under which around 900 homes will be built at Meridian One, pictured right, with enabling works on the £250m project starting in the next few months.
Meridian One was granted outline planning permission in 2017and an application for the details of the first homes will be submitted by Vistry Partnerships this year.
Half the homes at Meridian One will be affordable housing, 50% of them council owned and provided at affordable rents, while the remainder will offer a range of tenures and housing types to respond to market need during the construction of Meridian One. The first homes will be completed in 2022.
The Osborne Clarke team was led by Bristol-based real estate partner Michelle McGurl, pictured, assisted by senior associates Gareth Hutchings and Caroline Bush, legal director Catherine Gunz and associate directors Amy Stray and Damocles Merry. Partners Catherine Wolfenden, Tracey Wright, Matthew Germain and Alexandra Gower also worked on the agreement. 
Osborne Clarke, which also has UK offices in London and Reading, is a recognised industry leader in real estate, providing a comprehensive lifecycle service and advising major real estate industry organisations, ranging from developers and investors to property funds and corporate occupiers.
Meanwhile, an Osborne Clarke team led by Bristol-based partner Chris Wade has advised investor, developer and long-term fund manager Equitix on a £159m loan to finance a high-specification student living and communal space for the University of York.
The loan will finance two new colleges creating 1,480 new bedspaces for students. The halls will house undergraduate and postgraduate students in ensuite rooms.
The team, which included David Smith, Amy Dimond, Leanne Hooper, Grace Hodgkinson, Jasdeep Puri, Andy Normington, Jonathan Culley, Sarah Knight, Jonny Gait and Kristen Harris, has worked with Equitix for more than six years and previously advised on its joint venture accommodation development project with Durham University and its £280m joint venture acquisition of the so-called Stellar Portfolio of 1,857 beds of purpose-built student accommodation from Fusion Students.
