WBD has advised South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), the first mayoral development corporation established outside of London, on over half of the developable land on the wider Redcar steelworks site. Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, formally signed off the deal yesterday (21 February).

WBD has provided legal advice to businesses in Teesside for over 22 years and was instructed to advise on STDC's acquisition. The former Tata Steel site on Teesside comprises 1,420 acres of land, including two kilometres of river frontage, and represents over half of the developable land. 

The team at WBD advised on the acquisition, on-site maintenance and phased handover to ensure continuity of maintenance programmes as well as on and offsite infrastructure ownership and obligations, and provided strategic and commercial advice on procuring the release of options and rights of pre-emption in favour of third parties. The firm continues to advise on the environmental and permitting issues of the current and future uses of the sites.

The multi-disciplinary team at WBD included Nicole Tanfield, Will Bonas, Stuart Wardlaw, Fiona Graham, Sam Dixon, and Lee Parbery. 

Paul Booth, Interim Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation added:

“We were extremely grateful of the work which WBD provided us with, and we would like to place on record that they have done a really great job. This is a landmark deal for the future of the Tees Valley and will be felt for generations. I want to thank the team at WBD for their help and professionalism on behalf of the entire Development Corporation board.”  

Ranking in the UK's top 20 law firms and by Chambers as a Band 1 firm for National Leaders (Outside London) in real estate, WBD provides legal expertise in eleven key sectors from across eight offices in the UK and 19 offices in the US. The firm's housing and real estate client portfolio in the UK includes Grainger, Sembcorp, Middlesbrough College, Teesside University and Places for People.