Stuart is a property lawyer who has acted for major clients in all commercial real estate areas. He has extensive experience in advising on acquisitions and disposals, investment management, funding, landlord and tenant, lease acquisitions and acting for corporate occupiers, as well as acting on large corporate deals involving multiple properties.
Stuart also specialises in the retail and leisure sector where he has worked for many household-name retail and restaurant companies. His knowledge of the sector has made him influential in his field; his articles and interviews have appeared in Retail Week, Insolvency Today and other industry publications, and his expertise in leasehold acquisitions and management is demonstrated in his highly popular book, ‘‘A Tenant’s Practical Guide to Commercial Leases’.
I am sure our paths will cross again in the future, you are the best property lawyer I have worked with and I will be recommending you whenever I have the chance going forwards.
Finance Director, Leading Homeware Retail Chain
I wanted to say very big thank you to you and your team. I know that you faced many challenges with your counterparts who were not working under the same pressure and the final results of your hard work really speaks for itself. We have managed to strengthen our commercial position and we could not have managed this without your efforts over the last few weeks. Once again many thanks, it is very much appreciated at all levels.
Large High Street Retailer
Expertise
- Acquisition, disposal and subletting of leasehold office premises for corporate occupiers including hedge funds and other companies
- Acquisition of shopping centre and high-street units, lease renewals and re-gears for retailers and restaurateurs
- Freehold and leasehold commercial acquisitions and disposals
- Various investment management work including granting leases, renewal leases and dealing with applications to assign, sublet and carry out works for landlords
- Due diligence and disclosure in respect of the commercial property elements of company acquisitions and disposals and negotiating the property warranties
- Due diligence for bank funding, acting for the mortgagee, and preparing reports and certificates of title acting for the borrower
Experience
- Acquisition, disposal and subletting of leasehold office premises for various corporate occupiers including a number of hedge funds and other companies (including a FTSE 250 company on the acquisition of office space at a rent of £1.2m a year and the acquisition of offices and radio stations for a Plc media company).
- Acquisition of shopping centre and high-street units (including agreements for construction of premises within shopping centres and schemes), lease renewals and re-gears for many household-name retailers and restaurateurs including Prezzo Plc, ASK, Pizza Express, Strada, Cafe Rouge, Cote Restaurants, Bill’s, Hakkasan, Ping Pong, Hawksmoor, Ignite Group (Bumpkin), La Senza, Ryman, L’Occitane, Dune, Tiger Retail, Firetrap, and Sonnetti, and a large Middle-Eastern retail and restaurant client with over 2,500 units and over 75 brands under franchise.
- The real-estate element of the acquisition of a substantial UK pharmaceutical company with multiple sites.
- The acquisition of various radio companies with multiple sites
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Stuart Darlington is recognised by the Legal 500 2017.
Author of ‘A Tenants’ Practical Guide to Commercial Leases’ (2015) which can be seen here.
Career
Stuart qualified as a solicitor in 2016. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2016, he worked at the following firms:
- Michael Simkins
- Davenport Lyons
- Fox Williams
- Eversheds