United Kingdom - Northern Ireland • Real estate

Cleaver Fulton Rankin

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Cleaver Fulton Rankin‘s ’superb’ team works as part of the firm’s full-service offering, and offers clients expertise in a broad swathe of sectors, including retail, energy, and residential. Team lead Joe Marley, ‘a recognised leader in this field’, is particularly active in the retail and leisure, energy and renewables, and telecommunications sectors. Core team members include Kathryn Collie, who is experienced in complex disposal and acquisition transactions, and Patrick O’Hanlon, whose practice includes real estate finance, development acquisitions, and retail lettings. O’Hanlan joined the team in September 2022 from TLT. Alan McAlister handles landlord and tenant issues, and is experienced in construction issues.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Cleaver Fulton Rankin's real estate offering is in my view the best in Northern Ireland. They are superb, from the directors, right down to the junior lawyers. They have resourced the team with very smart people. They are just operating at a different level to their competitors.'
  • 'Joe Marley is a recognised leader in this field. He is exceptional and is the guy I would turn to before any other. He heads up the department and has led Cleaver Fulton Rankin's commercial real estate team from strength to strength. Patrick O'Hanlon has just joined, which just adds to the team's profile and offering.'
  • The real estate team at Cleaver Fulton Rankin is second to none. In our view, they are the best out there. They have a large team but are well represented at all levels. There is talent evident throughout the team, from their partners to junior solicitors. They clearly only recruit and retain the very best talent.'
  • 'Alan McAlister: Extremely personable, very experienced, having been working in the field for many years. Very well respected. We know Kathryn Collie because of her excellent reputation. Patrick O’Hanlon has recently joined and by all accounts he is an excellent lawyer, who really knows his stuff, with particular expertise in landlord and tenant issues.'
  • 'We have found dealing with CFR a pleasure, due to the strength and depth of the team, their quick response time in situations when time was at the essence.'
  • 'Joe Marley, Partner, attended to all our needs in a prompt manner and provided excellent advice as and when required, pre-empting issues arising.'

Key clients

  • Clanmil Social Housing Association
  • Invest Northern Ireland
  • SCPI Pierval Santé / Euryale Asset Management
  • Arbour Housing Association
  • Dalradian Gold Limited
  • Ulster University
  • TJ Morris Limited T/A Home Bargains
  • Ballyardle Business Park Limited
  • Lisburn & Castlereagh Borough Council
  • Catalyst Inc

Work highlights

  • Advising Clanmil Housing Association on borrowing £200m to access housing development grants from the Department for Communities to invest in new homes.
  • Advised property investment fund SCPI Pierval Santé, who acquired Hillcrest Care Home in April 2022, with a lease put in place to a local operating company.
  • Advising Arbour Housing Association on the refinancing of existing housing stock to raise finance for new developments all over Northern Ireland.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Kathryn Collie

Kathryn Collie

Hall of fameCleaver Fulton Rankin

Kathryn is a Director in the Real Estate team of Cleaver Fulton Rankin. Her depth of expertise and significant experience in all aspects of non-contentious commercial property sets her apart in the market. Her interests lie particularly with commercial development, the retail sector, acting for both local and national preservation charities and projects work, both on behalf of clients in Northern Ireland and also in England and Wales (where she is qualified to practice). Kathryn is experienced in dealing with complex disposal and acquisition transactions as well as leading teams of solicitors where required, in dealing with major projects. Kathryn also has experience in providing advice to leading financial institutions and also for administrators in preparing property portfolios for sale and the sale of the assets themselves. She has been a key player in some of Northern Ireland’s largest retail and private sector developments.

Leading individuals

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Joe Marley

Other key lawyers

Kathryn Collie, Patrick O'Hanlon, Alan McAlister, Shane Conlan