Goodman International establishes joint venture to develop Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Client(s) Goodman International Limited
Jones Day advised Goodman International Limited in connection with the establishment of a new 50/50 joint venture between Goodman International and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority/Science and Technologies Facilities Council.
The new English Limited Partnership was established in order to develop the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (the "Campus," a 640-acre former World War II airfield and subsequent nuclear research facility) as a world class science and innovation campus with associated residential and hotel uses. The Campus is already obtaining a substantial reputation in respect of imaging solutions and technologies, and laser energy research. It is part of the British National Space Centre's UK Civil Space Strategy to establish a Space Science and Technology Centre at the Campus in order to focus on climate change and robotic space exploration and applications. The Campus is already home to the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
The Campus is a complex property, and the project involved several complex title and environmental issues. The project also included the application of the Crichel Down Rules to land formerly compulsorily acquired for public purposes, and issues such as the Office for National Statistics' classification of HSIC LP as public or private.
The consideration and amount to be invested by the Limited Partnership and its partners is confidential, but it is anticipated that the project will create up to 5,000 new jobs in the local community, and a minimum 100,000 square meters of laboratory, high technology, and industrial accommodation will be developed in the initial 20-year life of the joint venture.
The project was completed on August 13, 2008, and involved Jones Day lawyers with experience in the areas of real estate, private equity, government regulation, tax, labor and employment, and employee benefits and executive compensation.
