Andrew Steele

Practice Areas

Andrew Steele is the National Practice Group Leader of the Real Estate team and is recognised as one of Australia's leading property lawyers, focusing on both advice and transactional aspects of property law. Andrew has over 25 years' experience working closely with a range of clients including government agencies, fund managers, financial institutions, restructuring and insolvency practitioners and developers.

Andrew's experience includes advising the NSW State Government on complex title matters and local governments on the acquisition and development of strategic sites. His expertise also extends to the private sector and includes advising clients on the development, acquisition and disposal of industrial, hotel, retail and other commercial properties, negotiating development agreements, joint venture documents and management agreements.

Andrew is keenly focused on providing practical commercial solutions and has a particular interest in understanding transaction objectives and collaborating on the formulation of, and executing transaction strategy. He especially enjoys his involvement in projects that generate employment and transform communities, including social and affordable housing and health infrastructure projects.

Work Highlights

Health Infrastructure NSW: Andrew is currently acting for Health Infrastructure in relation to the acquisition of strategic sites for its $615M Ambulance Infrastructure Program (AIP_. The AIP will provide local paramedics with modern, fit-for-purpose infrastructure to better meet the emergency medical care need of communities. The project includes acquiring sites and constructing 30 new ambulance stations on these sites across NSW. Our advice includes detailed property due diligence for station sites, property acquisition by negotiation and compulsory acquisitions.

Acacia Capital: Advising in relation to its proposed development of 306 social and affordable apartments in Parramatta. In this project, Andrew has assisted Acacia with the negotiation of the contract for acquisition of the development site; the development management agreement; and the property management agreement under which Community Housing Provider, St George Community Housing, will manage the social and affordable housing on Acacia's behalf.

Goodman: Acted for Goodman on its acquisition of the former Australian Broadcasting Corporation site at Artarmon in Sydney.

Goodman: Acted for Goodman in connection with the development of the Oakdale Industrial Estate, a 440 hectare logistics hub, including multiple agreements for lease to the likes of DHL, Sigma Pharmaceuticals, Iron Mountain and Briggs & Stratton, and the development and divestment of sites to Toyota and Costco. Andrew's involvement included the establishment of a development joint venture between Goodman and Brickworks and complex agreements for lease, easements and option arrangements.

AXA IM - Real Assets: Advised AXA on its development of a health care precinct, which includes the development and operation of an 83 bed aged care facility, a public hospital and 69 units retirement living units in Victoria with Calvary Healthcare (the Catholic Church). The development value was $140 million.

Celestino: Advising Celestino on its A$5bn Sydney Science Park project that will create an internationally recognised epicentre for research and development in the heart of Western Sydney. Set over 280ha, Sydney Science Park will be a fully integrated community that will create more than 12,000 knowledge based jobs, cater to over 10,000 students and be home to over 10,000 residents. Andrew is providing complex titling advice, acquiring greenfield sites and assisting Celestino in relation to its dealings with the local authority in connection with the ownership and management of publicly accessible areas (including complex insurance and indemnity issues).

CBA: For over 20 years, Andrew has advised CBA in relation to a variety of real estate matters, including lease negotiations, lease disputes, real estate due diligence in relation to lending transactions and sales (and leasebacks) of Bank freehold property. Andrew works closely with the Bank's Group Property & Security team to deliver sensible commercial outcomes, including in relation to real estate disputes.

Squadron Energy - CWP Renewables: Acted for Squadron Energy on the acquisition of CWP Renewables who own a portfolio of solar and wind farms and battery energy storage centres at locations across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. With a combined renewable energy operating portfolio of 2.4 gigawatts (GW) and an Australian development pipeline of 20GW, Squadron Energy will soon generate enough power to provide enough electricity to power 8.5 million Australian homes accelerating the nation’s energy transition to cleaner and more dependable sources of renewable energy. This transformational transaction represents Australia's largest renewable energy deal to-date causing Squadron Energy to successfully become Australia’s largest renewable energy investor, operator and developer. Andrew assisted Squadron Energy to navigate the various real property issues impacting the transaction arising from the vast and complex portfolio of operational and development assets owned by CWP Renewables, and advised Squadron Energy on the negotiation of real estate aspects of the transaction documents.

ESR: Advised on its purchase of 100% of the membership in Digital Horsley Park, LLC, by way of a securities purchase agreement.

Industry Sector Expertise

Housing

Energy & Renewable,

Industrial & Logistics

Health and Government