James acts for both private and public sector clients in commercial real estate, property development, energy transmission projects, and major infrastructure projects. His clients include state and federal government agencies and departments, local councils, listed and unlisted property funds, energy asset owners, retailers, developers, data centre operators, infrastructure owners, and insolvency professionals.
Experience
James is known for being approachable, responsive and able to deliver succinct and commercially relevant advice.
He has significant experience acting in all aspects of real estate and infrastructure projects, including development; sales and acquisitions; compulsory acquisition; energy transmission projects; land management; linear infrastructure; infrastructure corridor protection; complex leasing transactions; easements; subdivision and titling; crown land, state forests, and tenancy disputes.
In particular, James has extensive experience acting for clients in real estate and major project matters involving linear infrastructure.
Career highlights
James' career highlights include acting for:
- Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited (ARTC) on all of its real estate law requirements for the Inland Rail Project, a 1,700km freight railway project which will link Melbourne to Brisbane through central NSW
- ARTC on the Narwonah Materials Distribution Centre project, a state significant development project intended to facilitate construction of the Inland Rail corridor, as well as generate a significant increase in the transport of goods by rail in regional NSW
- a global logistics corporation on the acquisition and development of land for use as a state-of-the art automated cold-storage warehouse and distribution facility
- Landcom on the Riverstone Scheduled Lands development project, the first ever paper subdivision project in Australia (involving approximately 3,300 lots)
- several significant and complex compulsory acquisition matters for Stage 2 of the WestConnex Motorway Project, a $16.8 billion road construction project
- Sydney Trains on its requirements for the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal project, identified by Infrastructure Australia as a Priority Project
- TransGrid on two major high-voltage electricity transmission line construction and upgrade projects
- Port Authority of NSW on a significant lease transaction for a $100 million bulk materials import facility at Glebe Island
- the SUEZ Group on the $70 million simultaneous sale and leaseback of ten industrial properties used for waste recycling and processing