Cost certainty
A fixed-price contract with a creditworthy contractor is the strongest single lever a developer holds.
Asset classes · Development
Development projects
A development can be sold at any stage — before consent, after approval, during construction or fully let. Each stage has its own buyer universe and its own price.
We work with developers on both sides: the capital structure for delivery and the exit to the end investor. The two usually belong together, because a secured forward sale is often what makes the financing possible in the first place.
The market has sorted itself out. Buyers still pay decent prices but demand certainty: fixed-price main contract, robust costs, pre-letting, completion guarantee. Deliver those and you sell. Leave them open and the discounts quickly eat the developer profit.
Our job is to pick the right moment to sell and to present the scheme exactly the way the other side's investment committee wants to read it.
What we look at first
- Planning status and outstanding conditions
- Cost plan, main contract and variation risk
- Pre-letting level and anchor tenant credit
- Capital structure, equity share and interest cover
- Programme with realistic float
Key figures
- Volume
- EUR 10 – 400m
- Exit points
- Consent, start on site, completion
- Typical buyers
- Funds, insurers, family offices
- Structure
- Forward funding or forward purchase
- Capital side
- Senior, mezzanine, equity
Value drivers
What moves the price here
Pre-letting
Every signed lease lowers the buyer's risk deduction — far more so in commercial than in residential.
Timing of exit
Selling after consent brings capital quickly; selling on completion brings margin. Which fits depends on your liquidity.
Capital structure
Clean senior, mezzanine and equity tranches allow larger volumes for the same equity outlay.
Process
How a sale runs in this segment
- Step 01
Project review
Planning, costing, programme, letting status and existing finance examined.
- Step 02
Exit strategy
Timing and structure fixed — forward funding or sale on completion.
- Step 03
Materials
Investor memorandum, cash flow model and sensitivities prepared for investment committees.
- Step 04
Investor approach
Suitable end investors approached in parallel, alongside the financing side where needed.
- Step 05
Negotiation and completion
Instalments against progress, securities, completion guarantee and warranties agreed.
From practice
What we see in real deals
Selling too early costs more than selling late
Exiting at resolution stage gives away most of the value created. If liquidity carries you through consent, waiting nearly always pays — and if it does not, mezzanine is often cheaper than an early exit.
Budget for variations
No scheme runs without them, and buyers know it. A five to eight per cent contingency reads as serious; a perfect landing nobody believes does not.
The buyer also assesses you
Track record, reference schemes, SPV balance sheet, site manager experience — in a forward deal the investor is buying your ability to deliver.
Questions
What owners ask us
The points owners raise before a mandate — answered the way we would in a first call.
When is the best moment to sell?
Usually once consent is granted and the build contract is secured. The largest risk is out, the margin not yet given away.
Do you sell part-built schemes?
Yes, including stalled sites. Then it is about cost-to-complete, warranties and a buyer who can take over operationally.
Can you arrange the financing too?
Yes. Senior, mezzanine and equity run through the same hands as the exit, which saves coordination and time.
Asset classes
What we cover
We advise on real estate and corporate transactions from EUR 20m across Europe, with a clear focus on the DACH region. Every asset class has its own buyer universe – these are the segments we work in most often.
Thinking about selling in this asset class?
Send us the key figures — you get an honest read on price and buyer universe.