Alastair Gatt

Senior Associate (Enrolled as a Solicitor in Scotland)

Alastair is a Scottish lawyer who has been working in New Zealand since 2007. He has more than 30 years’ experience in all forms of commercial, property, and related finance work.

Alastair advises private and public sector clients, including individuals and corporates, on purchases and sales of commercial property and businesses. He assists clients with purchaser and vendor due diligence, subdivisions, registered leases, and easements. Alastair has experience in the agri-business sector acting for purchasers and vendors of vineyards, farms, and kiwifruit orchards. He has also acted for numerous overseas investors in relation to applications for consent to acquire sensitive land under the Overseas Investment Act (OIA).

An expert on commercial leasing, Alastair acts for landlords and tenants in all scenarios, including heads of agreements/terms sheets and agreements to build and rent. He has advised on leases of major retail malls and large portfolios, through to single commercial premises, and rural/farming and grazing leases. He regularly prepares and negotiates the lease documentation and assists with interpretation of existing or draft documentation. He advises on the obligations of both parties, assignments and tenant change of control, and make-good/reinstatement requirements.

Alastair also works in the property side of the retirement village sector – acting for retirement village operators in relation to acquisitions, but also for a major statutory supervisor.

Always approachable and responsive, Alastair enjoys working in partnership with his clients to help them achieve their project goals. His depth of experience in the real estate industry enables him to provide timely and accurate advice. Alastair spent the first 18 years of his career practising in both the private and public sectors in Scotland.

Career highlights

Acting for IKEA New Zealand Limited on the acquisition and development of IKEA’s landmark first site in New Zealand.

Providing property and leasing advice to Spark, the largest telecommunications provider in New Zealand, including the adoption of new processes and documentation for Spark’s registered lease portfolio.

Assisting Te Whatu Ora - Waitematā (formerly Waitematā DHB) in securing acceptable terms for a short-term licence of the ex-Warehouse unit in Highbury Shopping Centre, on Auckland's North Shore – the DHB’s first vaccination centre.

Acting for Metlifecare on possible acquisitions of land to grow its property portfolio. Also acting for Covenant Trustees Services Limited on the preparation and registration of its statutory supervisor security documentation.

Providing advice and assistance to private and public sector clients like Go-Bus, Tourism Holdings, Waitemata District Health Board, AUT Millennium Ownership Trust, and other entities with substantial, local and national, lease portfolios, and to purchasers and vendors on lease aspects of business sales.

Providing advice to developers and individuals of complex industrial subdivisions on structure and content of title and associated documentation.

Affiliations
  • Member, Property Council New Zealand (PCNZ)
Achievements and recognition
  • Tier 1 team, Real Estate, The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific