Astonhill was founded in 2012 with the specific aim of delivering a range of land and development consultancy services to landowners, developers, private and institutional clients. The business is active across a wide range of sectors, with particular emphasis in the mixed-use, residential, senior living, healthcare, and leisure sectors.
Activities incorporate professional services for developers and landowners, advice on the acquisition and disposal of land, and investments, typically those suffering poor management and lack of capital investment, or with latent planning potential for alternative or more intensive uses, and which may have been mispriced, and construction consultancy services.
Advice is based on a thorough understanding of the market, tailored to individual client requirements in terms of risk and return, and is delivered with great energy, commitment and attention to detail.
DIRECTORS
CHRIS HILL FRICS
Currently Chief Executive of Whiteleaf Consulting Ltd (WCL), involving such activities as advising numerous private & public sector clients on viability and other development-related matters, including land ownership and equalisation issues/appropriate forms of agreement etc., option exercise, overage issues, joint ventures (including JV vehicles involving a mix of public and private sector parties), and other aspects of major residential and mixed-use projects and longer term strategic sites. His current client list includes many of the most well-known house builders and promoters. He has also advised venture capital funders on property related matters, business assessment etc. He has carried out a number research projects and advice on land, planning and viability-related issues for central government, mainly through his membership of the now disbanded Housing Markets and Planning Analysis (HMPA) Expert Panel. Through WCL’s sister company, Whiteleaf Developments Ltd, Chris also continues to be involved both directly and via investment in smaller scale development opportunities and strategic land.
Prior to setting up Whiteleaf, Chris was Managing Director of Westbury Homes – Southern. Appointed in January 1996, Chris created and grew a new regional house building business from a zero base, achieving target annual turnover of c£50m from around 500 units within 3 years. Thereafter, Chris’s region achieved rapid and consistent growth to a profit in 2000 of c£10m on turnover of around £68m.
Before joining Westbury, Chris was Managing Director of Blue Circle Residential and a director of Blue Circle Properties. Responsible for the residential arm, he set up Saxon Developments (‘Saxon Homes’) and, as CEO, grew Saxon to become a fully operational house building company, while also being instrumental in bringing forward major strategic mixed development proposals in the Thames Gateway. As Chairman of Chafford Hundred Ltd he was also responsible for leading the now completed major new settlement development on disused chalk quarries known as Chafford Hundred in Essex, gaining planning consent and leading infrastructure implementation to provide serviced land for over 5,000 houses, along with retail, leisure, office uses, a new railway station and related community facilities.
Throughout his career Chris has regularly led teams to secure strategic business development on plc group level and property related issues and carried out advice and property based 'rescue' assignments in the UK and internationally.
PAUL FINCKEN MRICS
Paul is an expert in strategic land assembly. He has led a number of special purpose investment vehicles over the last 25 years for Private Clients and Pension Fund Clients of LaSalle Investment Management.
He has experience of real estate management from land acquisition through the planning / development process and also the management / sale of completed schemes. Projects have varied from small bespoke high value residential schemes throughout to major award winning city centre regeneration, mixed-use projects in Ipswich and Manchester, which have been a major boost for the local economies and communities.
In recent years Paul has focused his business activities in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and is particularly well versed in the Local Plans, Core Strategies and Neighbourhood Plans of these communities. Paul has his own successful strategic land business and through Astonhill Management offers Asset Management Services, from project fund raising, site acquisition advice whether freehold / promotion or option agreement, and structured joint ventures.
NICK JOHNSON MRICS
Nick has over 20 years experience in development and investment and has undertaken mixed-use and single sector projects in the retail, leisure, commercial, residential and healthcare sectors throughout the United Kingdom with a combined value approaching £400 million.
He has worked in both a consultancy and principal capacity, providing strategic advice on real estate acquisitions and disposals for a range of private, corporate, public, charity and institutional clients, and been directly responsible for fund management acquisitions throughout the United Kingdom for a number of private and institutional clients.
Following an initial period in residential agency, Nick graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a Bsc (Hons) in Real Estate Management and joined Savills in the West End, where following a period in West End Offices he concentrated on Hotels & Lesiure in the valuation and agency teams.
Subsequently Nick moved clientside with niche developer Warrant Investments, originating and developing a portfolio of leisure and mixed-use assets with a combined value circa £100 million.
Nick developed the scope of his development and investment skills further with Commercial Estates Group, with funds under management circa £750 million, and latterly Aprirose REI where as Group Estates Manager he focused on portfolio management of funds circa £750 million, and the origination of institutional grade investment / stock.