Goodman faces appeal over north London office block row

Glasgow property investor Louis Goodman is facing an appeal against his victory in a High Court dispute over the sale of a 98,000 sq ft north London office block. The senior Court of Appeal is considering an appeal by Goodman’s opponents who are seeking to overturn the June 2008 decision of Briggs J. Goodman’s City Site Properties bought the 13-storey Northway House at 1379 High Road, Whetstone, London N20, in 1989. The main tenant was Heathmill Village, which was owned by father and son Ivor and Aaron Gershfield. On 1 December 2004, Transview, which was a special purpose vehicle of Heathmill, paid City Site £13.5m for the building. Following completion, a dispute arose regarding an overage provision in the agreement by which City Site would receive 50% of any increase in value of the property either on resale or on the obtaining of planning permission for the residential development of the property. Transview claimed that a further clause, which provided that the overage would not be payable in certain circumstances, had been removed by City Site without its knowledge. Dismissing Transview’s claim for rectification of the agreement, Briggs J held that there was “no intention by either party, at the time of its execution, that the sale agreement should contain an overage abatement clause”. In the three-day appeal court hearing, Transview is seeking to cast doubt on the credibility of the evidence that City Site relied upon at trial. Mummery and Moore-Bick LJJ and Sir Peter Gibson are expected to reserve judgment.