Well-known and highly respected UK real estate investor, developer and adviser Trevor Morgan died suddenly on 2 August.
Morgan left Edward Erdman in 1986 with David Pepper to found Morgan Pepper, which quickly established itself as a leading niche agency practice, focused solely on the City of London and Midtown submarkets.
He initially focused on leasing agency but moved into investment agency and was involved in many significant investment transactions. These included the acquisition of Ashdown House,123 Victoria Street, Globe House and 1 London Wall. Having left Morgan Pepper in 2002, he founded Morgan Consulting. Here he advised on the acquisition of Plantation Place for £527 million, at the time the largest single asset transaction in the UK.
In 2010 he launched Morgan Capital with Ken Edwards and his eldest son, Alex, as an operating partner delivering acquisition, asset management and development management services focused initially on central London and expanding recently to include key regional cities.
His youngest son, Simon, joined in 2016. The business flourished under his leadership, working closely with a small number of family office and institutional partners. In the 14 years since its launch, Morgan Capital has been involved in 27 transactions, incorporating approximately 1.4 million square feet of development with a gross development value of £2 billion and an asset management portfolio of approximately £600 million.
The Morgan Capital business said in a statement that while he had taken a step back in recent years from day-to-day matters, he still loved coming into work three days a week and was immensely proud of everything that was being achieved by the firm.
It added: "Everyone who met him will have noticed his enthusiasm and a twinkle in his eye of someone at the start of their careers. Energetic, generous, kind and completely devoid of cynicism, he thrived on working with his sons and surrounding himself with a fantastic young team.
"Trevor was a role model, mentor and friend to everyone at Morgan Capital and to Alex and Simon he was this and so much more. Words are unable to express how much he will be missed by everyone."
The business added: "Most importantly, he was utterly devoted to his family. He leaves behind Jane, his wife of 50 years, his two sons Alex and Simon, and his four grandchildren – Dominic, Oscar, Max and Noemie."
Editor's comment: Trevor will be sadly missed by the CoStar News team as a hugely insightful and generous commentator on the London and wider real estate market.