Real Estate &
Infrastructure

There is no other asset class on the German real estate market that is so heavily and so readily invested in as office space. Whilst rising property prices and capacity bottlenecks in the construction industry pose major challenges to developers, owners and investors, the demand in office property is increasing, especially in terms of flexibility, energy efficiency and sustainability.

Digitalisation is putting new trends and opportunities on the agenda, such as 5G connectivity, and in doing so providing opportunities for new market participants to establish themselves in the office market with their concepts. Co-working, analysing under-utilised office space, marketing temporarily unused spaces to third parties and safety and hygiene concepts are just a few topics that are rapidly gaining importance.

We offer market-leading advice in all areas affecting the entire life cycle of an office property. Our clients are national and international developers, owners, private and institutional investors, professional pension funds, banks and insurance companies.

Our legal expertise is underpinned by our desire to always understand the business from our clients’ perspective. When business and economic cycles in the office market are fluctuating, we monitor and interpret market movements and help our clients meet the challenges they face when doing business, for example in the areas of digitalisation, green building, energy efficiency and security.

Our clients benefit from our comprehensive understanding of each area of law, our strong local connections and our cross-practice understanding of the office asset class. We can advise our clients on their day-to-day operational issues as well as on complex transactions that are critical to their success. We have worked on numerous office projects from the outset and have proven our creativity and innovative strength.

Ports, railways, roads, power plants, supply and disposal facilities and communication networks are the core areas of economic infrastructure. In addition to their purpose within the framework of public welfare, corresponding economic goods are assets that are traded and financed.

Political developments and requirements change the framework and market conditions, as well as the respective transactions.

All projects and transactions in the area of economic infrastructure have a considerable legal breadth and complexity in common. This applies in particular when it comes to new and innovative techniques or structures for which there are often no blueprints. Long term capital-intensive investments need to be properly secured and our team of experienced lawyers from all relevant legal areas are at your disposal, whether to advice on a transaction, cooperation, reorganisation or restructuring, or contentious dispute.

Projects in the area of social infrastructure are complex from a legal perspective, and also due to the large number of stakeholders and the high level of political and public attention that they receive. Also with regard to funding projects, the legal risks are high and, therefore, so is the need for advice. Particular challenges such as investment backlogs, financing partly with private participation, AI-based award procedures and green building, further increase the need for advice. As a result of the advisory services that we have rendered to the public sector and its private partners in the past, we know the recipe for success when it comes to public projects. We combine legal certainty and project success.

For example, our clients entrust us, in particular, with the following areas:

• Designing the budgetary basis
• Procurement and use of funding
• Administrative organisation for the tasks of a builder
• Procuring building rights and securing land
• Organising agile concepts and ideas competitions
• Implementing models for the cooperative development of building land
• Developing and optimising modern public procurement concepts
• Drafting and maintaining the portfolio of contracts in accordance with current market standards 
• Devising public-private partnerships and cooperations
• Legal and technical project management in public building projects
• Obtaining certainty with regard to costs through contract, change order and conflict management
• Compliance and taxation of the public sector

The implementation of construction and infrastructure projects is subject to a large number of complex legal requirements that need to be observed both when applying for approval and when carrying out a project.

In the coming years, more focus will be put in particular on environmental issues. They are becoming increasingly more important to companies at each individual operational stage, but also in the context of building and planning law. Climate change also requires radical changes be made with regard to the consumption of fossil fuels, but at the same time, there is a reluctance to accept technologies which are perceived as critical (e.g. nuclear energy, CCS). It is important to preserve agricultural areas to allow for the production of food for a growing world population and for the production of renewable raw materials.

These developments involve significant risks for the companies concerned, however, at the same time, new opportunities can open up in the area of products and services which protect the environment, in the broadest sense. This refers, in particular, to the building of energy efficient machines and plants as well as the production of plants to produce renewable energy and also the real estate industry, insofar as they reduce the real estate industry’s energy needs considerably and replace them with renewable energies.

Luther advises companies on the following issues:

• Environment & planning law, regulatory
• Project development measures
• The law governing the protection of historical monuments/ buildings
• Building law
• Fire prevention and protection
• The law governing the organisation of events
• Municipality law

Our industry “Mobility & Logistics”

The automotive and vehicle construction industry is traditionally one of the largest and strongest in Germany. At the same time, Germany is also one of the leading logistics locations worldwide. This is why we place such an important focus on the “Mobility & Logistics” industry in our advisory services. A large number of big German industrial clients and internationally operating medium-sized companies from the areas of automotive, logistics, air, rail and sea rely on our expertise in all legal matters, including tax law.

As the owner, investor or operator of a property with a special use (e.g. hotel, spa/sports facility, leisure pool/spa, cinema/theatre, casino, etc.) you face special challenges. You operate in a special market environment, you have to know its characteristics and its players, and at the same time keep an eye on the requirements of the respective project.

You can rely on us to deal with your legal, tax and strategic issues. In close cooperation with specialists from the respective industry, we can advise you and your partners on an equal footing. As professionals at your side, we can deliver creative, customised and pragmatic solutions for your project. As the owner of a property where special use is planned, you may face issues that you would not normally come across in your day-to-day business. As an investor and operator, you depend on your advisor to have comprehensive knowledge of the industry and the typical issues that arise.

Third-party usability, long terms, lack of benchmarks, increasing demand and increasing competition, pressure from digitalisation, new technologies, innovative usage concepts, etc., we know the specific challenges you face in your environment and can support you in all matters. We are also familiar with the increasing demands caused by terrorism, climate change and pandemics, and we think proactively about them.

Our team of researchers closely monitors trends in the respective industry and develop customised contractual or usage concepts to implement your innovative projects that meet the various requirements and observe the legal framework conditions.

We offer the following:

• Developing structuring models (participation models, structuring under company law, concession models, structuring of selection and award procedures, clarification of structuring under real estate law)
• Advice on transaction financing
• Clarifying issues relating to funding and state aid law
• Contract advice, taking into account the specifics of the relevant industry
• Cooperation with technical and economic advisors
• Accompanying the building phase
• Clarifying issues in the course of the operations and supporting conflict resolution or the implementation of adjustments to the contractual framework

As the owner, operator or project developer of a special property, you bear responsibility for a special project with special usage requirements, the success of which over a considerable period of use depends to a large extent on setting up the project correctly and taking into account the different interests of those involved in the project. At the same time, you must keep an eye on the quality and profitability of the project. As experienced legal project managers, we know the challenges of project development and its stumbling blocks and have everything you need for the successful implementation.

Residential property is now part of a highly regulated market. The demands on developers, construction companies, property owners and their asset managers, in particular, have steadily increased. The disparity between cost and sales is widening due to rising construction costs and building regulations on the one hand, and the restriction of rental income on the other. In times where changes are being made rapidly, the residential sector nevertheless remains an asset class with the highest security and is, therefore, particularly attractive.

Residential property changes with changing user expectations; residential project developments are complex. Apartments, for example, can become part of a data-based business model and at the same time a place where the protection of sensitive data is of particular importance. Social housing is meant to provide fixed-price housing and be part of the urban policy. New developments and environmental protection must be harmonised. We accompany and advise our clients, their associations and partners during specific projects and also with any other requirements outside of the specific project. With our specialised lawyers and tax advisors, we can guide you through the complexities to ensure you achieve marketable solutions.

Digitalisation has significantly changed the retail trade. Increasing online trade is putting a strain on revenue in the industry. If retailers want to remain viable in the long term, they have to stand out from the competition on the internet. You need to know your customers and their demands/needs in order to provide the best stationary service for them. At the same time, you need to complement and support this service with digital measures.

There are still many trends and challenges ahead for the retail sector (24/7 service, adventure shopping, repurposing, drones, self-checkouts, etc.).

Urban sprawl and the changing of city centres make it difficult to choose the right location, and also raises the question of the future of shopping centres.

Our experienced lawyers can assist you in all legal, tax and strategic matters. We understand the different requirements and have the necessary expertise and creativity to meet them.

Luther can provide real estate law advice from seven locations in Germany. More than one third of our lawyers in this advisory area focus on real estate transactions; of these, six also work as notaries.

Our transaction experts can advise you on the purchase and sale of real estate. Whether by way of an asset or share deal, (complex) portfolio or individual transactions, forward (funding) deals for project developments or joint ventures, our lawyers, who have many years of experience, can structure and accompany your transaction from the letter of intent to the closing. Our clients are institutional investors, such as insurance companies and professional pension funds, national and international investors and funds, medium-sized but also listed companies, wealth managers, such as foundations and family offices, project developers, private individuals and public sector companies. We advise both the buyer and the seller.

Our expertise in real estate transactional legal advice initially includes the legal and tax structuring of the transaction, in accordance with our clients’ objectives and needs. Naturally, the respective tax situation and, if applicable, existing regulatory requirements will also be taken into account. To this end, we work together closely with our colleagues in the areas of tax and supervisory law so that, depending on your needs, we can also advise you on specific topics of tax, investment and insurance supervisory law “from one source”. Similarly, our banking and capital market experts with many years of market experience can already advise you during the structuring phase of your transaction. In particular, they can also provide advice in the areas of acquisition and real estate financing or leasing.

We can also support you with the coordination and organisation of your real estate transaction. In consultation with you, we can also work together with national and international cooperation partners as part of the transaction, if required by the mandate. In addition to our own offices in ten important locations in Europe and Asia, we have established relationships with leading commercial law firms worldwide to deal with international issues.

We are, therefore, able to support our German clients with their projects abroad just as comprehensively as our international clients with their projects in Germany. On a national level, we have established relationships with highly qualified consultancy firms, such as economic, technical or even environmental consultants. Thanks to the cooperation with these partners, which has been tried and tested on a large number of transactions and construction projects, we can put together and coordinate an interdisciplinary team for your transaction that can cover all the areas that are relevant for your transaction.

The lawyers in our transaction team are familiar with how real estate transactions are executed in accordance with the respective current legal and economic standards. A legal and tax due diligence can be carried out by teams who have been tailored to deal with the respective transaction. Due to the strength of our transactional law team and cooperation across locations, we are able to bundle the necessary capacity needed to deal with large-volume residential real estate transactions and support you in an agile manner. In addition to the acquisition audit, we can also advise you in the event of the sale of real estate and, for example, compile the information necessary for a structured sales process for you, coordinate the preparation of the data room and prepare the legal fact book.

In addition to drafting and negotiating the respective purchase agreement for the real estate transaction, we can offer comprehensive advice on all other transaction-relevant agreements. For us this also means providing advice in connection with the financing of the property, including negotiating and preparing the loan and collateral provision agreements as well as the financing documentation by our financing experts. Our transaction team can also draft any additional agreements that may be transaction-relevant, such as agreements under land law, neighbours’ agreements, tenancy and lease agreements, agreements on private sector property law or private building and architectural law as well as agreements under data protection law.

The transaction team is part of our real estate team. Therefore, you can expect comprehensive advice from us even after the completion of your transaction. Throughout the entire development cycle of a property, from the planning, building or purchase phase, including financing, up to and including use and sale, we have over 80 lawyers at seven locations who are at your disposal to advise you in the area of real estate and building law - forming what is probably the largest real estate law practice in Germany. We, therefore, have a wide range of experience, particularly in the residential asset class, irrespective of whether we are dealing with classic residential portfolios or whether we are advising you on more specialised forms of housing, such as student housing, serviced apartments or boarding houses.

Our practice areas

• Legal and tax structuring of the transaction
• Developing and implementing optimised exit strategies in the event of a sale
• Drafting and negotiating the letter of intent
• Coordinating and organising the transaction, if necessary, also with the involvement of and in coordination with the client’s other (technical) advisors
• Steering the sales process, also in bidding procedures
• Comprehensive legal and tax due diligence; in the case of the seller, also advising on preparing and creating a data room, coordinating the Q&A process, creating a legal fact book
• Drafting and negotiating the (share) purchase agreement and all other transaction-related agreements
• Advice in connection with transaction insurance

Legal post-closing management, e.g. defending against claims for defects and enforcing claims Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft