Profile details
About Gerrit M. Beckhaus
Gerrit is a partner based in Hamburg and Berlin. He advises domestic and international investors, real estate developers, financial institutions and public-sector clients on all aspects of real estate investments, in particular transactions, joint ventures, developments, restructurings and real estate finance.
In addition, Gerrit co-heads the global Freshfields Lab and its cross-functional team of legal professionals, software developers, machine learning engineers and project managers since its launch in 2019. In this function, Gerrit has led the development of numerous technology-based solutions for and with the firm’s clients to meet specific client needs, from digital collaboration platforms for due diligence exercises, large-volume claims and multijurisdictional surveys to complex data analytics leveraging the Lab’s machine learning team. Gerrit regularly conducts client workshops and trainings in the field of innovation/legal technology. He was shortlisted as Most Innovative Change Maker at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2021. He won the European Legal Awards 2024 in the category Artificial Intelligence and is one of the three winners in the category AI Leadership of the Capital Best of AI Awards 2024.
He speaks German and English.
Recent work
- Advising DWS (RREEF) on the acquisition of the majority stake in the shopping centres 'Loop5' in Weiterstadt near Frankfurt and 'K in Lautern' in Kaiserslautern
- Advising DWS (RREEF) on the acquisition of a residential portfolio (around 3,600 residential and 155 commercial units) from Corpus Sireo (the 'Merkur' portfolio) as well as on the acquisition of numerous project developments, eg Friedenauer Höhe in Berlin
- Advising FRANKONIA Eurobau on the sale of the 'Burstah Offices' in Hamburg to Cityhold, on the sale of the Palais Behrens in Berlin to Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate and on the sale of the office tower 'SIGN!' in the media harbour in Düsseldorf to IntReal International Real Estate
- Advising BlackRock on the acquisition of the Kustermann Park office complex in Munich from Ares and on the accompanying joint venture as well as on the sale to Henderson Park and Swiss Life Asset Managers
- Advising FREO Group on the sale of the ongoing development 'East Side Mall' in Berlin to RFR Group as well as on the joint venture with RFR
- Advising Barings Real Estate on the sale of the ongoing development "The Westlight" to a consortium consisting of Generali Real Estate and Poste Vita
- Advising Antirion SGR on the acquisition of the Thales Germany Headquarter from Samsung
- Advising TPG Real Estate on the acquisition of the Technologie Park in Cologne comprising of 6 properties from EQT
- Advising Macquarie Real Estate on its acquisition of a stake in EDGE Real Estate B.V. and its future strategic partnership with EDGE’s founder
- Advising Xior Student Housing on the acquisition of a student home portfolio with 5,341 residential units from BaseCamp for EUR 939 million in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Poland
- Advising RTL Deutschland on the lease for their headquarter in Hamburg
Qualifications
Education
- University of Muenster, Germany (PhD in law; Executive Master of Business Administration)
- Yale Law School, USA (LLM)
- Legal traineeship (Referendariat) at the Higher Regional Court in Hamburg, with stages in Paris and Cape Town
- Research associate, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, Germany
Professional qualifications
- Rechtsanwalt, Germany
- Approved commercial mediator (cvm)