German Team advises Real I.S. on sale of Hamburg’s Georgstor office building to Hines

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised real estate company Real I.S. AG on the sale of the Georgstor office building from its real estate special fund "BGV VI", to global investor and developer Hines. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. 

The Georgstor office building, completed in 2011, is located at Steindamm 96-100 in Hamburg's St. Georg district. It comprises a leasable area of approximately 24,000 square meters and includes 10 above-ground and two underground floors. The building also has an underground car park and excellent public transport links via Hamburg's main train. The building is certified according to DGNB Silver standard and is around 90 per cent leased. 

Hines, a privately held company that operates in 240 cities across 27 countries, focuses on real estate investment and development. Hines manages real estate worth approximately €134.3 billion, including €68.2 billion as an investment manager and €66.1 billion as an external service provider.

The Real I.S. Group has been BayernLB's fund service provider focusing in real estate investments for over 30 years. The associated company of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe is one of the leading asset managers on the German market. In addition to alternative investment funds (special AIFs and closed-end public AIFs) and an open-ended public real estate fund, the range of products and services includes individual fund solutions, club deals and joint ventures. The company has around 12.5 billion euros in assets under management. The Real I.S. Group has two licensed capital management companies (KVGs) in accordance with the German Investment Code (KAGB) and subsidiaries or branches in France, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands and Australia.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team that provided legal and tax advice on this transaction was led by Munich partner Dr. Maren Stölting. She was supported by partner Tino Duttiné (tax, Frankfurt), counsel Dr. Martin Hoffmann (real estate, Hamburg), senior tax associate Julia Gallinger (tax, Hamburg), senior associate Jürgen Schlinkmann and associate Phil Jung Kim (real estate, Hamburg). 

Hines was advised by Chatham Partners, PwC and Arcadis.