Gerrit M. Beckhaus
About
Gerrit is a real estate partner in our Global M&A and Capital group, based in Hamburg and Berlin, with more than 14 years of experience in various asset classes. He advises a diverse client base – from national and international investors to developers, financial institutions and public-sector clients – on the full spectrum of real estate investments, including transactions, joint ventures, developments, financings, and restructurings.
Gerrit co-founded the Freshfields Lab in 2019 and has co-headed it ever since. The Lab is the firm’s award-winning cross-functional team of legal professionals, software developers, AI engineers and project managers. In this role, he has led the development of 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.
Gerrit also advises clients on the AI transformation of their legal departments, from defining their legal AI strategy and identifying valuable use cases to selecting platforms, preparing knowledge and workflows for AI, and implementing solutions. He has led hundreds of client workshops on applying AI to legal work.
Gerrit is a recognized leader in the application of technology and AI within the legal sector. He was shortlisted as Most Innovative Change Maker at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2021, won the European Legal Awards 2024 in the category Artificial Intelligence and was one of...
- Advising DWS on the acquisition of the majority stake in the shopping centres 'Loop5' in Weiterstadt near Frankfurt and 'K in Lautern' in Kaiserslautern, 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, Spreeliebe, OstStern
- Advising DWS on the sale of the Polarlicht Portfolio to Net Zero Properties and on the sale of the "Theo 10" office and commercial building in Stuttgart to LBBW Real Estate Group
- Advising TPG Real Estate on the acquisition of a healthcare asset portfolio (around 30 assets in Germany and the Netherlands) for approx. EUR 400 million from Canada's Northwest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust
- 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 Henderson Park Capital Partners UK LLP on the acquisition of all shares in two German limited liability companies (GmbHs) holding parts of the ‘Schützenquartier’ in Berlin from Caleus
- 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 Meyer Neptun on the conclusion of a commercial lease agreement with the Institute for Federal Real Estate (BImA) and the German Ministry of Defence for a naval shipyard in Rostock through the "NEPTUN SMULDERS Offshore Renewables" joint venture
- 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 Patrizia on the acquisition of a residential real estate project in Hamburg’s HafenCity, its development, and subsequent sale to Quantum via a bidding process
- Advising Aurelis Real Estate on the sale of a residential project development in Freiburg to Aachener Grundvermögen via a forward deal and further project development
- Advising RTL Deutschland on the lease for their headquarter in Hamburg
- Advising Sidra Capital on a programmatic joint venture with Garbe Group in relation to light industrials with a focus on sale-and-lease-back situations
- Advising 3M on the spin-off of its healthcare division, meanwhile listed on the NYSE under the name Solventum; the transaction involved the legal separation and reorganization of the healthcare business in over 90 jurisdictions
- Advising DHL Group on the hive-down of the Post & Parcel Germany division into a separate stock corporation (now Deutsche Post AG) and the transfer of the associated real estate portfolio
Gerrit M. Beckhaus
Hohe Bleichen 7
Hamburg 20354
Potsdamer Platz 1
Berlin 10785