Lutz Hülsdunk advises institutional clients and successful entrepreneurs in respect of complex real estate transactions and strategic projects as well as generally on the digitalization of legal services.

Having gained vast experience at two leading international law firms, Lutz has advised on some of the most complex and value-generating real estate transactions in the German market. Lutz has particular expertise in advising sophisticated corporate real estate clients (including headquarter lettings) and opportunistic investors (including in the distressed asset sector). His representations exceed an aggregate transaction volume of € 4 billion. Over the years, he has represented blue chip clients like Blackstone, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Hansteen Holdings, LaSalle Investment Managers, Morgan Stanley, Savills Investment Management, Signature Capital and Union Investment.

Lutz has special knowledge and substantial experience in the areas of software development and technology-based delivery of legal services. He himself has founded several startups and personally developed legal software, including a database solution that was „highly commended“ by the Financial Times for reinventing „the due diligence process … through the design of smart systems.“

Lutz is a partner of Leo Schmidt-Hollburg Witte & Frank.

Languages: German, English

Recommendations: JUVE-Handbuch: „high professionalism, intelligent, strategically thinking“, „strong negotiator and achiev-er, always responsive, very practical advice“. Legal 500 Deutschland: „strong negotiator, service-oriented“, „key player“, „expertise in distressed as-sets and foreclosure proceedings“. Chambers & Partner:Noted practitioner. FT Innovative Lawyer Report: „Highly commended.“

Vita: Born: 1971, studies and legal clerkship in Hamburg. Doctorate at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster under Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoeren. trainee stages with, inter alia, Löhde Leo Schmidt-Hollburg & Witte. Associate at Allen & Overy (2001-2005), JONES DAY (2005-2016, most recently as partner and head of the German real estate practice) and JURICITY Rechtsanwälte (2017-2020, as founding partner) and Leo Schmidt-Hollburg Witte & Frank (since 2020 as partner and head of the Frankfurt office). See also the profile on LinkedIn.

Selected Publications: Old Indexation Clause – New Legal Issues (Alte Wertsicherungsklausel – Neue Rechtsprobleme), ZfIR 2007, p. 337-342 (co-author); LoI, MoU, bidding procedure and then? – Pre-contractual arrangements and liability in connection with formal agreements, ZfIR 2009, pp 456-461 (co-author); Comment on the Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, dated 2 March 2006 (2 BvR 2099/04), concerning the scope and applicability of the constitutional right to the secrecy of telecommunications, EWiR 2006 p. 305: Out-sourcing in the insurance and health care sector with-out consent of the data subject? co-author, MMR 2004, p. 788-792 (co-author); Virtual Private Net-works – Selected Issues under Telecommunication and Contract Laws with a Special Focus on the New Legal Framework for Electronic Communication Net-works and Services, Ph.D. thesis Münster 2005; Integrated advice for convergent technologies, ZfR 2004, p. 70; Service components and contractual relation-ships of commercial music download platforms on the Internet, MMR 2004, p. 59-66 (co-author); Comment on the Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany dated 15 July 2003 (2 BvF 6/98), EWiR 2003 p. 1053 (co-author); Comment on the Decision of the Federal Supreme Court of Germany, dated 24 October 2002 (BGH I ZR 100/00 „discount prefix“), EWiR 2003, p. 389 (co-author); Designing Distance Selling Platforms under the new German legislation on E-Commerce, MMR 2002, p. 414-419 and p. 516-520 (co-author).

Member: European Legal Tech Association (ELTA)

Selected Matters:

Since 2008, Lutz advises Union Asset Management Holding AG and various subsidiaries of the Union Investment group in relation to real estate matters, including

• leasing and moving into the MainTor Porta in Frankfurt am Main
• moving out of an existing property at the Wiesenhütenplatz in Frankfurt am Main
• leasing of large parts of the WINX skyscraper in Frankfurt am Main
• nearly complete leasing of the property located at Neue Mainzer Straße 14-18 in Frankfurt am Main
• leasing advice in relation to the Union Investment skyscraper located at Wiesenhüttenstraße 10 in Frankfurt am Main as well as advice in relation to the sale of this building from DZ Bank to DIC Asset AG
• sale of the property located at Westendstraße 1 in Frankfurt am Main to DZ Bank
• proprietary use of the EMPORIO Tower in Hamburg by Union Investment Real Estate GmbH

Since 2008, Lutz is advising a leading European bank in landlord and tenant matters, including

• Leasing of the yet to be built new German headquarter in Frankfurt am Main
• leasing and moving into the new German headquarter located at Frankfurt am Main, Europa-Allee
• moving out of the Westend Carree in Frankfurt am Main
• leasing and optimizing of lease terms throughout Germany, e.g. in Hamburg, Hanover, Berlin, Bremen, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Cologne

For more than a decade, Lutz has advised the listed UK REIT Hansteen Holdings plc in relation to all of its real estate acquisitions in Germany (more than 100 assets with a total value of more than one billion Euros). In this period of time, Lutz has, inter alia, advised on the real estate aspects of various complex financings and assisted with the creation of Hansteen’s overall asset management platform in Germany (including the implementation of a digital platform for collaboration between property and asset managers as well as the set-up of a legal department). In the year 2017, Lutz was involved in the sale of the complete Hansteen portfolio to a joint-venture of Blackstone and M7, acting in a non-legal capacity as a board-level consultant.

Lutz has advised Signature Capital in connection with various key real estate transactions, including the following:

• Acquisition of the Neumarkt Galerie shopping centre in Cologne out of insolvency, subsequent redevelopment and sale to Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH with a total transaction volume of app. EUR 450 m
• Acquisition of a portfolio of landmark protected former Deutsche Post properties in Berlin and subsequent sale of the property companies with simultaneous closing of the asset and share deal (transaction volume is confidential)
• Acquisition of the Nibelungen-Center in Passau, Germany, at a statutory auction for EUR 21.5 m

Lutz was one of the key lawyers who advised real estate funds managed by The Blackstone Group in connection with their acquisition of a pan-European real estate portfolio comprising twelve properties with approximately 168,700 sqm (approx. 1.8 m square feet) of office, retail, and logistics space located in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.