Immobilien: Das Ende der Verschwiegenheit: Das Family-Office hinter Paulaner öffnet sich für Fremde

Family-Offices are known for their discretion and secrecy. Those managing the wealth of rich families rarely talk about their assets, strategies, and returns. Among the few exceptions is the Bayerische Hausbau Real Estate (BHRE), a Family-Office that now manages real estate for external clients. The Family-Office of the Munich Schörghuber Group, which includes Paulaner, started managing assets for two external clients this year, bringing the managed real estate volume to over four billion euros.

It grew by 600 million euros this year. BHRE CEO Marcel Wnendt said at the Handelsblatt, "We are already looking at bringing in more new clients of this size." The foundation for this is strong: The own portfolio of the 1954-founded BHRE is worth around 3.5 billion euros and includes apartments, offices, retail, gastronomy, and hotels.

The business with externals supplements the core. "We are not only managing the real estate wealth of the Schörghuber family, but we also want to offer these services to other Family-Offices," says Wnendt. This idea is not alone. At the beginning of October, Germany's largest real estate group Vonovia presented its new service offering for institutional owners and investors under the name Veveus.

CEO Luka Mucic explained the step by saying, "We are creating the basis for long-term growth outside of the classic leasing business." What BHRE wants to make more out of its real estate can be seen in five points: Flex Office instead of Long-term Lease. Under the motto "Beyond Bricks," the BHRE changes its business. It moves away from merely owning and leasing buildings, towards operating them.

Owning a property and renting it out for as long as possible was long considered the ideal in the industry. BHRE is changing this. In Munich's shopping area "Kaufinger Straße," the Family-Office opened its first Flex Office under the name "LEVL" a few days ago. It is fully equipped offices that companies can rent for short periods.

With the new strategy, the BHRE aims to increase asset productivity, thus making more profit from every square meter. The approach shifts the risk from the tangible to the entrepreneurial. Especially new office models like Flex Offices or Co-Working Spaces bring their operators significantly higher revenues compared to what the owner earns when leasing the spaces to the operator.

With the new concept, BHRE becomes the provider of fully equipped office spaces. The trend comes from abroad and is new to Germany. Flex-Office spaces are typically attractive for young companies due to the shorter lease models. Additionally, BHRE offers services ranging from laundry to recruiting, IT support, and accounting. "We want to take administrative tasks away from our tenants so they can focus on their core business," summarizes Wnendt.

Why administration is so costly The "Manage the Base" building block sets the management of the portfolio. Traditionally, the asset manager provides the strategy as an investor or owner, while the property manager executes it as a financial manager, in terms of leasing, tenant care, management, budget, and reporting. At the end of the chain, the facility manager takes care of the technical operation and infrastructure.

"Leasing and owning buildings" was the common belief in the industry. BHRE is changing this. In Munich's shopping area "Kaufinger Straße," BHRE opened its first Flex Office under the name "LEVL" a few days ago. It is fully equipped offices that companies can rent for short periods. With the new strategy, BHRE aims to increase asset productivity, thus making more profit from every square meter. The approach shifts the risk from the tangible to the entrepreneurial.