Public Real Estate

Public real estate is a necessary part of social life. It concerns office buildings, schools, infrastructure (bridges, tunnels, etc.), hospitals, social housing, buildings and grounds for sport or culture and so much more. However, every public property project is different so that various structures and legal concepts are used: purchase-sale, rent, building and leasehold, expropriation, PPP, the traditional public procurement contract or concession.

Moreover, according to the Court of Justice, the choice between one or the other legal concept is not always free. Wrong estimates can lead to a legal blocking of the project. For example, there is a risk that the Council of State would suspend the lease for a building that is yet to be erected due to the non-application of the public procurement legislation. A correct assessment of the designated structure of a public real estate project is therefore essential. Tender Law can therefore rely on extensive experience with public property transactions at every level of government.

Tender Law’s expertise in public real estate includes:

• Assistance with the possible qualification of the project as a public contract (or the qualification as “work”, “service”, etc.)
• Assistance with the designated property law structure (ground lease, building, etc.), incl. assistance with the drafting of deeds
• Assistance with transparency obligations in the context of public real estate transactions in the light of European law and the relevant case law
• Impact of possible legal violations on the validity of the public real estate transaction and on the legal position of the contracting parties
• Assistance in negotiations regarding the public real estate transaction
• Judicial assistance
• …