CILON

What CILON does

CILON GmbH is a privately held, owner-managed German commercial real estate project developer headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, specializing in the acquisition, revitalization and repositioning of existing office, light industrial and logistics properties. Founded as a Mittelstand firm, the company targets underperforming, vacant or energetically outdated assets — including difficult locations, distressed buildings and sale-and-lease-back opportunities — and converts them into customized commercial spaces for enterprise tenants. As of early 2026, CILON reports 26 completed projects, approximately 200,000 m² of revitalization area, €450M in cumulative project volume and around 130 tenants across its portfolio, with a second office in Munich opened in 2022 to extend coverage into southern Germany.

The firm's core offering combines property acquisition, ESG-aware revitalization (including a proprietary CILON-Tracker tool that compares grey and operational emissions of renovation versus demolition), and bespoke fit-out for end users. Distribution is fully direct: CILON sources off-market deals through its published acquisition profile and bank-independent financing, and engages tenants one-on-one without intermediaries or marketplace listings. Revenue is generated through three mechanisms — value appreciation on revitalized assets, recurring rental income from leased commercial space, and transaction-level fees on sale-and-lease-back arrangements — with individual deals typically starting at €5M. The company has received industry recognition including the 2021 Immobilienmanager Award for the Sky Eschborn repositioning and has divested mature assets (e.g., Sky Eschborn to ABG Capital in 2022) while continuing an active acquisition pipeline into 2025.

The business model is best characterized as a hands-on, capital-intensive German revitalizer with no public AI/ML capabilities, no disclosed external funding rounds, and a leadership team anchored by Managing Director Dr. Philipp Feldmann with advisory support from Dr. Stephan Bone-Winkel and Dr. Ingo-Hans Holz. Customer relationships span enterprise tenants such as SPIE, Henry Schein and NMB Minebea in Neu-Isenburg, alongside smaller leasehold and nonprofit occupants, with sale-and-lease-back counterparties forming a secondary, transaction-driven segment.

Name

CILON

Legal name

CILON GmbH

Website

https://cilon.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CILON GmbH is a German owner-managed commercial real estate project developer that acquires, revitalizes and leases existing office, light industrial and logistics properties nationwide, serving enterprise tenants with customized space solutions and property owners through sale-and-lease-back transactions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Development and Revitalization

NAICS

Lessors of Real Estate (5311)

SIC

Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532), Real Estate (6500)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Real Estate Brokerage (Leasing & Sales) (FSAEAJAB)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate development
• Property revitalization services
• Sale-and-lease-back transactions
• Customized office space solutions
• Light industrial logistics properties

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfurt

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Property Development and Revitalization: CILON acquires existing commercial properties, revitalizes them, and either rents or sells the transformed spaces. Revenue is generated through the appreciation of property values during the transformation process and ongoing rental income from tenants.
2. Rental Income: Ongoing rental revenue from tenants occupying revitalized commercial spaces including offices, light industrial, and logistics facilities.
3. Sale-and-Lease-Back Services: Companies sell their owned properties to CILON and lease them back, providing capital for their core business while CILON takes ownership and management of the real estate.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CILON acquires under-managed, vacant or energy-deficient commercial properties across the office, light-industrial and logistics asset classes, revitalizes them to modern technical and energy standards, and either rents or resells the transformed spaces to enterprise tenants. The firm also structures sale-and-lease-back transactions that allow property owners to free up capital while continuing to occupy customized space, and supports these offerings with the proprietary CILON-Tracker ESG calculation tool.

Product overview

CILON ist ein mittelständischer, inhabergeführter Projektentwickler mit Schwerpunkt auf der Transformation und Revitalisierung von gewerblichen Bestandsimmobilien (Büro, Light Industrial) in Deutschland. Das Kernangebot umfasst den Ankauf unterentwickelter oder sanierungsbedürftiger Objekte, deren Revitalisierung sowie die Vermietung an gewerbliche Nutzer. Als ergänzende Dienstleistung bietet CILON Sale-and-lease-back-Transaktionen an, bei denen Unternehmen ihre Immobilie verkaufen und zurückmieten. Die Vermietung erfolgt auf Basis individueller Flächenlösungen, die Funktion, Innovation, Design und ein ganzheitliches Konzept vereinen. Zur Unterstützung der Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung wurde der CILON-Tracker entwickelt, ein Tool zur Berechnung grauer Emissionen bei Bestandssanierungen.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Property Development and Revitalization (Projektentwicklung und Transformation von Bestandsimmobilien) End-to-end acquisition, revitalization and repositioning of existing commercial properties (office, light industrial, logistics) in Germany. CILON targets under-managed, vacant or energy-deficient assets, transforms them to modern technical and energy standards, and prepares them for rental or resale to enterprise users.
• Sale-and-Lease-Back Transactions Structured transaction in which CILON acquires commercial property from a corporate owner and simultaneously leases it back (fully or partially), allowing the seller to unlock capital tied up in real estate while continuing to occupy optimized space under a bespoke lease. Available for transactions starting from approximately 5 million EUR.
• Customized Commercial Space Solutions (Maßgeschneiderte Flächenlösungen)

Quantifiable outcome

• 975,000 kg CO2 saved through preservation of existing building stock (Groß-Gerau project) - equivalent to approximately 90 years of operational emissions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• ULI Germany / Austria / SwitzerlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCILON is a member of the Urban Land Institute Germany/Austria/Switzerland, participating in industry discussions and contributing to urban development knowledge exchange.
• IREBS CoreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IREBS Core real estate education platform, contributing knowledge and expertise to professional development programs.
• IREBS Universität RegensburgminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership supporting real estate education and research at IREBS University of Regensburg.
• African Real EstateminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with African Real Estate organization, contributing to international real estate development knowledge sharing.
• Freunde des Palmengartens e.V.minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity sponsorship and engagement with the Friends of Palmengarten society in Frankfurt, supporting local cultural and environmental initiatives.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Quant Real Estate: Cologne-based mid-sized German project developer for office, mixed-use and light-industrial repositioning with nationwide acquisition strategy — closely comparable in scale and approach to CILON.
• Art-Invest Real Estate: Cologne-based owner, developer and asset manager of commercial real estate across Germany with a value-add and revitalization emphasis across office, retail and logistics — directly comparable to CILON's German CRE transformation model.
• BEOS (Swiss Life Asset Managers): Berlin-based German developer and investor specialized in light-industrial and logistics real estate repositioning — directly comparable to CILON's office-to-light-industrial asset class focus.
• Becken Group: Hamburg/Berlin-based German commercial real estate developer focused on office, retail and mixed-use repositioning with own-project development and ongoing asset management — directly aligned with CILON's redevelopment-and-lease model.
• DIC Asset AG: Frankfurt-listed German commercial real estate owner-operator with significant office exposure and active acquisition/asset management programs, providing a comparable German office-to-light-industrial investment platform.
• WPI Investment Real Estate: Mid-sized German owner-developer of commercial real estate focused on value-add office and mixed-use assets in metropolitan areas — comparable scale and repositioning focus to CILON.
• alstria office REIT-AG: Hamburg-based REIT focused on German office properties, with active portfolio repositioning and tenant relationships — operationally comparable to CILON's office revitalization and leasing activities.
• ABG Capital: German real estate owner/developer that acquired CILON's Sky Eschborn asset in 2022, operating in the same office repositioning and German mid-market segment — overlapping focus and geography.
• KW Development AG: Frankfurt-based German project developer focused on commercial real estate revitalization and bespoke tenant-fit projects — directly comparable to CILON on geography, scale and service offering.

Broad incumbents

• Patrizia SE: Large German/Augsburg-based real estate investment manager with pan-European investment, development and asset management capabilities — broader incumbent operating in the same German commercial real estate space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CILON