Blacklake Management Partner

What Blacklake Management Partner does

Blacklake Management Partner (legal entity: BLACKLAKE Management Partners GmbH) is a boutique management consulting firm headquartered in Hamburg with a secondary office near Munich, founded in September 2022 and operationally active from October 1, 2022. The firm was established by five Managing Partners — Dr. Johannes Conradi FRICS, Karin Groß MRICS, Martin Rodeck, Christian Schulz-Wulkow FRICS, and Dr. Hans Volkert Volckens — each bringing 25–30 years of executive-level experience across real estate law, institutional investment, project development, restructuring, and corporate leadership from prior roles at Freshfields, Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe, EDGE Germany, EY Real Estate, and KPMG respectively. Its services span strategic management consultancy, restructuring and repositioning, M&A and transaction advisory, project development and portfolio optimization, risk and portfolio management, and the takeover of board functions (supervisory, advisory, and interim management roles) for clients across the German real estate value chain.

The firm serves institutional investors, family offices, project developers, property holders, financial institutions, and public-sector entities, addressing multidimensional transformation pressures including ESG, sustainability regulations, digital disruption, demographic shifts, and capital-market uncertainty. Service delivery is entirely partner-led and relationship-driven, leveraging the founders' leadership positions in ZIA, ICG, ULI, and academic institutions, with no proprietary technology platform, software product, or API surface. The firm has expanded its offering through two wholly-owned subsidiaries: BLACKLAKE Restructuring (the first specialized subsidiary) and BLACKLAKE digital (founded February 2024, led by Dr. Alexander Hellmuth) which extends advisory into digital transformation consulting for real estate clients.

The business model is classic professional services: project-based consulting fees and retainers, custom-quoted per engagement, with no published rate cards. The go-to-market is sales-led and community-led, relying on partner networks, thought leadership in industry publications, and association leadership rather than digital marketing or indirect channels. All revenue flows through direct partner engagement with C-suite and board-level decision-makers, with engagements varying in length and complexity. The firm is privately held by its founding partners, with no external institutional investment, no parent company, and no subsidiaries beyond the two noted above. It won the Real Estate Brand Award 2024 as the fastest-growing brand in the real estate consulting segment just two years after founding.

Name

Blacklake Management Partner

Legal name

BLACKLAKE Management Partners GmbH

Website

https://blacklake-partner.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Blacklake Management Partner is a German boutique management consulting firm founded in 2022 by five senior real estate executives, offering advisory services in strategy, restructuring, M&A, project development, portfolio management, and board mandates for institutional investors, developers, banks, and public-sector entities across the German real estate value chain.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Management Buyouts (MBO/MBI) & Sponsor-Led Transactions Advisory (FSAEAGAI)

Keywords

• Real estate consulting
• Management advisory services
• Transaction advisory
• Portfolio management consulting
• Restructuring advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Strategic and Management Consulting: Professional consulting fees for advisory services in strategy, transformation, restructuring, financing, project development, transaction advisory, and real estate management. Services are delivered through project-based engagements where partners act as personal advisors to client management and supervisory boards. Revenue is generated through professional service fees, typically billed on a project or retainer basis.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blacklake Management Partner is a boutique management consulting firm founded in 2022 that provides strategic, management, transaction, and financing advisory services to companies, investors, and public entities in the German real estate industry. The firm acts as a personal advisor to senior management and supervisory bodies across the entire real estate value chain, with five founding partners each bringing 25+ years of executive-level industry experience. Services are delivered through project-based consulting mandates and supported by specialized subsidiaries for restructuring (BLACKLAKE Restructuring) and digital transformation (BLACKLAKE digital).

Product overview

Blacklake Management Partner is a real estate-focused management consultancy that offers a comprehensive suite of advisory services through its core consulting offerings and specialized subsidiaries. The core services include Strategic Management Consultancy (Strategie und operative Exzellenz), RE Positioning and Restructuring, M&A and Transaction Advisory, Real Estate Optimization and Property Development, Risk- and Portfolio Advisory, and Takeover of Board Functions. These services are complemented by specialized subsidiaries: BLACKLAKE Restructuring (the first specialized subsidiary focused on restructuring) and BLACKLAKE digital (the second subsidiary launched in 2024, focused on digital transformation and Digital Real Estate consulting). The company acts as executive-level partners for senior management teams during critical and challenging times, providing advisory, supervisory board roles, or temporary management positions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Management Consultancy (Strategie und operative Exzellenz) Advisory services for market and competitive analysis, corporate analysis, business opportunity and risk identification, strategic goal derivation, and support for strategy implementation including restructuring management and stakeholder communication. Targeted at senior management of real estate companies.
• Restructuring and Repositioning (RE Positioning and RE Structuring) Advisory services for companies in the real estate industry to recognize repositioning and restructuring needs and implement value-conserving and target-driven measures including owner representation, PMO organization, and restructuring-related M&A activities.
• M&A and Transaction Advisory Advisory services for buyers and sellers in the preparation, execution, and completion of real estate or company transaction processes, securing economic interests based on long-term experience.
• Real Estate Optimization and Property Development (Projektentwicklung und Bestandsoptimierung) Advisory services for sustainable development strategies across city, quarter, portfolio, and building levels, including corporate real estate, building rights coordination, programming and product design, sustainability due diligence, and stakeholder management.
• Risk- and Portfolio Advisory (Risiko- und Portfoliomanagement) Advisory services for real estate investment strategy, risk management analyses and stress tests, portfolio and fund evaluation and optimization, second opinions on significant matters, structured selection of investment and asset managers, and digital transformation consulting.
• Takeover of Board Functions (Übernahme von Board-Funktionen) Support for real estate companies through supervisory board mandates, advisory board mandates, or positions on management boards, providing experienced partners for temporary executive roles.

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio transactions with volume of over 6 billion EUR (Karin Groß track record)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BLACKLAKE digitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 February 2024BLACKLAKE digital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BLACKLAKE Management Partner, founded on February 4, 2024, to provide specialized advisory services on digital transformation in the real estate industry. The subsidiary was launched with Dr. Alexander Hellmuth as Managing Director and Partner, bringing expertise in selecting, designing, and implementing innovative technologies in Real Estate Management. This represents the company's second specialized subsidiary following BLACKLAKE Restructuring.
• BeyondBuildminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Martin Rodeck serves as member of the advisory board of BeyondBuild, an investment company for digital business models and products in the real estate industry. BeyondBuild focuses on PropTech and ConTech investments. This relationship allows BLACKLAKE to stay connected with digital innovation and startups in the sector.
• EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht / Real Estate Management Institute (REMI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProf. Dr. Kerstin Hennig, BLACKLAKE's Senior Academic Advisor, was Director of the Real Estate Management Institute (REMI) at EBS Universität until October 2023. BLACKLAKE maintains an academic partnership through this connection, enabling collaboration on research and providing access to academic insights for client engagements. Since November 2023, Prof. Hennig leads the Real Estate Institute at Frankfurt School of Finance.
• ICG Institut für Corporate Governance in der deutschen ImmobilienwirtschaftminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBLACKLAKE partners collaborate with ICG on research initiatives including studies on Social Impact Investing. Dr. Johannes Conradi serves as Vice Chairman of ICG. The partnership involves joint research and thought leadership on corporate governance topics in German real estate.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BNP Paribas Real Estate Germany: Bank-affiliated real estate advisor with deep German presence covering investment, valuation, financing advisory, and transactions — direct competitor for advisory work with financial institutions and institutional investors.
• Colliers Germany: International real estate advisory and investment firm with strong German presence in investment, M&A, project advisory, and restructuring — directly overlaps Blacklake's transaction, M&A, and restructuring practices with comparable client segments.
• Savills Germany: UK-headquartered global real estate advisor with German offices providing investment, capital markets, and strategic advisory — competes for the same institutional investor, fund, and family-office mandates.
• Drees & Sommer SE: German-headquartered real estate consulting and engineering firm providing strategy, project development, restructuring, and sustainability advisory across the full real-estate value chain — same client base (developers, investors, public sector) and similar senior-advisory positioning in Germany.
• Knight Frank Germany: International real estate consultancy active in Germany offering capital markets, investment advisory, and project consultancy — comparable boutique-to-mid-tier positioning to Blacklake for senior advisory mandates.

Broad incumbents

• JLL Germany (Jones Lang LaSalle): Global real estate services firm with a large German advisory practice covering capital markets, M&A, valuation, and strategic consulting — directly competes with Blacklake on senior-level transaction and portfolio mandates but at much larger scale and broader service breadth.
• CBRE Germany: World's largest commercial real estate services firm with full advisory, transaction, and consulting capabilities in Germany — competes for the same developer, investor, and corporate real estate mandates Blacklake targets.
• Cushman & Wakefield Germany: Global real estate services firm with capital markets, valuation, and strategic advisory offerings in Germany; competes for institutional investor and developer advisory mandates with significantly larger delivery teams.
• EY Germany (Real Estate practice): Big Four firm with a substantial German real estate advisory and transactions practice — competes for M&A, transaction, and restructuring advisory mandates, and is the former employer of multiple Blacklake partners (Schulz-Wulkow, Hellmuth).
• KPMG Germany (Real Estate practice): Big Four firm with large German real estate advisory and restructuring practice; competes for the same advisory, restructuring, and transaction mandates, leveraging significantly broader resources and global reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blacklake-management-partner

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Blacklake Management Partner