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Aug 12
2009
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Hacking Commercial Real EstatePosted by: Gunnar Branson |
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Even after the credit markets come back, commercial real estate will be engaged in some exciting and fundamental transformation. A comment left on my real estate blog at The Real Corner elicited two interesting questions from Mark Waligora of Pinetree Commercial. He asked,
"What are the trends that we can anticipate and take advantage of as stakeholders (principals, brokers, lenders, tenants) during this transformative cycle? Where are the hackers in our industry?"
As I attempted to answer the questions, I decided to focus on two key trends that help me to understand what is happening and what may happen in the future. There are, of course, many macro trends affecting this sector; demographic trends, changes in technology, economic growth, debt and equity, legal structures and a new regulatory environment are all very important. But I believe that these two sometimes overlooked trends have a tremendous amount of potential to transform commercial real estate. They are:
- Office and Retail need less space per person.
- Sustainability and Energy Use issues will not go away.