Propel by MIPIM Diaries

After years of online conferences and meetings, attending virtual events, and participating in remote discussions and conversations, LMRE was thrilled to be back in person for the Propel by MIPIM event in New York, in partnership with Metaprop. Our US team had the pleasure to meet, hear from and catch up with some of the leading players in the Real Estate and Technology industry.  

So, what are some of the key insights that the team has taken away from the event?  

On day one the LMRE team attended a discussion by Stefan Martinovic, Placer.ai‘s VP of Data Partnerships, to hear how they set themselves apart from other tech companies in the industry.

Here are a few of the different points discussed that their technology showcases: 

• Foot traffic Estimates: they can customize their technology’s data specifically to end users. This includes extremely accurate extrapolated foot traffic estimates not only helping with health and wellness but giving an accurate snapshot of occupancy and how many people are in the space at a time. 
• Historical Data: their clients can go back four years for any venue in the US and see all of the historical data. This provides invaluable insights over a long period of time. 
• Ease of use: their interface is crafted to be entirely customizable and provide actionable insights into human mobility. This allows for quick and powerful analyses that are produced in the shortest time possible.

All in all, Stefan did a wonderful job of explaining the product and its value. Their technology is continuing to be a front-runner in the space and its uniqueness provides high value for high-stakes decisions. It was a great discussion, and wonderful to meet the team! 

The team also heard Nick Romito, CEO of VTS and Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR discuss different actionable points and what they are seeing in the market.  

Here are some of the main points we took away from their conversation: 

• COVID accelerated trends that were beginning to emerge in the office and work model. Overnight, booming office epicentres were shut down and things came to a standstill. This provided lots of insight into what changes needed to happen; how to make the office space safe again for tenants (health and wellness), but also how to continue engagement in these office spaces (tenant experience and amenities). 
• With people returning to the office post-COVID, there is a shift toward maintaining tenant relationships. Spaces need to be activated and offices need to be energizing and engaging, steering away from the office as just a ‘building’ and toward it becoming more of a ‘community’ for office goers. This can be done with programming, amenities, and architecture. Statistics have shown this is not a nice to have but a must-have. So how can this be done easily? Of course, by digital transformation. RXR over the past few years is partnering with innovative technologies to enhance their offerings, including VTS joining them with a partnership. 
• What advice can be given to technology offerings in the space for 2023? Do not try to boil the ocean. Pick small wins that engage end users, and once completed, then move onto more challenging issues. When large projects are implemented but not executed, they lose momentum. 

All in all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking conversation. We are excited to see how RXR provides innovative solutions to its asset classes and how VTS continues to expand.  

On day two the LMRE team attended a panel discussion centered around ‘Hybrid solutions and strategies to accelerate net zero goals’, with Ryan Baxter, PropTech Advisor at 5, Michael Daschle, Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Brookfield Properties, Mikal Lewis, Director of PropTech and Innovation at Nuveen, and Jennifer Place, Principal at Fifth Wall.  

Here are some key takeaways from the panel: 

• A shocking statistic is that 40% of global emissions come from real estate, which of course is a massive challenge to tackle. On top of that, other metric states that the number of capital that needs to be put into the RE industry to make an effective change is 18 trillion – so there is still a long way to go! 

• There are several ways to assist with change. Firstly, building buildings more sustainably, i.e with new innovative materials that have less of an impact. Think Carboncure, Carbonbuilt and View. Another way is to retrofit the current assets to be greener, as seen with Building Engines and Sungevity. The third are platforms that assist in collecting data and making buildings greener in the operating stack. This is seen with Measurabl, and Deepki. 

Another interesting part of the discussion was learning about the new ways that the government is supporting ESG initiatives. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act has the potential to make a big dent in emissions in buildings, through millions of square feet of retrofits in commercial settings, heat pump installations, and state and local programs to improve energy efficiency, according to an analysis by RMI.  

Overall, while we have a long way to go with ESG, there is an immense amount of innovation and growth in this sector which is incredibly exciting!  

In summary, the Propel by MIPIM event this year was a huge success. Our team came away from the event with several new insights and learnings on the future of Real Estate, from sustainability and ESG initiatives to emerging technology trends to look out for.