Electric vehicles are heading towards real estate at speed and scale. With up to 300 million EVs on the roads by 2030, new business models are beginning to emerge. But for all the opportunities, there are also plenty of obstacles. Yardi’s Bernie Devine and ESR’s Dr. Michael De Jong-Douglas recently sat down to explore the possibilities. Dr. De Jong-Douglas, ESR’s Group Head of Customer Solutions & Partnerships, was the special guest on Yardi’s Proptech Insights, hosted by Bernie Devine, Senior Regional Director at Yardi. The International Energy Agency predicts that the number of electric vehicles on the roads – cars, vans, trucks, and buses – could reach 300 million by 2030. Last year electric car sales took off, surpassing the 6.6 million mark despite supply chain bottlenecks and the ongoing challenges of Covid-19. This took the total number of electric cars on the road to 16.5 million. The passenger vehicle market may be driving towards electrification at a rapid rate, but logistics vehicles – especially trucks travelling longer distances – are an entirely different proposition, the pair noted. But many of the world’s largest logistics companies have made commitments to electrify their fleets. Dr. De Jong-Douglas pointed to several 2030 commitments – DHL’s 60% global EV target, DB Schenker’s “emissions free” European footprint, Amazon’s plan for 10,000 EV vans in Europe and Unilever’s switch to EVs to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 40-50% among them. Meanwhile, nascent, regional logistics players across Asia Pacific have begun EV initiatives in various markets. These include Linfox, Coupang, Sagawa, Maersk, and JD.com. As Dr. De Jong-Douglas suggested, these illustrate “very real examples of companies in our own backyard doing pilot projects and making very strong public commitments to switch to EVs.” While the market is on the move, there are clear challenges ahead. For example, the issue of range anxiety is easier to overcome in denser urban environments than in geographically dispersed economies like Australia, Devine noted. The uptake of EVs also varies across the region depending on the combination of “carrots” – incentives and subsidies – and “sticks” of regulation. For real estate companies, a “chicken-and-egg” scenario has emerged. How do they decide when, and to what extent, to provide EV charging facilities in their sites, for both passenger cars and delivery trucks? The challenge for asset owners is to roll out charging technology for customers today without getting “caught in one model” that compromises the opportunities tomorrow, Dr. De Jong-Douglas noted. Certainly, the “interconnectivity” of energy efficient buildings, renewable energy and EV charging were emerging as a “combined package” for any customer focused on ESG and “circular” solutions. But are fast, reliable charging stations the best solution? Or, Devine asked, could battery swaps become a thing? Are there other technologies ahead on the horizon? Conveniently located charging stations that allow vehicles to ‘top up’ their charge many times throughout the day make sense for smaller delivery vehicles, the pair agreed. Shell has already begun reimagining its fuelling stations as “energy hubs” with the provision of coffee, snacks and communal areas to provide pleasant places for customers to relax while their EVs recharge. ESR is in conversations with its customers “every single day.”, Dr. De Jong-Douglas added, “and our customers are saying to us: We are doing pilot projects, so get ready.” Check out the latest episode of Yardi’s Proptech Insights series or register for our next...

Earlier this year, Yardi began a new initiative in the UK called Yardi RISE. Fay Chester, regional director, and Amber Crighton, event planner, wanted to create a new event for women at Yardi to network, inspire and empower each other. The event focuses on four pillars: R – RecogniseDiscussing things that affect women in the workplace, such as health (e.g., menopause, pregnancy and more). I – InspireCelebrating each other’s successes and learning from one another as tech is still a male-dominated industry. These events can help inspire people who are new in their careers and want to work their way up the ladder. S – ShowcaseWhat opportunities are there that women can get involved with, e.g., events, speaking panels, mentoring opportunities etc. E – EmpowerSupporting, encouraging and challenging ourselves and one another, whilst being able to talk freely in a non-judgmental space. For the first event, we hosted one session in London and one in our UK head office in Milton Keynes with guest speakers, Hannah Marsh, co-founder of HomeViews and Margaret Sweeney, executive director and chief executive officer for IRES REIT. These first sessions focused on careers and we began the session by introducing ourselves, our role at Yardi and who inspires us. Our guest speakers then presented and gave advice on how they became successful women in real estate. Hannah Marsh went first and opened up by stating, “I had no idea what to do with my career once I graduated and now, I’m a co-founder at HomeViews and an entrepreneur. Honestly, I still don’t know what to do with my career but I don’t think it matters. I don’t know what the next 20 years are going to offer me, but you need to take ownership of your career and not wait for something to happen. Make decisions for yourself and not what people believe is the right career for you as they will always put a label on you.” Marsh gave eight tips for women in real estate – Put yourself forward and compete – make sure you have a voice and put yourself out there Be credible – do your research before a meeting but remember it’s okay to learn as you go Be visible – put your hand up and get yourself seen Relationships matter – people will want to do business with you when they like you Don’t assume you’re being treated fairly – ask questions and don’t be afraid to challenge When you no longer get nervous, it might be time to move on – if you’re not excited about what you’re working on or get a buzz from a project, you need to start asking for more Trust your voice and instincts As you manage and lead, give your team the opportunities to shine Marsh showed us how it doesn’t matter if you’re unsure of where you want your career to go, but make sure you do something that makes you passionate and inspires you. Don’t be afraid to have your voice heard and it’s the relationships you make along the way that help you grow and allow you to nurture your teams as you start to lead. Margaret Sweeney opened her session by expressing that her first ambition in life was to be a teacher, however, she pivoted into a BCOMM degree to give herself more options in her career. She always believed it was better to choose something that would allow her to have options, but nowadays thanks to technology there are more jobs available which makes the world of real estate more exciting. Sweeney’s advice to the group were the 6 C’s – Confidence – having self-assurance – be confident in yourself and try not to overanalyse everything. Only analyse why you should get the job, not why you shouldn’t get it. Communication – Always use your voice. Organisations and companies are structured around organisation models that...

Three things are holding back the world’s commercial real estate sector, says Kylie Davis, president of Proptech Association Australia. “Our commitment to Excel spreadsheets and filing cabinets and whiteboards,” are roadblocks to a real estate revolution. And this “very inefficient and expensive” commitment is holding real estate companies back from squeezing more value from assets and creating better experiences for customers. Davis, a serial entrepreneur and futurist who advises several proptech start-ups, recently sat down with Bernie Devine, Yardi senior regional director of APAC, for a chat. Property technology – or proptech for short – has been growing at a “phenomenal” pace over the last two years, Kylie said. Proptech Association Australia has identified 18 separate transactions worth at least AUD$274 million since late 2019 alone, as some of the nation’s largest landlords and most influential media companies accelerate their investment in technology. Proptech may attract the headlines, but scratch below the surface and “really it’s about getting the industry to change,” Devine added. Real estate is certainly resistant to change. Nearly half of Australian real estate companies still use spreadsheets for valuation reporting, budgeting and projections and 52 percent depend on spreadsheets to undertake benchmarking and performance analysis, according to the latest Yardi/Property Council of Australia Proptech Survey. Why is an industry committed to efficiency and asset optimisation holding on, so stubbornly, to spreadsheets? Change can be “painful and scary,” Davis observed. The long development and sales cycle in the commercial real estate sector can be a “real killer of innovation.” Fear of failure plays a part, Devine added. “It’s also a question of what to do first.” But Covid acted as a catalyst for widespread technology adoption, and “convinced the unconvinced”, Davis said. She is excited about the potential for the commercial sector to convert “analog assets” –everything from lights and air-conditioning – into “data streams that can be interrogated.” Davis pointed to several inspiring examples. AI Assets recently tagged more than two million assets in 1,500 Australian buildings in less than a year – 80 per cent faster than with the traditional pen and clipboard method and with a fraction of the people. Exergenics, uses big data, AI and algorithms to optimise HVAC systems, extracting “two or three per cent” more efficiency from every unit. This translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings over the life of a building, not to mention carbon emissions. The outcome will be smarter buildings, but more importantly, better experiences for the user. Proptech “promotes the idea of a building as a device,” Devine added. Where do real estate companies start when they are dipping their toes into the technology waters? Devine’s “rules of the road” start with some simple questions: Whose problem are you trying to solve? And who perceives the most value in solving that problem? “And then bring together the data and process to solve the problem,” Bernie concluded. Click here to watch the latest instalment in Yardi’s Proptech...

Should we be snapping up land in the metaverse? Splashing out on virtual real estate? Should we jump onto the next big thing for fear of missing out? Or should the real estate sector be more skeptical about technology? These were some of the questions Yardi’s Bernie Devine and JLL’s Jordan Kostelac explored in the latest instalment of the Yardi Proptech Insights series. As JLL’s director for proptech in the Asia Pacific, Kostelac is focused on turning one of the world’s biggest real estate agencies into a technology company that specialises in real estate. Kostelac’s job is to “separate the wheat from the chaff” to uncover the technological solutions that will improve efficiencies, enhance human experiences and create new value. Technology’s main goal is disintermediation or, as Kostelac says, “to get rid of the middleman.” But JLL has a 250-year history as an intermediary that strikes deals and supports operations, Devine noted. “To survive, agencies need to move to a substantially a tech-driven platform where the human touch that agencies bring is amplified, and delivered even better, even smoother and even faster.” But does that mean JLL will be building software to sell? Creating the software to support better internal processes? Or something else entirely? “All of the above – but none of them yet,” was Kostelac’s response. JLL is investing in core technologies to improve workflows and deliver efficiencies across the business. There is no replacing a good broker, the pair agreed, but technology does allow brokers to automate tedious parts of their job so they can focus on relationship building. JLL is “fighting over the trophy fish” of premium and A-grade leases. But these only represent a fraction of the market and in the hybrid world of work, “A-grade real estate isn’t the only real estate that will matter,” Kostelac said. Flexibility will drive demand for lower grade stock so businesses can distribute their networks and create authentic experiences. “It’s more than CBD concentration in the future.” A bigger market requires better access to data, Devine observed. The conversation turned to the metaverse and the challenge of separating overstatements and obfuscation from real estate reality. “The idea that buying virtual real estate now is like buying real estate in Manhattan 250 years ago is just crazy,” Kostelac laughed. But “FOMO – the fear of missing out – eats due diligence for breakfast.” The ’fake it until you make it’ mindset is embedded in Silicon Valley culture and “there has to be some science fiction otherwise there’s stagnation,” Kostelac added. But now the metaverse is emerging as the ‘next big thing,’ Devine noted. “Blockchain and smart contracts and virtual real estate… I’m still a bricks and mortar guy, because you can’t copy and paste Times Square ..The price of real estate is driven by scarcity. But virtual real estate has unlimited supply.” Kostelac pointed to Hong Kong and Sydney – where he and Devine were located – as two illustrations of why physical real estate has value. These cities boast two of the deepest harbours in the world. We can’t “program” 39 billion years of evolution into a metaverse. But in the metaverse, “assumed scarcity can simply be overwritten by a single line of code.” “We are looking at threats where they aren’t there. And opportunities where they aren’t as well,” Kostelac noted. But the stakes aren’t just economic – we have the looming existential threat of climate change as a reality check. What is the solution for a sector susceptible to chasing hype, Devine asked? “It’s very simple. Show me the evidence,” Kostelac concluded. Watch the latest instalment of Yardi’s Proptech Insights and register for our next session, with Proptech Association Australia’s founder Kylie Davis,...

New Zealand’s property industry has accelerated its investment in technology in response to Covid-19 and embraced new systems and processes at a faster rate than its Australian counterparts, according to a new report. Despite this, six in 10 respondents to a survey conducted by the Property Council of New Zealand and software company Yardi still depend on spreadsheets to assess the performance of their portfolios. The survey of a senior cohort from New Zealand’s property industry sets a data baseline for what is expected to be an annual investigation into attitudes and actions influencing property technology, or proptech. “Property is New Zealand’s largest industry, generating 15 per cent of our economic activity, nine per cent of jobs and contributing more than $41.2 billion to GDP,” says Property Council New Zealand Chief Executive, Leonie Freeman. “But until now, we’ve lacked access to information which sheds light on the market saturation and acceleration of the digital tools that drive value in this important industry.” Almost two thirds (64%) of survey respondents said technology would play a pivotal role in reshaping their real estate portfolios in the next three years. And 95 per cent said the disruption of Covid-19 had driven adoption of digital technology. More than two thirds (68%) are now using Cloud-based productivity suites, for instance. Eighty-six per cent of respondents thought New Zealand trailed the rest of the world for tech adoption – despite being further advanced than other markets in many areas. For example, 77 per cent of Kiwi property companies use specialist accounting and finance system, compared with 22 per cent of Australian companies. “Kiwis are always looking to work smarter, and being small, lean and agile means we can pivot quickly towards new ideas and innovations,” Freeman says. Yardi’s Senior Regional Director Bernie Devine agrees. “The Covid-19 pandemic has taught New Zealand’s property leaders to prepare for ongoing unpredictability with new systems and processes that simplify complexity and enable flexibility.” Survey respondents noted business process automation (41%), big data analytics (27%) and artificial intelligence (18%) as the three technologies most likely to be adopted over the next three years. “This survey gives property industry leaders a clear sense of where they stand and exposes areas for investment and focus,” Devine adds. “Property leaders have emerged from the crisis with a new understanding of the role of the technology and we can expect investment to grow dramatically in the next few years.” “This report sets a baseline which demonstrates New Zealand’s property industry is proactive and positive about technology and adoption. Technology is now at the core of every successful property business,” Freeman concludes. Download the Yardi / Property Council Proptech...

Over the last two years, the value equation in commercial real estate has continued to evolve. Four walls and functioning systems were once enough for tenants to sign long leases. Now experience is everything. Bricks-and-mortar is only as valuable as the experience it can deliver. This was one of the clear takeaways from the latest Yardi Proptech Insights webinar, hosted by Yardi APAC Regional Director Bernie Devine. In the sixth and final edition for 2021, Devine sat down with Chris Brooke for a chat. Brooke has spent more than 30 years looking at real estate from multiple angles. He led CBRE’s consulting across the Asia Pacific and in 2019 was the global President of RICS, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. An independent director of LINK REIT, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in Asia, Brooke is currently advising several property technology start-ups, including Proxy, which creates mobile-based identity technologies, and smart parking platform  Kerb. Commercial real estate was already heading down the innovation route on the technical side of buildings before Covid-19 upended the world, Brooke said. The pandemic has since forced a fundamental re-examination of commercial real estate. If work can be undertaken anywhere, what is the role of the office? Enter the experience era, where the office is the centre of collaboration and connection, teamwork and training, superior engagement and spontaneous exchange. But stepping up to support the experience era brings with it complexity and a range of big questions asked – and answered – during this proptech deep dive. How will proptech evolve in 2022? Proptech remains “highly fragmented,” but we can expect “consolidation, integration, aggregation” in the next 12 to 24 months, Brooke said. Why? Because landlords are no longer interested in fragmented single solutions. They know they need to build an ecosystem of engagement and experience for a diverse and dynamic list of stakeholders. As the commercial real estate sector grapples with how to consolidate all those individual great ideas into an integrated solution, the landlord and tenant must work together and collaborate effectively, Brooke noted. Who will take charge of the tenant experience? Where once commercial real estate was founded on a relationship between landlord and tenant, now landlords must also consider the needs of their tenants’ employees, customers and visitors to the building. “The spectrum of stakeholders has really expanded,” Brooke observed. Tenant customers are also exposed to multiple overlapping brands, Brooke added. The brand of the building itself is the obvious one. But there’s also the portfolio brand of large landlords, the agency brand of the property manager and the employment brand of large occupiers. “Whose experience do you want tenants to have?” Devine asked. “And what’s the value of making that decision?” Landlords are now tasked with integrating several brands into one tenant engagement app while respecting individuality and navigating data security, ownership and privacy. At the same time, such engagement platforms need to be integrated with employee experience initiatives being developed by major occupiers. How will we value tenant engagement? Bernie has watched the real estate industry’s level of investment in technology, as a percentage of revenue, “ever so slowly creep up.” But the market is still telling landlords to “do better.” Is it simply a matter of “show me the money?” It is difficult to apply traditional cost benefit analyses to weigh up the value of investment in tenant experience technology, Devine noted. “How do we measure the return on investment? Is it tenant satisfaction, stickiness or longer leases? Is it product differentiation? Did you get that outcome because of the app or was it another market influence?” How will tenant expectations evolve? Covid has driven a “flight to quality,” Brooke said, both in terms of physical buildings and the service offering and amenities provided by landlords. In the quest for quality, tenant experience apps are becoming “table stakes” for large owners. The challenge? To...

These days it might be easy, perhaps even understandable, for those in commercial real estate to downplay the relationship of tenant interaction to asset performance. After all, the COVID-19 pandemic has largely evicted workers from their offices while retail continues to endure e-commerce’s expanding presence. But property owners shouldn’t lose sight of how important ongoing communication between owners and their tenants is for attracting prospects, retaining tenants and operating efficiently. Erin Wicomb of San Diego real estate investor Mavrik Investing has noted that “customer retention is often an underestimated factor in real estate success and not given nearly enough attention. Plenty of effort is spent finding and marketing to new tenants, but investors and landlords often neglect to take care of existing customers and make them happy.” Focusing on the residential market, the U.S. National Multifamily Housing Council noted in a 2018 report titled Disruption: How Demographics, Psychographics and Technology Are Bringing Multifamily to the Brink of a Design Revolution that “tomorrow’s renters’ needs and wants are shaping up to be so very different in any number of ways that the industry must begin thinking about how to adapt or risk facing a disconnect with their future customers.” In a similar vein, a commercial property leasing guide published by Colliers International declared that “the number one reason that an owner’s relationship with his or tenant falls apart is lack of communication – and this is often the responsibility of the property manager,” adding, “You can have the best customer service on the planet, but when property management breaks down through lack of foresight or poor communication, that one action can strike a fatal blow against all the goodwill you had built up.” Residential tech demonstrates success How do residential property owners avoid that fatal blow and take care of their residents, maintain communication and build goodwill? Many have embraced portals as the answer. They are a valuable tool for connecting residential community members to the services they might need any time of day or night. Seamless access to contact, lead, lease, resident and property data lets staff focus their attention on higher-value operations. Advanced property management technology platforms host portals as part of an end-to-end system that performs all prospect and resident services in the rental lifecycle, from initial contact to move-in, lease renewal and move-out, as well as timely communication. New advantages for commercial real estate Commercial real estate operators might want to consider emulating their residential counterparts by implementing portals and apps that deliver tenant services much more efficiently than is possible with telephones and emails. Property managers, for example, can easily dispatch announcements, emergency plans and other vital information through a portal. Tenants, for their part, can record maintenance requests and attach audio and photo documentation. Although millennials seeking cutting-edge amenities in their living spaces are the most visible advocates of property technology innovations, commercial real estate is undergoing its own generational shift. The younger workers among the sector’s cohort similarly expect the convenience of online and mobile self-services such as document access, electronic payments, maintenance requests, retail sales data entry and concierge services. Ideally, portals are built into a property management and accounting platform that centralizes financials, operations, leasing, maintenance management and other operations in a cloud-hosted database. Relieved of manual tasks such as the recording of tasks, property owners can concentrate on closing leases, maximizing rental income, increasing conversions and renewals, and ultimately enhancing their assets’ value. Some property management platforms leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and chatbots to combine historical unit-level performance data with market outlooks. The resulting portfolio-wide data and prescriptive recommendations help managers make informed decisions that cut costs and elevate asset performance. Portal technology offers a human touch that contributes measurably to tenant satisfaction, a key element of retention and a property’s reputation in the marketplace. As Mavrik Investing’s Wicomb advises, “From the start, develop and provide channels of open...

Is your city resilient? The Rockefeller Foundation is in its second year of a global initiative to identify the world’s toughest cities – urban centers that have gone up against challenges of all sizes and refused to back down. In most cases, the impetus for resilience is ongoing. Athens, Greece, continues to recover from perilously high unemployment and resulting stress on its welfare system. Dakar, Senegal is growing so fast that public services and infrastructure cannot keep up. In the U.S., initially selected cities include Berkeley, Calif., Boulder, Colo., El Paso, Texas, Jacksonville, Fl., Los Angeles, Calif., and New Orleans, La., among others. A few might appear surprising choices. Boulder might seem like an affluent college town next door to the Rocky Mountains. But the city has faced natural challenges: drought, flooding, and wildfires. Berkeley resonates with most as a center for liberal education and free speech. But similarly, earthquake, heat wave and wildfires have been disruptive and caused problems. New Orleans, of course, continues to recover from Hurricane Katrina. El Paso battles both natural and social challenges. 32 cities were chosen in the first round of awards in December 2013. A second round of 35, chosen from 330 applicants, was announced last month. From the U.S., Dallas, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston, Tulsa and San Juan, Puerto Rico were added to the roster for 2014. A final round will be selected in 2015. Cities selected receive: Funding to hire a Chief Resilience Officer; Assistance in developing a resilience strategy; Access to a platform of innovative private and public sector tools to help design and implement that strategy; Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network. “We can’t predict the next disruption or catastrophe. But we can control how we prepare for and respond to these challenges. We help make our cities better at adapting to the shocks and stresses of our world and transforming them into opportunities for growth,” explains the non-profit’s website. See profiles of all 67 of the chosen cities online, or learn how to nominate your city in 2015, at...