Innovation by Place North

Having completed one of London’s smartest office buildings in recent years, MiddleCap’s innovations director Miloš Halečka dives into how his team puts tech at the heart of development. Southworks, MiddleCap’s first development in the UK, completed in 2021, bringing 70,000 sq ft of tech-enabled, BREEAM Outstanding office space to the market. Now, the developer is looking ahead to its second UK project – Seal House – which aims to push the boundaries of tech even further.

Paul Unger is joined by Savills' director Jeremy Hinds and applied research consultant Paul Sayers to discuss climate change and how the rise in water levels could affect planning and property.

Kevin Wilhelm, country manager for the US and Canada at Sharry and Victor Sanchez, senior director & head of global design and build at LinkedIn, join Paul Unger to pose the question... What do we mean by workplace experience? Kevin, Victor and Paul discuss the trends, what clients want and how software can support the workplace experience. For more information, visit: sharry.tech Stay up-to-date on all things #PropTech - subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter: placetech.net/subscribe

A comms masterclass this week with three directors of Social, a leading ESG and tech PR agency – join Sara Donnelly, Andy Cameron-Smith and Luke Cross sharing their wisdom with Paul Unger. Questions answered Why does ESG matter in corporate communications? How can tech enable businesses to meet green targets? How can companies cut through the noise and be heard on climate messages? What role does technology play in the decarbonisation of the property sector? Given the growth of the Greentech sector, how can communications enable tech companies to compete? How to approach ESG reporting and narrative development Find out more about Social here: social-tech.co.uk For your number one proptech source, subscribe to PlaceTech for FREE: placetech.net/subscribe

Paul Unger is joined by Jeremy Hinds, planning director at Savills, and Tom Cheesewright to explore the reasons holding back real estate from taking the radical steps needed to challenge climate change. Takeaways There is a lack of a consensus framework in which to discuss the problems and how to address them Without sufficient policy responses individuals will increasingly put forward radical ideas which prompt counter responses and only delay the forming of a consensus Requirements to do something about climate change are very challenging – this puts people off As timeframes to act become shorter, the responses needed become more radical Short-term outlooks of voter-obsessed politicians obstruct the consensus and avoid difficult solutions Climate policy should be outsourced and made independent and objective in same way as countries’ central banks often are

Gecina is a French real estate company which owns and operates €20bn of real estate assets, 97% located in the Paris region. Takeaways ‘When we are at the beginning of the journey the most difficult part is spreading the innovation mindset, framework, and skills across the organisation’ ‘The challenge is to deploy innovation at scale through our portfolio in operation where it makes sense’ ‘Data management is the next big revolution for real estate. If you look at other industries and benchmarks you can easily realise that real estate is quite behind on this transformation’ ‘The problem is not about technology, which is already available. The difficulty is the upskilling we have to do to be able to produce value with data’ Subscribe to our FREE newsletter: placetech.net/subscribe

Fabrice Aubert, deputy managing director of French property giant Nexity, talks to Balndine Laffargue about the importance of taking a decentralised approach to innovation. Takeaways Nexity acquired Morning Coworking in 2019 to roll out flexible workspace Nexity uses 3D configurators to allow customers to customise apartments The company’s strategy aims to find new offers for consumers; invest in ventures directly; improve the digital user experience and satisfaction Nexity has invested in a dozen firms directly and three venture funds Maintaining a startup mindset and culture is vital Startups working with Nexity gain access to a market leader; funding, capital and projects; each other as an ecosystem Subscribe to PlaceTech for FREE: placetech.net/subscribe

Get inside the US National Association of Realtors’s property tech ventures with Dan Weisman, director of emerging tech trends; Natasha Terinova, director of accelerator programme Reach UK; and Tyler Thompson, managing partner of its investment fund Second Century Ventures. With 1.3m members, the NAR is the largest trade organisation in the US. On this episode you can hear how a 100-year-old organisation got into digital transformation and its significant progress to date. Takeaways NAR venture fund Second Century Ventures was an early investor in DocuSign SCV and its accelerator arm Reach are fully funded from returns on past investments Cream will rise to top as economic downturn bites over next 18-24 months Priority areas to watch Tyler wants SDCV to help tackles affordability, how can tech solve the global housing crisis and help renters move towards owning property Property companies can take advantage of AI, using data and today’s sizable computer power to produce clear data points that are critical to success Dan says NAR wants to lead and not be reactive when it comes t spottinbg tech efficiencies in real estate Natasha’s companies to watch include Fyma – ‘unlocking data from video feeds’ – and Mökki – ‘logistics hubs for the circular economy’

One of the leading players in ESG data for real estate globally, Matt Ellis was a sustainability adviser at CBRE before he set up Measurabl in 2013. Today Mesaurabl employs 200 staff providing ESG data on more than 13bn sq ft of commercial real estate across 90 countries. He is also a fine writer and his ‘From Green to ESG’ book sets a compelling argument for transparency in markets and casts doubt on the objectivity of green building certificates. He sat down with Paul Unger to look beyond the doom and gloom that often surrounds climate crisis conversations and to focus instead on reasons to be cheerful. Takeaways Corporate real estate is now embracing sustainability and the wider ESG as business priorities Climate legislation is finally arriving to incentivise companies to adopt green energy measures – but does it go far enough on carbon tax Climate tech = jobs, jobs, jobs. The way the industry works is being transformed and buildings will be procured in totally different ways in future, starting now Small and medium property companies face a ‘data competency’ vacuum they need to address, this is a struggle without extra resource to upskill management Large property holders are decarbonizing their estates and looking for solutions that are ready to plug into, this is a rapidly maturing marketplace and established suppliers are preferred, new entrants will be left behind Subscribe to PlaceTech for FREE at placetech.net/subscribe

Craig O'Donnell, Group Innovation Director at Grosvenor speaks with Paul Unger of PlaceTech about innovation in proptech.