Realcast: ULI in Madrid last week, next – senior housing in focus and CEE’s status in detail

In the headlines this week:

While geopolitics is again to the fore with news of the resignation of UK former prime minister Boris Johnson and the indictment of Donald Trump, in real estate there remains a major focus on economics, climate risk and sustainability which was clear at last week’s ULI Europe Conference in Madrid. The conference revealed a somewhat bleak outlook but was a reminder that real estate has an opportunity to make a real difference, particularly regarding climate change.

However, news from the US indicates that insuring new homes in California against climate risks has become more difficult, which could be of huge potential significance for real estate.

At the coming week’s Provada 2023 real estate event in Amsterdam a Senior Housing and Healthcare Association (SHHA) breakfast session, hosted by the association and Real Asset Media, will examine the interconnectedness of decarbonisation and social impact strategies. It will focus on measurement and valuation of social impact, a topic that could shift the mindset in terms of what is measured at the asset level, in terms of area development and in terms of policy making.

Impact was also a major focus of the Young Leaders Forum at the ULI’s Madrid conference, where attention was particularly on demographics and there was a focus there too on senior housing and healthcare.

The Senior Housing and Healthcare Summit, being staged jointly by SHHA and EPRA later this month, will also put this real estate asset class in the spotlight, particularly in terms of benchmarking performance.

The CEE markets were also a lively topic at ULI’s Madrid conference, which attracted a substantial contingent from the region.

Later this month, Real Asset Media and the Poland Observer will be in Warsaw to stage the CEE Summit which also includes a tour of the city’s developments.

The summit will look at the effects of geopolitical events and macro-economic trends on the region, namely the war in Ukraine and the changing supply chain. There is hope that weaknesses in the global supply chain will hasten more manufacturing and logistics to CEE. But retail is also experiencing a post covid resurgence.

Warsaw is developing dynamically, major projects are going ahead and the region is again becoming a destination for FDI as firms establish European back offices.

In other news, Redevco acquired Dutch residential real estate specialist Life Europe, relaunched as Redevco Living, Juergen Fenk joined Eastdil Secured, and Richard Divall has moved to asset management firm London and Oxford Group.

Click on the video to see the full discussion or listen to the podcast below.