On Tuesday, 4 July 2023, the 9th Real Estate Summit took place at The Hall in Dübendorf, organised by FRZ Flughafenregion Zürich – Wirtschaftsnetzwerk & Standortentwicklung. Under the motto “Mobile. Sustainable. Collaborative.” experts and interested parties from the construction and real estate sector met to discuss the future of the industry and exchange views on current trends and challenges. With 640 registered guests, the 9th Real Estate Summit had a record turnout.
The event began with “meet & match” talks and a barbecue lunch, which provided ideal opportunities to make contacts and network: 434 1:1 conversations took place. The Real Estate Summit opened at 1:30 p.m. with a musical warm-up featuring Carole Brunner (singer of the band Ginger and the Alchemist).
André Ingold, President of the FRZ Zurich Airport Region and Mayor of Dübendorf, gave an overview of current topics and the largest construction projects in the region. In an interview with the new FRZ Managing Director Rahel Kindermann Leuthard, the future focus topics of the FRZ Zurich Airport Region were discussed.
Sylwina Spiess (Ringier AG) moderated the FRZ flagship event. The guests enjoyed exciting presentations by experts from various fields, such as real estate market analysis, construction projects, green urban development and digitalisation.
The future of the real estate market
Ursina Kubli, Head of Real Estate Analytics at Zürcher Kantonalbank, opened the expert presentations with an insight into the current demand and supply trends in the real estate market. The following three topics would shape the real estate market: Digitalisation, demographics and decarbonisation. Office buildings with high accessibility – such as in the airport region – are comparatively well utilised. Overall, the major consolidation on the office market in the canton of Zurich has so far failed to materialise.
In the airport region, office space in older buildings is increasing more strongly than those in the middle age range of 10 to 30 years. But new buildings are also increasingly remaining empty. Another trend: residential space is becoming increasingly scarce – also in the airport region. Conversion of offices into living space is therefore increasingly being examined.
According to Kubli, measures against climate change are more topical than ever. Even if artificial intelligence (AI) is asked for the three driving factors for office real estate in the next 75 years, sustainability is one of the top three topics – along with technological progress and new working environments. The long-term increase in demand for office space results from a growing global economy. Kubli: “Companies prefer the proximity to Zurich Airport for international business travel and access to global markets.”
New forms of collaboration in the construction sector
Marco Faiss, co-founder of em2, shed light on new forms of collaboration in the construction sector. Innovative strategies and practices improve the efficiency and effectiveness of construction projects. Special emphasis is placed on teamwork, communication and tapping the potential of all participants. Inspiring organisations and individuals think, communicate and act in the same way – they operate from the “inside out”. This implies emphasising the “why” over the “how” and the “what”. He refers to Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept.
According to Faiss, the interaction of people, values and concerns creates unpredictable new, emergent phenomena. Established patterns of thought are replaced in the process. Marco Faiss refers to methodical phase thinking, a process for partner acquisition, role development, a remuneration model (open book), and communication at eye level serve as instruments for structuring the process. His advice: “Run a construction project like a business.”
The method includes identifying specific requirements, finding the best partners for these requirements, unrestricted investment in these partners without unilateral hedging, communication at eye level, investment in the organisation, and alignment with the principle that those who can do something best should do it. Everyone defines their own service specifications, every hour worked is paid for and successes are celebrated together.
The lever of neighbourhood mobility
Bernd Hofer, CEO of Freo Switzerland AG, and Sophie Stigliano, Director at Urban Standards GmbH, then spoke about “Green Only Development and the lever of neighbourhood mobility”. FREO focuses on sustainable construction and operation of buildings with a focus on the needs of future generations and respect for planetary impact limits. Their “Green Only Development” concept significantly reduces energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions and optimises costs by focusing on climate architecture and efficient, tailor-made solutions. It also integrates advanced mobility management that optimises traffic flow and promotes sustainable transport options, and uses a digital platform to manage these services.
Involving users at an early stage
After an extended coffee break, Hannes Pichler, Director of Real Estate at ETH Zurich, continued the series of lectures and spoke about integrated project management in the context of the circular economy and digitalisation. He presented the Real Estate department of ETH Zurich, which manages a real estate portfolio worth around 5 billion Swiss francs, including around 200 buildings with a main usable floor space of approximately 540,000 m². Between 2022 and 2029, a new physics building will be constructed on the Hönggerberg campus.
Pichler spoke about the advantages of integral project delivery models and the challenges that can arise due to information asymmetries and different goals between client and contractor, also known as the principal-agent problem. He presented approaches to minimise these problems, including the early involvement of users and the definition of a functional specification.
He also emphasised the importance of an early, integral approach to overcome the challenges posed by the megatrends of circular economy and digitalisation. Pichler showed various examples of successful projects and emphasised the need for integrated planning across all life cycles of a project and the importance of digitalisation to improve transparency and error analysis.
Reset strategies in the decade of radical change
The last presentation of the day came from Jens-Uwe Meyer, MBA Meyer, a book author and digital entrepreneur. He spoke about “Reset! Strategies for the Decade of Radical Change”. Today, more than ever, we would live in a “VUCA world”. VUCA stands for “Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity”. New artificial intelligence tools promote this ambiguity. Meyer highlights both positive and negative aspects – from its role in education and business to its potential dangers and impact on jobs. He provides an overview of the development of AI technology and applications from 2011 (with IBM’s Watson) to 2023 (with ChatGPT4).
Among the most pressing issues are climate change and sustainability per se. Due to the demographic situation, the fight for the best talent is intensifying. In order to remain competitive, innovation management is crucial. He points to innovation barriers, including lack of processes, lack of strategies, openness and enthusiasm, and lack of courage and creativity. Meyer appeals to “discontent” – as an incentive for continuous improvement and innovation.
The information part of the summit ended with another performance by Carole Brunner and then offered space for further exchange at the concluding Apéro Riche.
