Hotels Turn To Robot Butlers, Digital Menus To Avoid Covid-19

Set in the kelly-green hills of Ireland’s County Clare, Dromoland Castle is the type of getaway that never sits empty. Why would it, with a pampering spa tucked behind 16th century walls, a par-72 championship golf course, and more stars on travel review sites than in all of Hollywood? And yet, in the wake of Covid-19, the fairytale 450-acre estate—like many hotels around the world—closed its doors for safety in March. “We’ve stayed at Dromoland Castle twice and have been dreaming about going ba…

Convene CEO Ryan Simonetti On Pricing, Reopening And Redesign

New York-based Convene was the first coworking and flex office provider to close its locations in March as the coronavirus pandemic spread. Competitor WeWork remained open. Without revenue coming in, the company made a swift decision to lay off and furlough more than 400 employees and cut costs. It also immediately worked to renegotiate its leases and applied for and received a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program. Simonetti said the company will gradually bring its staff back as it continu…

Real estate firms lead cautious return to NYC offices

C&W, Matterport Partnership Yields Life-Like Showings With 3D ‘Digital Twin’ Technology

Showing they’re adapting to COVID-19′s new model of business, a leading multinational real estate services firm has announced a technology partnership to launch robust virtual showings for commercial property listings.

Kochi’s smart city command centre goes live with video wall

The city in Kerala is among the first 20 cities selected under the Government’s smart cities mission and the centre will deliver insights for improved planning and policy-making.

What Will Happen to Communal Office Amenities?

Before the pandemic, onsite office amenities and communal spaces were surging in demand. After the pandemic, those same amenities are now a big question mark. As office begin to reopen, office owners are starting to consider how to address these spaces, which include fitness centers, cafes and work-enabled lobbies and meeting areas.

Restaurants Scramble To Make Outdoor Dining Safer

Al fresco dining was once mostly a pleasant afterthought for American restaurants, but with sales losses estimated at $120B during the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, outdoor seating is now a key component of keeping some eateries alive.

Newmark Knight Frank Releases COVID-19 Situation Report Product

Complimentary online tool allows users to perform current risk assessments for locations and employees worldwide New York, NY (June 15, 2020) — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) Global Corporate Services’ (GCS) Global Tech, supported by NavigatorCRE, announces the no-cost release of the COVID-19 Situation Report—a unique tool that helps companies immediately assess their potential portfolio risk using data related to the evolving pandemic. The COVID-19 Situation Report provides a series of dashboard…

The Dawn of PropTech 3.0

If you consider the 80s and 90s to be the first wave of property technology, we can call that PropTech 1.0. CoStar (‘87), Argus (‘85), Yardi (‘82), RealPage (‘98), even Excel (‘85). All of these software platforms were created in the 80s/90s and grew to dominance in the commercial real estate industry. Construction saw AutoDesk (‘82), Trimble (‘78), and Bentley (’84) in similar timeframes.

Republic acquires real estate investment platform Compound

Republic, an alternative investment platform open to all investors, has acquired Compound, a real estate investment technology company that facilitates microinvesting in urban residential real estate. This is the second in a series of acquisitions for Republic this year. In April 2020, Republic announced the acquisition of Greycroft and Spark Capital-backed Fig, the leader in direct investment for video games and gaming technology. Through these strategic acquisitions Republic has firmly cemente…