Curated daily by our industry experts. Stay informed on how tech is shaping the real estate industry with these important headlines.
CREtech
In a rare public appearance, attendees of #CREtechNYC2019 will hear from Related’s Hudson Yards Chief Digital Officer, Scott Evans and Chief Technology Officer, Kenneth Finnegan, about how technology has shaped Hudson Yards into one of the most globally sophisticated and innovative mixed-use projects ever constructed.
NY TIMES
Opportunity zones were created to spur development in distressed neighborhoods, but developers in some areas are struggling to find tenants for their new properties. Their savior may be another rising trend in commercial real estate: co-working. Lured by the lower cost of shared office space, start-ups also gain access to a network of eager investors looking for companies to back, a combination that is helping to create incubators in underserved markets….
WSJ
Investors and analysts are looking at the rocky experience of a WeWork rival that went public nearly 20 years ago for insight into what could lie ahead for the New York-based co-working company. WeWork’s parent, We Co., last week released papers for its initial public offering, which could price by next month. Unlike Lyft Inc., Snap Inc. and a number of other startups that have gone public recently, We Co. already has a public competitor with a similar business model in IWG PLC….
BISNOW
The business model of Utah startup Neighbor is easy to understand: be the Airbnb of the self-storage industry by matching people with extra space to other people with goods to store. Also, undercut conventional self-storage competitors on price, and take a piece of the $38B self-storage industry.
BISNOW
Flexible workspace company Breather has added another executive to its growing C-suite, with Phillippe Bouffaut coming on as chief technology officer. Most recently vice president of products and engineering at media intelligence company Cision, Bouffaut will focus on further improving Breather’s digital booking system and office management capabilities. That will include implementing an app to assist office managers with various time-consuming tasks, such as ordering groceries.
THE REAL DEAL
VC-backed rivals. A new mansion tax. And the proliferation of listings platforms. The Real Deal talked to six players in New York City’s residential space about the new pain points they’re feeling in a sector that’s getting squeezed from all sides. Below John Burger shares his take on what has changed — and what’s remained the same — as technology has permeated the brokerage landscape.
GLOBEST
Corporate office tenants are incorporating branded amenities in the workplace as a way to attract and retain top talent. Branded amenities has a dual purpose, the both create an immersive experience in the office and as an emblem of company culture and product. These branded amenities can include everything from water features to interactive technology outposts. It all depends on the corporations industry and product.
COMMERCIAL OBSERVER
Long gone are the coworking days when it was enough to offer a cheap desk and maybe a beer keg. At, for instance, The Wing, the coworking space designed for women, which will count at least 13 locations by year-end, members are offered showers, a roof deck, a beauty room, and even a recently-launched babysitting space called Little Wing that provides open play and story time for children and support groups for mothers. Now available in their Soho and West Hollywood locations, Little Wing will e…
BISNOW
After WeWork detailed the most complete picture to date of its corporate finances last week, the leaders of some of its main competitors wanted to make a strong point: We are different. “It’s important to make sure that we’re not painted with the same brush, that others aren’t painted with the same brush,” said John Arenas, the CEO of coworking provider Serendipity Labs. “If you’re not funded by magic money, you have to make money to stay in it. That’s what the rest of us do.”
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION
It used to be that a company’s brand was defined by its colors, a logo and perhaps a catchy tagline. As the definition of a brand has evolved, it now represents company values, contains a mission statement and, perhaps most notably, conveys an expected level of customer service. Much of that has been spurred by technology, which has prodded the rental housing industry to reassess the way brands are defined. The way an organization embraces technology now largely reflects its brand, which now …
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