– A year ago, we talked about how the post-pandemic world will look like and a lot of things happened ever since. We have seen logistics, residential for rent and offices transactions picking up. Just as we looked forward to a fantastic year, Russia invaded Ukraine, bringing inflation, population growth and incredible challenges for everybody. At the same time people did not stop working, and the communities still live. We need to reinvent the neighborhoods and make the urban footprint better for the people, in collaboration between public and private sectors and not forgetting the net zero challenges – said Soren Rodian Olsen, Managing Director of Logicenters at NREP and Chair of ULI Poland in his welcome. – It seems like we are moving from one crisis into another, but at the same time we cannot lose sight of the long-term perspective and of the day-to-day perspective – inclusivity, equality, the climate, the design the investment, repurposing, private and public collaboration – agreed Lisette van Doorn, Chief Executive Officer, ULI Europe.

Jens Krammer Mikkelsen, Director of Urban Development at NREP and former Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, presented the steps of transformation of the capital of Denmark,  which in the 1980s had an unemployment rate of 17.5 percent, a growing elderly population and huge budget shortfalls and is now an example of a city that many want to emulate.: – Transforming the city is not a quick fix but a long haul. Lessons learned from the process: Infrastructure is the key. Make public ownership transparent.  Merge public entities and assets. Encourage national and local government collaboration. Secure the political alliance but minimize the political interference.

“Something old, something new” was a session  focused on how we can improve the overall experience the people have in the cities and pragmatic solutions with focus on city development, ESG and decarbonization. “We can’t have buildings like we used to have in the past and we need to rebuild them. One of the reasons is that people love old building, and it is really worth doing it” – emphasized Ron Bakker, Founding Partner of London-based architecture firm, PLP Architecture. Some of the buildings require renovating and restoring, some structures in the cities do not function anymore and this is something with which the architects and urbanists will be dealing in the next decade. Preserving old buildings in the dense cities is the key, even if at the end of the process they are not recognizable anymore. We need new technologies and new materials and to design flexible enough to allow various future scenarios.

Last but not least, the participants of the conference discussed the different angles and challenges of the real estate market in the “Capital Markets” panel, moderated by Kevin Turpin, Regional Director of Capital markets CEE, Colliers. With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, some investors have to put their plans for Poland on hold for the time being, which is a concern as 98% of the capital comes from outside of the country. However, others, including domestic CEE capital, particularly Czech and Hungarian, have been increasingly active over the last 5 years and in recent quarters. In line with the 15-minute city concept, some retail schemes have become less popular with consumers and require a refresh or perhaps even repurposing altogether. Retail parks continue to expand across the market, in cities as small as 20,000 inhabitants. Despite hybrid working practices becoming the norm, offices will still play an important role in business life and company culture. While some office buildings (as with all sectors) may need an uplift to keep them relevant and in compliance with increasing ESG regulations, they should preserve their value over the long-term perspective. During the last couple of years, the industrial and logistics sector has become one of the most sought-after and traded asset classes. Although we may see some changes in the demand structure as a result of the boom in e-commerce gradually slowing down, and perhaps recording an increase in ‘near shoring’ or ‘friend shoring’, the sector will continue to thrive. Finally, with rising inflation and the cost of debt, for all property types, we can expect to see greater attention put towards the residential for rent (PRS) sector. Rising mortgage rates and declining affordability will most likely lead to a narrowing buyer pool and an increasing number of renters. We are therefore recording more developers and investors actively looking at this sector.