2023-07-24 04:00:13
Gema Treveria is the director of The District real estate show, which is held in Barcelona and is already preparing for its next edition. In an interview with idealista/news, Traveria reviews the successes that the real estate fair has achieved in its two editions, but also addresses some controversies that it has had to deal with, such as the demonstrations in front of the hall’s entrance during the last edition, or the departure of Ada Colau from Barcelona City Council and the benefit that this will bring to local real estate.
This September the second edition of The District will be held. What was the evaluation of the first edition?
The District came to Barcelona for the first time in October of last year with two main purposes. The first, to put the city back on the world map of real estate events, and the second, to create a reference meeting point so that high-profile investors can make the best decisions in their future strategies. Bearing this in mind, we believe that in 2022 we will achieve the objectives set and that we have successfully started a long-distance race that began twelve months ago and that will be consolidated this September.
In addition, in terms of congressmen who attended The District 2022, we gathered 7,198, exceeding our initial expectations. In this sense, it is important to highlight that the attendees who attended and attend the summit were “decision makers” who are in charge of deliberating the future of real estate projects of large structural and economic size, so the type of visitor we quoted is very exclusive. Thus, our philosophy is mainly focused on bringing together investors who add value to the event and take advantage of it to promote new business opportunities.
What things will change compared to the first edition?
To begin with, in this edition we are moving to Fira Barcelona at the Gran Via venue in L’Hospitalet, where benchmark summits such as the Mobile World Congress are held. With the international approach in which we are working, the change will allow us to develop a better connected event, by public transport, with the Barcelona El Prat international airport, which is safer, and with a better architectural design. Likewise, this location allows us to expand the hospitality area with a total of 14,000 m2 available, doubling the space compared to last year.
“The way forward in Barcelona is to make the city a leading territory in which to invest”
A second significant change is that The District 2023 will be organized on dates prior to those of the previous edition in order to be present at the start of the real estate school year. This fact means that we will be at a key moment of the year for investors, since they will be able to clarify their doubts about the operations that they are going to carry out towards the end of the year and 2024.
In this sense and in terms of economic movement flows, it is expected that interest rates will rise again in September, something that will affect real estate capital and the profitability of assets. Therefore, it will be crucial to go to The District to understand the situation in which we will find ourselves, know how to deal with it and detect the opportunities that are generated in this context.
What news in the congress that is organized within the framework of the event, The District World Summit?
In this edition of The District World Summit we will emphasize the transformation that the real estate industry is undergoing from each asset that is of interest to capital. Thus, we will analyze what is happening in the Residential, Hotels, Offices, Retail, Industrial and Logistics, Healthcare, Senior Living & Student Living, Data Centers segment, and in alternative assets such as coliving or science parks. In this regard and as a novelty, we will also study which are the emerging “assets” that have potential for investors. This would be the case of car parks, storage rooms, farms or “glampings”.
Likewise, we will focus on the trends that are marking transactions today, marked by business opportunities in other territories. In addition, we will study the reconversion that is taking place in assets such as offices, which are being reconsidered for a “living” use, due to the drop in demand; the possibilities offered by the readjustment of prices that is happening in the United States and that is likely to reach Europe; or the debt restructuring that companies are going through.
All this, without forgetting the current context in which we find ourselves characterized by high interest rates, inflation or concern for affordable housing, which corroborates the relevance of complying with ESG criteria.
Of all the exhibitors, what is the mix of companies that will participate in this edition?
At The District 2023 we will have companies from the entire value chain of the real estate sector: investment funds, sovereign funds, commercial banks, alternative sources of financing, large land holders, administrations, operators, promoters, “brokers”, marketing agencies, consultants, property managers, or companies specialized in specific assets such as logistics.
If we refer to firms in particular, as of today we have already confirmed the presence of AEDAS Homes, Anticipa, Aliseda, Arcadis, Banco Santander, Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, CaixaBank, CBRE, Cevasa, Civislend, Cuatrecasas, Dexter Global Finance, Eurofund Logistic Capital Partners, Fiduciam, Garrigues, Grupo Lar, JLL, Osborne Clarke, Prologis, Renta Real Estate Corporation, Savills, Servihabitat, Woodea, or Zennio, among many others.
There are more and more technology companies (proptechs) in real estate. Could we ever see a ‘spin off’ of The District specializing in technology-based companies?
According to what you comment, the technologies applied in Real Estate are a transcendental part in stimulating innovation in the industry. We are increasingly seeing how more startups created by emerging talent are committed to introducing Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Blockchain, data analytics or multicloud, among many other technologies, in the field of real estate, thus opening a large window of opportunities and business concepts.
The potential of proptechs in the market is a fact that was already evident in the 2022 edition of The District. In this sense, we organized the first Proptech Startup Forum, where the most disruptive startups were presented in order to make their competitive advantage known to investors and venture capital; or the Tech Trends forum, in which the possibilities of technologies in real estate were shown. Continuing with the success we achieved last year with these two proposals, at The District 2023 we will repeat both initiatives, so that we will continue to bet on making proptech visible and encouraging it to meet capital.
Therefore, our most immediate future is aimed at giving space to the proptech universe within The District, since we consider that it is a part and a matter to be analyzed within the summit, at the same time that investors demand it from us as a matter of interest in expansion.
In the first edition there were problems of demonstrations in the first days of the event. Why do you think real estate is still demonized in a city like Barcelona?
The real estate sector is an industry that closely touches the whole of society in its various fields. Likewise, Real Estate is a subject of debate on a political and media scale, which leads it to become a matter that is easily transported to public opinion. Therefore, it is natural that different opinions may arise in relation to the activity that we carry out in The District, although we do not share the interruption of the congress that we experienced in the previous edition due to the acts of protest.
“The technologies applied in Real Estate are a transcendental part in the stimulation of innovation in the industry”
Regarding the unfavorable characteristics attributed to real estate, it is true that in different areas of society it is considered a controversial issue due to the precedent created in our closest history with the 2008 crisis. In The District, as in the entire sector, we are aware of this, which is why we attach great importance to how the industry is adapting to the new needs required regarding affordable housing, public-private collaboration, and the way in which to work together in order to cover the high demand for protected rent.
Do you think that the departure of Ada Colau from Barcelona City Council will help salons like The District, where business is the central axis, to prosper in Barcelona?
It is clear that a political party that was publicly against the impulse of the real estate industry and that wasted the opportunity for Barcelona to host events like The District, which stimulate the economy and the international projection of the city, was not contributing to the development of the show. With the latest changes in the Barcelona City Council, we hope that support for The District, which is based on promoting commercial activity in real estate, as well as promoting the transmission of knowledge and the creation of synergies, is done with the conviction that it is supporting the development of Barcelona and the industry.
Has it ever been on the table to take The District to Madrid or any other city in Spain?
The District is an event that, due to its model, does not have a fixed link to a specific territory, nor does it have a city that becomes its permanent venue. Therefore, the summit could take place in Madrid or in any other region that is of interest to Real Estate or that presents the necessary infrastructures to host what The District represents.
Despite this approach, Barcelona is our host city for the moment due to the possibilities it offers in terms of holding international events, as well as being one of the great innovation poles in Europe and a territory with great appeal for Real Estate. For this reason, we are committed to it and to project it as an interesting territory for real estate investors.
Will Barcelona once again be a destination for the international real estate investor?
Barcelona is one of the reference destinations in Spain for international investors, just like Madrid. Although it is true that in recent years the municipal ordinances of the Catalan capital have not contributed to the accelerated development of real estate activity, Barcelona has remained the leader in residential or retail assets, with commercial areas such as Paseo de Gracia which has registered one of the highest growth in income nationwide.
On the other hand, it should also be taken into account that there are cities in Spain that are developing a capitation strategy for innovation, talent, and companies that report that capital is set in them and, consequently, that investment is diversified. This would be the case of Malaga, which is transforming and opening up towards a concept of an international technology hub, which is catapulting it into the Real Estate market both in ‘living’, ‘Healthcare’, student residences or even in technology parks.
Thus, the way forward in Barcelona is to make the city a leading territory in which to invest, based on economic and political stability, and boosting its tourist and cultural appeal. All this implies a shared strategy in which business opportunities coexist together with municipal action plans and active listening to the needs that arise from the demand as a whole.
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