We told WeWork to get lost

MIPIM Proptech New York: real estate must embrace innovation as a whole rather than focus too narrowly on tech, Brookfield’s Ric Clark told delegates at MIPIM New York this week. Speaking on a panel of high-profile chief executives about what tech means to them, the chairman of Brookfield’s property group said the sector would have to become a service provider as well as deliver bricks and mortar if it was to move forward. He said: “It’s about more than tech, it’s about innovation. Over the years landlords would rent space to a tenant for 15 to 20 years, leave them alone and then wonder why they didn’t want to renew. We have to be service providers now. “WeWork really started making us think about this and if we aren’t careful, offices will go the way of hotels – the real estate sector will provide the bricks and mortar and someone else will come in to provide the service.” Clark added that it has taken the company a while to come around for his way of thinking. “We told Adam Neumann to get lost several times before we agreed to work with him,” he said. If we aren’t careful, offices will go the way of hotels – the real estate sector will provide the bricks and mortar and someone else will come in to provide the service Scott Rechler, chief executive and chairman of RXR Realty, and former vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said that missing investments at early stages was common among real estate firms but added that it was all part of a process. “We passed on VTS at the early stages. We passed on Convene too but invested later. There are times you don’t invest and then things change, but that’s OK. It’s part of the process. “The trick to make sure you don’t miss opportunities altogether, and always be looking ahead. I call it regularly recalibrating reality: constantly working on changing and preparing for what’s next.” Clark agreed that this sort of long-term forward thinking will be crucial for any real estate company hoping to keep up with the fast-moving world of tech. “Tech is changing so fast, by the time you get to end results it is often obsolete,” he said. “We worked so hard on getting rid of plastic cards for our entrance in favour of an app that we totally lost sight of facial recognition.” He added that the industry working together could be a stepping stone to a more tech-ready sector and said that the benefits of such an approach would “far outweigh” the potential negative by-product of an “overly homogenous” industry. To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @estatesgazette