Real estate investments: beyond the residential market

Our analysis of the real estate market, its advantages and on real estate investments through equity crowdfunding continues. We return to talk about trends, but moving the axis from the residential real estate market to other slices of the market: how are they perceived by investors and, above all, how they change and evolve in 2022?

We will talk about offices and the perception we have of them today, but also about the retail sector and its need for an omnichannel strategy and the hotel sector, which must focus on the conversion of spaces.

Offices

Offices remain the asset class of choice for investors. But how does the office sector change after the pandemic? According to Francesca Fantuzzi, Market Research Manager at Gabetti, "It is foreseeable that in the future the hybrid formulawill prevail, in which remote working will remain a valid opportunity, in the order of one/three days a week".

In this context, the new trends foresee a reduction of the total space, but not by too much, because it will be necessary to integrate the offices with sharing rooms, not only strictly for work, but also for the comparison between teams and to encourage socialization. Space optimization will be increasingly important, trying to maintain more widely spaced workstations.

Last but not least, it will be essential to comply with Esg standards (sustainability standards), which have a positive impact on people, buildings and the territory from different points of view.

Retail

While office space is a hot sector for investors, post-pandemic retail is starting to bet more onomnichannel.

Retail was initially among the hardest hit due to the restrictions imposed on commercial activities; with the introduction of the green pass, it was possible to record a reversal of the trend, which allowed a return to normality.

The return, however, for commerce must not be to a static reality equal to 2019, but must increasingly focus on digital transformation.

A strategy based on an omnichannel approach, moving from the physical channel to the online channel according to the customer's needs. This is the plan promoted by the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), approved in 2021 to revive the Italian economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and also to accelerate the country's digital development.

Hospitality

Even in the hotel sector, you will benefit from the spread of smart working but you must focus on the reconversion of spaces and the contamination between business and leisure.

The trends for the hotel of the future are represented by spaces that tend to be liquid, multi-faceted, hyper-technological and, as already mentioned for other sectors, eco-sustainable.

Spaces capable of transforming themselves by renewing content and functionality to generate new social and economic value, among them:

• spaces and services for smart working
• social spaces ideal for relaxing or meeting other people
• areas for psycho-physical relaxation
• multifunctional spaces that can be transformed for events
• bars and restaurants with a24-hour varied offer
• services for leisure and sports.

This opens up the possibility of large projects of renovation or reconversion of spaces that could decide to bring investors on board through new collections of real estate crowdfunding that will be able to range, moving away from the residential market.

Have you already read our articles on real estate? Learn more about real estate crowdfunding, its advantages, the why invest and 2022 trends

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