Those solutions with mature technology with clear return on investment (ROI) will be the most successful in the near-term in the commercial real estate segment, global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield’s CIO for the Americas, Melanie Kirkwood Ruiz, Cushman & Wakefield, told In-Building Tech.
“We have seen good traction in the IoT and smart building space, while technologies that are less proven will be tested but will face adoption hurdles until clear use cases are built,” Kirkwood Ruiz said.
“The primary benefits of these types of applications within commercial real estate are the valuable new insights that data uncovers. Cushman & Wakefield seeks to be at the forefront of these conversations with clients to help inform new approaches to investment or operational strategies. Cushman & Wakefield is already working with clients to understand what technologies they can invest in today that will drive the most value back to their properties and their tenants,” she said.
Cushman & Wakefield recently announced a new partnership with Stanford University’s Disruptive Technology and Digital Cities Program.The main aim of the collaboration is to identify, develop and launch transformative technologies within the commercial real estate space.
The shared focus will be to assess emerging technologies and societal trends, with the goal of leveraging these findings to develop practical applications in areas such as 3D visual modeling, property valuation, smart building operations and advanced data analytics.
As part of the partnership, Cushman & Wakefield leaders will meet regularly with Stanford faculty and staff to discuss program updates and share insights or developments across industries. Cushman & Wakefield will become actively involved in several current research efforts underway within the program, including studies on 3D modeling, advanced materials and mobility.
“Cushman & Wakefield has three existing strategic partnerships today with Metaprop, Plug and Play and now Stanford University. We think the partnership with Stanford rounds out Cushman & Wakefield’s two other strategic partnerships. Our Venture Capital relationships with Metaprop, and Plug and Play cover seed-stage to growth-stage real estate tech companies and a partnership with a leading academic university like Stanford really complimented our partner-first innovation strategy,” the executive said.
“The real estate industry is at a critical juncture with technology. It is estimated that $30 million was invested in real estate tech in 2010—today there are billions of dollars going into real estate tech. This means there are new solutions hitting the market trying to take advantage of this rising tide. As Cushman & Wakefield has talked to its clients, more and more have indicated that technology is a priority for their business.”
Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 51,000 employees in 400 offices and 70 countries.