Last Thursday, July 11, Miguel Angel Falcón, Managing Director of Lysander in Spain, moderated the OPTIMIZA 24 forum organized by Cesine Jornadas and Revista Metros 2 at the Naturgy headquarters on Avenida de América, 38, in Madrid.
The speakers discussed various topics, such as project managers’ ability and methodology to generate a “snapshot” of the expected cost of projects from the beginning of operations, the benefits of the CAE system in automating building lighting, health and energy efficiency, the importance of ventilation in workplaces, and, finally, decarbonization, renewable gas, and the circular economy.
Subsequently, Miguel Angel moderated the colloquium in which executives from important investment funds, REITs and investors, such as AXA, GMP, Merlin and Patrizia, or representatives of construction companies and Facility Management firms discussed such exciting topics as the new law on urban measures for the promotion of protected housing (Law 3/2024, of June 28, promoted by the Community of Madrid), which will facilitate and expedite the reconversion of land and tertiary buildings (offices, shopping centres and others) to residential protected housing for rent. The critical point was whether this law would really boost the activity of asset repositioning and new construction or if the limit to the rent levels would jeopardize the expected success of this law.
Regarding the repositioning of assets, the colloquium guests and speakers also discussed alternatives to the traditional model of contracting services and works, including Design & Build or Development Management services with a guaranteed maximum price offered by Project Management companies such as Lysander to clients such as Aberdeen in the general refurbishment of an office building in the WTC in Barcelona, in which we incorporate specialized consultants, engineering and subcontractors into our team, and commit to a maximum price without the client giving up transparency and good quality reporting as well as the flexibility necessary to make decisions at any time.
Finally, we discussed in greater depth the criteria and objectives of investors when repositioning their assets and contrasted them with the criteria that large occupiers use when selecting the building in which to house their work spaces.
To do this, we treat the topic by dividing these criteria into 5 large groups:
• Asset configuration and flexibility
• Amenities
• Physical connection of the asset and digital connection, telecommunications
• Technology in the building
• Sustainability, health and well-being
Miguel Angel highlighted how essential the involvement of Facility Managers and specialists in sustainability, efficiency and technology is from the beginning of the projects, apart from the usual agents,
The OPTIMIZA 24 Forum was very enjoyable. It allowed us to discuss fundamental aspects of the repositioning of commercial assets in a transparent and agile manner.