REAL ESTATE NEEDS TRADE


Real estate and trade are inextricably linked within our global network; we can’t get away from this, and why should we want to do so?

Through trade shows and trade services, the function and promotion of trade is a Unique Selling Point (USP) within the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) network. The word “trade” features in our global brand name, and it’s also imprinted in our DNA. Much of the vision behind a World Trade Center’s (WTC) purpose consists of encouraging the expansion of global commerce, promoting business relationships, creating understanding between diverse cultures, and fostering participation in trade across the world. These objects and purposes remain at the heart of our organization today, and in our constitution and bylaws.

So how do we best promote these principles? Standing in front of a real-estate-led member, one would expect them to say that it’s about “an iconic building,” a beacon of trade manifested in a “best-in-class” building, branded as a World Trade Center and located in “the happening place” of any city. Naturally, I would unashamedly stand by such a statement. However, there is so much more to it than this!

The external branding of a building alone may not suffice anymore.Turning our focus to what happens inside of our buildings needs to have just as much attention as the former when we promote our network.

First, flexible space in office buildings — known also as coworking space — is here to stay. It’s predicted by industry professionals to rise to 30% of all of the office market by 2030. Coworking space gives micro-SMEs the ability to feel like a large company, in buildings where you might find large corporations. It also offers the ability to expand and contract and move to different locations for a fraction of the per-employee cost implication that a large company might encounter. We need to be flexible and agile; embracing coworking unlocks our buildings to some of the most exciting companies of today and more importantly, tomorrow.

Second, our consumer expectations are rising, fast! The quality and design of the places we create is under more scrutiny than ever before by our customers. What we used to think was a special provision is now expected as standard, and the space within our buildings has now evolved into break-away areas, amenity uses, integration with the outdoors, exercise areas with showering facilities, and a whole lot of data analytics. All of this on top of the networking, conferencing, and event space that we would always look to deliver as part of our network. We need to accept that our customers expect more; our buildings need to emulate our brand in ways we wouldn’t have even considered before.

Third, in a knowledge-based economy, retention and attraction of talent is keeping our leaders up at night. In addition to the above, we need to be personalized, fun, sociable, and community-led. We need our spaces to be “Instagrammable!”

If we can achieve the same level of expectation internally as we would expect of a WTC building externally, we will
continue to find ourselves classed as one of the best destinations for business. This is when the link between real estate and trade comes into play as our strongest characteristic and differentiator. Because it’s still a USP. Not only can our buildings be everything they are envisioned to be externally and internally, but they will have a rich trading philosophy built in though the WTCA—a universally recognized brand name and a global business network—with local trading expertise. With real estate we have a brand, not just a commodity; and this is thanks to trade.

Read the full February issue of WTCA Meridian by clicking here.