Can ESG ratings really be quantified in real estate valuations?

In this episode, I sit down with three experts from Cushman & Wakefield—Richard Hogg (Head of Valuation), Stefan de Goeij (Head of Sustainability), and Michaela Killingerova (Valuation Division)—to tackle one of commercial real estate's most complex questions. We explore how valuers are grappling with ESG factors, why banks are becoming the market's measuring stick, and what upcoming EU regulations mean for existing building stock. From the challenge of collecting granular data to understanding why "prime building" now means "green building," this conversation reveals how ESG is fundamentally reshaping property values—even as the market struggles to price it in.

Runtime: 31 minutes

iO Partners has rolled out iO4Land, a digital solution that transforms how land is sourced, analyzed, and validated across Central and Eastern Europe. It's an interesting mix of existing map resources with a complex AI deployment that CEE Industrial director James Fitzgerald says takes weeks and months out of a painstaking process.

If there's anyone who knows more about Central Europe's industrial real estate sector than Karel Stransky, we haven't been introduced. I first starting interviewing Stransky 30 years ago and I've learned something every time I go back for more. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the new shocks to global supply chains resulting from the odd trade war we've found ourselves in. Can Europe snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat with its sudden burst of energy? We discuss what's realistic and what's fantasy talk in the first of a series of discussions.

Did you know that December 3 is an International Day of Persons with Disabilities? ♿ More than 1.15 million Czechs over the age of 15 have some form of disability or challenge that limits their everyday lives.

I spoke about the issue with Tamas Méri, Co-founder and Business Development Director of Access4you, and Tewfik Sabongui, Managing Partner of Colliers Czech Republic. The episode shares numerous insights and best practices for integrating these aspects into business strategy and operations.

This episode features a match-up between two top-tier economists on today's biggest problem: Inflation. Michal Stupavsky (Conseq) says the Czech National Bank could have tackled the problem more aggressively by raising interest rates higher and sooner.

Mark Robinson (Encor Wealth Management) says the inflation earthquake of 2022 has had major consequences. "We have to look at which assets are suffering if you have to plug in a higher cost of capital for the long-run," warns Mark Robinson (Encor Wealth Management). He's talking about he tech sector, private equity and yes -- real estate. "If you've got companies producing their profits in 10 or 20 years time, those profits have to be discounted back to now...so the valuation is lower."

What do you get when you combine falling real estate valuations with higher interest rates and lower LTV in an inflationary environment? You get a commercial property market where big transactions are scarce, and brokers don't know what price to list assets at.

Savills' MD in Prague Stuart Jordan says deal flow will remain slow not because of psychology -- but because the math simply doesn't work for most investors. The deals that are happening, he says, are driven by investors who know exactly what they're looking for.

Iain Fanthorpe (Bluehouse Capital) insists that property investments aren't just designed to protect against inflation...they deliver. That was true during the last decade when inflation lay dormant. But he says it will continue to do so even in today's challenging environment. Bluehouse is a value-add real estate investor focusing on Central and Eastern Europe.

""With our assets," says Fanthorpe, "if we take a bottom up approach during our investment cycle, we feel that we can manage the process through the whole period until the environment is a little bit better."

The destructive tornado that wrecked four southern Moravian villages and hundreds of homes on June 24, 2021 unleashed a wave of solidarity from across the Czech Republic. Among those who felt a duty to contribute to the rebuilding was the Portuguese architect Marco Maio. He encouraged the villages to treat the catastrophe as an opportunity to re-imagine some of their public spaces. And as a professor of architecture at ČVUT's construction faculty in Prague, he created a real-life assignment for his students.