Cushman & Wakefield: Will robots take over commercial real estate?

Technology is disrupting all kinds of industries — from ridesharing in the taxi industry to streaming services in the entertainment space. Apart from the first rumblings of disruption in the retail and industrial space due to e-commerce, however, there has not been much of a paradigm shift in the commercial real estate sector due to technology, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s four-part series Will Robots Take Over CRE?

There is no doubt that long-lasting and widespread change is on the horizon with several technologies under development. Cushman & Wakefield concluded the only way for commercial real estate professionals to adapt to changing paradigms brought on by technology advances is to focus on flexibility and efficiencies, particularly flexibility in asset use and design, leases and service offerings.

This paper focuses on structural factors that may drive technology adoption in general and evaluates transformative technologies that will affect them. It also addresses the impact of technological innovations on employment going forward and identifies which cities and real estate asset types are best positioned to withstand the change.