Bringing up baby

Real estate is first of all a business. There’s not much to disagree with in that statement. However, if you put this way of looking at it on the backburner for a moment, you will be able to see what I meant in the lead into this text. In Warsaw we recently had the opportunity to admire the birth of a new office building. The gala to celebrate its opening, and the obvious joy felt towards this new addition to the real estate family, was reminiscent of the affection that parents feel towards their offspring. And this is the case every time a new building appears on the map. Developers want to show off the fruits of their work and they want them to do well. When the time comes for the buildings to “fly the nest” and make their own way in the world, just like parents they want this to be at the right time. However, they will certainly never stop keeping an eye on how they get on. Even afterwards, when the situation requires it, they will intervene, provide support and take care of their real estate family on an everyday basis. They hold parties on their anniversaries, to which invite guests are invited to celebrate the progress. Developers’ and investors’ continuing involvement can be seen in the care with which they choose their minders or in how they report the progress in leasing them, as well as every other achievement, no matter how trivial. Just as parents strive to give their children the best start in life, developers dedicate themselves to creating a solid project that will be successful into the future. There are more analogies: children and properties are often, but not always, assumed to guarantee a secure old age and pension for those who brought them into this world. And what if they are sometimes a source of problems, if they are black sheep or simply don’t find their place in the world? Well, that’s life. Perhaps it’s time to start talking about real estate families rather than real estate portfolios? We usually wish our children well on Children’s Day. However, in this case I’m going to direct my best wishes to developers: may your projects be successful, bring you joy, satisfaction and the feeling that the efforts you invested in bringing them into the world have not been wasted.

And now a little bit about real children. At the moment I will soon be boarding a train called motherhood and embarking on a fascinating journey of my own. I would like to thank all of you for reading our magazine and portal, as these are also partly my ‘children’. Keep your fingers crossed for me. See you in a year’s time!