Real estate, real changes

A similar situation took place at the opening of the Posnania shopping centre in Poznań. An interview with Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, who had come over to grace the event, had just finished and suddenly a crowd of Polish celebrities stormed onto the stage to take a selfie with her. A second later everyone would have been able see the photo on social media. Everyone is a photographer or a film maker these days and thanks to the internet and our mobile phones we can publish our pics and show them to millions of people. But technology has not only changed people’s behaviour during real estate events. It has also transformed real estate itself. Shopping centres have probably changed the most, as they are now being forced to compete with online retail and also have to adjust to the lifestyles of each new generation. Hadley Dean, the head of newly-founded company Echo Polska Properties, is planning to take on this very challenge. The company, which has only been in existence for a few months, has an asset portfolio that mainly includes shopping centres. EPP is now planning further purchases, but of properties where there is the potential for increasing their value. The head of EPP tells us more about these planned acquisitions, as well as EPP’s development strategy and current market trends in the interview entitled ‘Hundreds of millions to spend”. Retail not only features in several other articles in our magazine but also in the 40-page ‘Retail for the New Age’ supplement. It is certainly worth a read – and not only in a beach restaurant in Cannes during Mapic.