how do you see the real estate market evolving due to the events of last year and the consequent acceleration of hybrid working patterns and customer reticence to visit crowed spaces?

I believe that the main trends will be flexibility and transversality. This period we are living will leave us three elements that will have to coexist: the habit of prudence, the desire to recover sociality (in the workplace, study, in our free time, etc.) and the redefinition of values and personal priorities, fruit of the circumstances and reflections that followed.
In my opinion, the consequence of this will be “hybrids” formula not only in work models, but all aspects of our life.
Before the emergency, mix- use structures – neighborhoods or buildings – in both public and private spaces were already emerging as a successful. Services not for the exclusive benefit of the occupants of the buildings but rather deliberately aimed at different users. This transversality has already been rewarded in some cases because it proved successful during the emergency period.
Furthermore, the flexibility of the spaces will prevail. With regard to offices, we expect – and we are witnessing – to a development suitable for smart working: non assigned workstations, used on rotation, and, above all, greater importance and space assigned to meeting rooms and shared spaces – sometimes even in the coffee corner areas or in the canteen, in some cases even the reception area – as the presence in the office will be linked more to meeting colleagues and customers rather than to individual work, which can be carried out at home or in other areas.

In the same way, the halls and common areas of accommodation facilities are being transformed, becoming work and meeting spaces as well as losing their function as check-in spaces – useless queues, useless crowds, useless waiting: technology frees an environment that can serve more profitable purposes. The same happens with regards to residential structures – student housing, senior housing – that will see shared spaces useful for more functions. It is conceivable that the same trend also affects other functions.

the last couple of years have seen the massive ‘re-introduction’ of food concepts as catalyst of ‘experiences’ with restaurants and groceries replacing out-going mid-range fashion concepts.
how important is food – restaurant, eateries, bars, groceries and supermarkets – for properties both is terms of revenues as well as aggregator?

The link between food and the real estate market has strengthened in recent years, as demonstrated by the demand for commercial spaces intended for catering: about 20% of companies that turn to brokers for rent want to start a catering business. The main Italian cities all recorded the same type of behavior.

In recent years, the growing tourist attractiveness of the cities of art, the dawn of television formats dedicated to food, the impact of events and summits – like Expo in Milan – have been driving the catering sector and sustained a gastronomic boom.
Multi-ethnic restaurants have increased, new formats have debuted and numerous excellent chefs have opened restaurants, many of which are Michelin starred.
In general, on a national level, we have noticed that who opens a restaurant aims for pass-by positioning especially in the start-up phase and in the case a fast food or take-away establishment. The latter targets small spaces and high-traffic streets, even better if they are touristy or in a “nightlife” spot.
Those who intend opening a restaurant with a certain number of place settings, requiring larger spaces, sometimes opt for more peripheral locations with a discrete passage.
This is especially true for those locations that can already boast a loyal clientele that remain devoted regardless of the location. In recent years, many have also moved location to reduce rental costs. The Michelin starred restaurants are patronized by customers who not only want to eat well but want to live a real sensory culinary experience. A type of customer who, allocating an above-average budget to satisfy their palate, decides to go to that specific restaurant rather than another.

what is the percentage of area dedicated to food – grocery, food halls, eateries, restaurants, bar – in properties under your management? is it going to increase?

If we consider shopping centers with GLA of 40,000 – 50,000 m2 as the reference segment, the average incidence of the area dedicated to food is between 5 and 8%, with a tendency to increase these spaces in the coming years, to up to 10-12%.
It is important to underline that this is a trend already established before the start of the emergency period, relating to a strategic choice of strengthening two components within the retail structures: implementing mixed-use – with a view to having a place dedicated not exclusively to shopping but also to leisure and experienced at different times of the day – and to refine the experience linked to food.

what kind of models/concepts have been penalized by last year’s situation and which projects thrived? what kind of food shops/concepts are again becoming relevant as an anchor?

The structures most penalized were food courts in shopping centers – often closed during the weekend – those with exceptionally large but exclusive indoor spaces and the catering establishments serving the business districts, which remained largely deserted during lock-down – sometimes even today – due to the introduction in a systematic way of smart working. On the contrary, businesses that had the opportunity to take advantage of open and external spaces, of the “drive-through” systems (including McDonald’s, for which the order / collection method by car was already an element of success before Covid-19) and the ability to exploit digitization to increase take-away and home deliveries (and last but not least its visibility on the market pending the end of the emergency).
On the other hand, the introduction of smart working has favored and at times revitalized businesses in local contexts, less patronized in the past, which at times have been able to seize the opportunity to retain new customers.

to what extent have you been assisting to a digitization with regard to food operators?

The digitization process has been massive and involved operators on all levels, from smaller / family-run businesses to very high-end / star-rated ones, both in the restaurant sector and for the sale of food products. The change has been quite rapid – often unavoidable for the survival of food enterprises. It happen mainly through food delivery channels – Deliveroo, Just Eat, etc. – and an increased activation of social media profiles by individual businesses, as well as aggregated accounts – i.e. tourist resorts “showcased” multiple services and companies on Instagram.

what would be your recommendation to food operators entering malls or mixed used projects today?

Giving any advice in this time of uncertainty is difficult, but we see two trends emerging above all.

More and more restaurants are expected to also sell their produce through physical shops and e-commerce. Secondly, the offer of all-day meals could take hold, not just the “classical” lunch and dinner.

The people who increasingly combine the offer of food with technological solutions deserve a separate consideration. Who during the pandemic did not use digital services for the first time, a clear sign of our digitization?
It is reasonable to imagine that those who want to be a protagonist in the restaurant sector of the near future will have to combine all traditional offers with contact-less payment methods, online reservations, solutions for delivery and take-away, digital menus and gift cards.
In terms of eating habits, among the trends of the coming years, anti-waste recipes, products with a low environmental impact or even the climatic diet will increasingly take hold, thanks to the growing sensitivity of the public towards issues related to sustainability.