Having settled into our new surroundings on day one, day two of MIPIM 2016 is already living up to its reputation of being the busiest of the week. Unfortunately, the weather has not been so kind but we will remain positive and hope it improves before we host our cocktail party tonight.
Meetings with clients and peers in the market have been scheduled every half an hour for the DLA Piper team. The energy is quite something.
A Benelux breakfast was the first meeting in the diary this morning and the event was well attended with investors expressing a positive outlook for the region in 2016.
Also this morning we co-hosted a panel with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) on cross cultural negotiations. An array of speakers gave their highlights on the tips and tricks needed to transact real esate business across borders successfully. An informative event – it was good to see common issues and practices discussed by panel members and audience participants.
In the afternoon my DLA Piper colleagues will host a sustainability event in conjunction with Generali. As an American it will be interesting to get a European viewpoint on sustainable buildings – it certainly appears to be a concept that is here to stay in the real estate sector (which explains why it is a headline theme for MIPIM 2016). The sustainability event will address the need for corporate occupiers to be supplied with office buildings which are both economical and energy efficient – a challenge (and opportunity!) for the real estate industry.
This evening will bring DLA Piper’s annual MIPIM cocktail reception, and an opportunity again to welcome an array of clients and let them enjoy a relaxing drink on our boat, the Lalibela, after a busy day of networking and presenting. We are expecting a great turnout from clients, as well as some new faces we have met along the way.
Let us see what the night time discussions bring…
John Sullivan is a partner and chair of DLA Piper’s US real estate practice
