Alternative Business Models
Housing is not the only answer…
Herwig M. Peham MRICS
Head of Investment EHL Investment Consulting GmbH
EHL investment property specialist Herwig M. Peham on the underestimated flexibility of an investment property, alternatives to conventional residential, office and com- mercial use as well as promising strategies in a difficult legal and political environment.
Mr Peham: When the famous “rental cap“ was passed in an already difficult market phase, didn’t you wish you weren’t working as an investment property broker? Herwig M. Peham: Not really. That was definitely not good news for the market, but you have to take the legal and political environment as it is. When operating conditions change, you need to act professionally, change your strategies and develop new solutions.
at the city’s history: So many properties that were originally used for industrial or technical purposes were transformed into offices and only later converted into apartment buildings.
together with the experts at our roundtable discussion.
Where do you see other possibilities?
Peham: Healthcare still receives too little attention. There is also a full range of possibilities in this area. Government
OK, but what does that tell us for the future?
Peham: That the evaluation of alternatives to the current use is an excellent idea. New demands arise, and they form the basis for new opportunities. A good – and probably the most
Healthcare still receives too little attention. There is also a full range of possibilities in this area.
That sounds very theoretical – but an invest- ment property is an investment property…
important – example today is the hospitality area. It is, at the very least, an option for many properties and locations, simply because of the great variety: from hotels to serviced apartments, long-term rentals or daily short-term stays. Of course, specific technical expertise is needed to substan- tially increase the earnings and value of an investment property. But the potential is a subject I was able to examine more closely
Peham: And that is a very limited view- point, but not quite surprising because the flexibility of investment properties is normally underestimated. Naturally, the possibilities to modify the “hardware“, in other words the building substance, are limited, but the materialisation, meaning how the property is used, is not irrevers- ible. You can also see this when you look
programmes to increase the supply of registered doctors’ practices will lead to an additional demand for office facilities, and other related professionals, for example physiotherapists, will also need more space in the future. It is always particu- larly interesting when several healthcare practices locate in the same building – they
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