Property owners and developers are hastening the pace of adoption of novel technology, presenting new solutions to improve consumer and tenant experience and to enhance operational efficiency.
A meeting at the ULI Singapore Annual Conference which was held in February 2019 brought together leading regional players and senior executives to express their experiences with deploying new technology in their organizations.
In 2016, Qingjian Realty, residential property developer launched a “smart home” concept at its executive condominium project, Singapore.
Consumers could select several features such as smart digital lockets which allows residents to lock & unlock their home doors remotely through an app, also internet cameras which enable consumers to monitor their homes from other locations.
“At that time, we supposed maybe not many consumers will take up the new technology (smart home), as the idea was new in the market,” stated Yen Chong, Deputy General Manager, Qingjian Realty Group.
“To our surprise, more than 80% of customers took up the smart home packages.” The property developers have since launched smart features in their other developments in the last two years.
CapitaLand, which manages and owns commercial, retail, and residential properties, developed the in-house building management project around past two years.
That system implements data analytics and sensors to enhance energy efficiency and maintenance of its services. Finally, the company has decreased its energy outlays by 5% to 10% since past 1 to 2 years, reported Ronald Tay, Chief Executive Officer, CapitaLand Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
To ensure that it brought new changes in Technology, CapitaLand also introduced a US$ 10 million venture capital stock to invest in startup companies with the potential to launch disruptive technology in the area of real estate.
Hong Kong Land has significantly extended its online retail existence in recent years after knowing that even luxury shoppers are wandering to e-commerce platforms for acquisitions.
The company set up a 5 member team to discover real estate technology applications which could be executed across its real estate-related businesses. In particular, it concentrated on technology which could improve the consumer experience and enhance the transparency of its operations.