Coronavirus and containment: a time to think

Hello,    Containment and telework are now a reality. This is an opportunity to seriously reflect on how we see real estate and our way of life around housing accommodation. Nature forces us to stop. Let us therefore reflect on how want the post-coronavirus society to be. The health crisis we are going through is unique. In a generation, few events are as striking as this one. Even 9/11 and its consequences on air transport, global surveillance, resulting wars ... didn't have such a deep impact on the daily lives of billions of people around the world and of course on the global economy.

Today, we are now going thought a health crisis, waging war on an invisible enemy whose assaults are nothing but real. At the end of this war, major questions concerning real estate development will surely be asked. For instance, elevators do not maintain the necessary safety distances between individuals during a pandemic. I'm mainly concerned about the elderly who cannot do without it in multi-floor buildings. Another example are door handles. Will they always be made of metal or will they be made of another material which could kill viruses and bacteria? We can also imagine an application that would open building doors without physical contact in order to reduce the risk of contamination to a minimum.

With globalization, the Coronavirus has spread very easily and living together is now a challenge more than ever. The spirit of solidarity and generosity demonstrated towards of the most vulnerable must encourage us to continue to do so, even after the danger of this crisis has been averted. Designated places should be set up where tenants can give or exchange groceries, share regular updates or even organize parties between neighbors. At Menetrey Housing, we provide our tenants with green outdoor spaces where they can meet and be protected from road traffic and as well as being able to keep their distance from each other when sanitary conditions require it.

With imposed telework, some realized that organizing yourself to work from home is indeed possible and you don’t necessarily lose efficiency. At the end of this crisis, chances are many employees will push towards the permanent implementation of flexible work place. Especially as technology allows it! The future office buildings will be uncertain and will probably have to be reconsidered.

Grocery stores and shopping malls are at a turning point in their business model. Online shopping has become the norm. Applications, computer servers and carriers are not keeping up with the demand that has exploded in recent weeks. A good example illustrating this situation is Leshop.ch, online store of Migros.

For entrepreneurs and freelancers, we ought to take advantage of this forced interruption to think about different business models. It will of course still be complicated for hairdressers and other beauty/body care providers, although home services is model worth investigating. Clothing and accessories stores will no longer be able to rely on "offering a different shopping experience to customers in our stores", but consider online sales as an equal if not greater part their revenue. Many companies like Zalando have business models based on it.

Questions on the different aspects of real estate are numerous and we should take advantage of "social distancing" to think not only about our way of life in general, but how we see it evolving in the future.

Gregory Menetrey

General Manager at Menetrey Housing