Hannover. Starting next year, Northern Germany will benefit from a new trade show for real estate and urban development titled Real Estate Arena. The new show is a joint venture between Deutsche Messe and Real Estate Events GmbH and premieres at the Hannover Exhibition Center on 26 and 27 May 2021.

Real Estate Arena focuses on topics to do with the planning, development and operation of office, retail, residential, commercial, industrial and logistics real estate as well as issues around urban and community development. As such, it also deals with sustainability, climate change, urbanization and social responsibility.

"The real estate market is booming, with no end in sight," remarked Deutsche Messe Managing Board Chairman Dr. Jochen Köckler on Thursday in Hannover. "Demand for office, residential, commercial and industrial space is growing rapidly, and there's no end in sight. Added to that, the real estate industry is under mounting pressure from a steady stream of new challenges. We therefore see major potential for such a show in Northern Germany," he said. "The purpose of Real Estate Arena is to support a changing real estate industry by building bridges between today's commercial realities and tomorrow's challenges, between business, politics and society, and between opposing positions."

Deutsche Messe's decision to stage Real Estate Arena is based on extensive dialogue with more than a dozen real estate experts aimed at developing an event that truly meets the needs of the market. "Real Estate Arena represents a new approach for us in the sense that we've adopted the co-creation philosophy that has been put to such successful effect in other industries, such as the commercial vehicle industry," said Köckler. "It's all about product development for the customer, in close dialogue with the customer."

This dialogue process revealed a need for a new platform in Northern Germany that addresses the central issues and challenges facing the real estate industry. "Other real estate industry events typically fail to devote sufficient attention to the needs of small and mid-sized cities and non-urban areas," explained Real Estate Events CEO Thomas Westfehling. "Yet that is the part of the market that most needs fresh ideas and momentum – and that includes places outside of ‘A' locations." Westfehling noted that the urban areas of Northern and Western Germany, particularly Hannover and numerous middle-tier centers, currently offer strong potential for development. "Real Estate Arena is a fresh, new format that is dedicated to connection, interaction and innovation. It also focuses on the all-important bridge of communication between the real-estate industry and lawmakers," he said.

The official patron of Real Estate Arena is Olaf Lies, the Minister of Economic Affairs, Employment and Transport of the German state of Lower Saxony. "The building and construction industry as a whole faces major challenges in light of steadily rising rents and real estate prices,"explained Lies. "That's why our state government and the housing industry two years ago formed an alliance for affordable housing and have since been collaborating in the housing affordability space – successfully and with great commitment. It's also why we need a fresh, new event format that leverages Hannover's international clout as a tradeshow location to address important housing industry issues, bring together key industry players, and provide a platform for discussing the concerns of the people of Northern Germany and the challenges facing the real estate industry at large."

The Lower Saxony/Bremen Association of Independent Real Estate and Housing Companies (BFW-NB) has also confirmed that it will be a partner of Real Estate Arena. "We are very happy to support this new event," commented CEO David Huber. "Northern Germany is a strong real estate market, so it is good that the region now has its own tradeshow platform for real estate industry topics."

Hannover's BAUM real estate group has likewise already confirmed that it will be taking part in the new show. Its CEO, Gregor Baum, has supported the plans for a real estate industry tradeshow in Hannover right from the outset. "We really like the idea of having a real estate industry platform here in Northern Germany," he said. "We're particularly excited about how it will promote greater interplay between the industry and lawmakers while at the same time stimulating business and laying the groundwork for solving today's and tomorrow's challenge."

Real Estate Arena is a seamless fusion of trade show and conferences. It will feature four main thematic parts. The first, "Digital Real Estate", explores the rapid digitalization of the real estate industry, focusing on services, asset management, online portals, software solutions and building information modeling (BIM). The "Business Space and Community Development" section is where architects, urban planners, property, asset and facility managers, construction firms and realtors showcase their services. The "Future Real Estate" showcase is dedicated to sustainability, smart-city themes, mobility, technology, and new construction materials and methods. "Project Development", the biggest section of the show, deals with the development and financing of office, hotel, retail, industrial, logistics, commercial and residential projects. And to round it all off, Real Estate Arena will feature areas dedicated to "Economic Regions" and "Universities".

The show will also have a strong focus on the recruitment of skilled labor. This is a major challenge for the real estate industry, with shortages of suitably qualified personal often hindering growth. The displays on recruitment will be supported by examples of current best practice in the real estate industry.

The show will also feature a highly attractive conference program. "Conference attendees can look forward to quality speakers, quality content and exciting coverage of opposing – and in some cases controversial – positions," explained Köckler. "We're now working hard on creating exactly the right mix of topics. At Real Estate Arena there will be no boring product presentations." In order to ensure the conference content is well integrated into the overall Real Estate Arena program, the conference stage will be positioned at the center of the hall, thus forming a central hub surrounded by exhibitors' stands.

Deutsche Messe is aiming to make participation in Real Estate Arena a very easy choice. Those who do not wish to build their own stands can simply rent high-quality, turnkey workstations which they can use to showcase their offerings. And for added exposure, participating companies will be able to choose from an extensive range of sponsorship packages. The organizers anticipate that the show will feature some 100 companies as exhibitors and sponsors and attract roughly 3,000 attendees. Exhibiting companies will be able to use complimentary admission tickets as a way of making invitation campaigns even more successful. Standard admission tickets will cost €199.