When it comes to real estate, standing still is not an option.
Around the world, ever-changing patterns and pressures on living, shopping and working are reshaping the core asset classes, while social shifts blurring online and offline life are impacting attention, focus, audience breadth, and whole new typologies of immersive or digital experiences.
This isn’t only shaping new development. Asset owners and managers of long-established pieces of city – from shopping malls to central business districts, from office parks to exhibition centres – are now prompted to take an open-minded and critical look at their assets, in this new world. Key drivers include:
- Overexposure to a particular use, such as traditional office or retail, that no longer draws the same occupancy or footfall;
- A noticeably-vacant ground plane, and lack of experiential uses and inviting public spaces, that makes the place feel dead – and leaves value on the table;
- Unbuilt portions of the site, such as surface car parking, that may offer untapped density relative to market potential or having been unlocked by transit infrastructure;
- New investors or consolidated ownership that offer impetus to think holistically and strategically
Extend. Augment. Adapt. Infill. Activate. Evolve. There are many ways to jump into asset repositioning. From London’s Olympia to San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid Centre, MurrayTwohig has worked with real estate clients all over the world as they face exactly these opportunities. Inspired by this work, we’re sharing eight place prompts for asset repositioning:
A Reason to Be
Before making physical changes, asset managers should ask a fundamental question: what purpose does this place serve in its next era? Embarking on repositioning is a perfect time to revisit and evolve vision, and clarify objectives so that any interventions are purpose-led, and lean into the special nature of the place. This also means identifying champions, and creating a consensus direction, to move forward with confidence.
Ditching Single-Use
Many properties were designed for market conditions that no longer exist. Repositioning creates an opportunity to reassess the optimal mix of uses—introducing residential, hospitality, culture, or experiential retail that better aligns with contemporary demand and diversifies revenue streams. Thinking about the whole district, rather than just individual buildings, energises teams to connect the place pieces in new, more valuable ways.
From the Ground Up
The interface between a building and the public realm is often the most powerful lever for transformation: small smart moves at the ground plane can create major value development-wide. Intentionally curated ground floors—through food, retail, cultural uses, and other active frontages—can dramatically increase foot traffic and reposition an asset as part of a vibrant urban environment. Time spent on retail and F+B strategy is time well spent.
Unpacking ‘24/7/365’
In repositioning, more liveliness is often a goal. No single audience can make a place busy all week, and year-round, and so focus should be on attracting different users with spaces and programming appropriate to their needs. Understanding what locals love about a place, and how community can be nurtured, is a great starting point. If you make those that are near happy, those that are far will come.
Activation as Catalyst
Great gathering spaces are essential to city life. Improving public spaces and their programming should be at the top of every asset manager’s toolkit – creating an inviting environment that nurtures street life, and making sure there’s always something happening with a strategic programming calendar tailored to target audiences and to natural footfall ebbs and flows.
Open-Minded Culture
Destination draws are often part of the repositioning equation. Anchor attractions may be the right solutions for some developments, but for many places, careful attention to finer-grain retail and F+B curation, coupled with flexible programmable platforms, is a great path forward. These ‘black box’ facilities may be interior venues, or event-ready outdoor spaces, flexibly enabled to host shows, concerts, performances, digital experiences, commuting gatherings, and private events.
Quick Wins, and a Long View
Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. Temporary uses, pop-ups, events, and pilot projects can build audience and test ideas while longer-term redevelopment phases take shape. Staged placemaking, considering the offer and impact of each phase, must be foundational to any redevelopment efforts, including coordinating actions and activities with lease expiration dates.
Comfortable in the Grey Areas
Real estate today will be different than real estate tomorrow. The ultimate goal of asset repositioning is not simply to improve short-term performance, but to future-proof the place and create value. The best place strategies embed resilience: flexible spaces, adaptable uses, and a strong sense of purpose allow properties to evolve with changing markets, ensuring relevance and value over time.