Earlier this month, I attended MIPIM 2024, the annual real estate industry gathering in Cannes along with a number of Sirius Real Estate colleagues.

Those of you who know me well, know that I believe strongly that there is no substitute for meeting investors, partners, customers and contacts face-to-face, and so I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone I met and caught-up with during the week.

MIPIM always goes by in such a whirl of activity. It’s only when looking back at the week as a whole, that you’re able to fully tie all the meetings, events and conversations together and properly consider the overarching themes from the week.

Looking back, I think there are three specific themes that stood out for me:

1. (Very) cautious optimism

After a very uncertain few years both geopolitically and economically, the pace of optimism is certainly increasing. Markets are beginning to turn, responding to falling inflation and the positive signs on the horizon for interest rates. That said, our collective outlook is surely still one of significant caution. Elections across Europe, in the UK and further afield – most notably in the US – compounded with an ever-growing list of geopolitical tensions were never far from discussions at MIPIM. Some of these risks may already be priced into the market, but only time will tell by how much.

2. Data factories

It’s not news to anyone that the rising demand for cloud computing and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to significant investment in data centre capacity across Europe. What is more interesting is the broadening of this investment beyond the traditional tier-1 markets like Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris. Kiril Zavadov, head of real estate equity at Pimco, summed this up well at MIPIM by arguing that Tier-2 markets like Berlin are where a lot of the demand is going to be in the coming three to five years.

It’s clear to me that it is the industrial locations on the edge of towns that have housed factories for the last century are also the prime locations for the modern data factories that will power economic growth in the decades to come. 

3. Inclusivity

MIPIM has changed for the better in recent years. It’s more productive with a higher-quality attendee list. It’s also positive to see the organisers placing a stronger emphasis on diversity and inclusion, ensuring the best and widest range of voices are represented – regardless of their background, gender or race. Most critically, an inclusive environment at MIPIM and across the real estate sector creates a better environment for every individual to thrive, but there are broader benefits too: an inclusive, diverse industry is better for business and better for economic growth.