2025-Innovators in Commercial Real Estate-Nicole Fenton of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Beyond Buildings: How do you see innovation in commercial real estate creating a broader impact on communities and the people who live and work in them? Innovations in technology, like 3-D printing of panels used to construct anything from single-family homes to warehouses, could be hugely impactful by reducing construction timelines and increasing energy efficiency. This can also be used to help rebuild weather-damaged communities and provide building materials that protect against the elements. Their customizability also allows them to fit harmoniously within each community where they are used.

Innovative Outlook: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation in the commercial real estate sector? Our world runs on data, and that data depends on power — mainly electricity, which isn’t always reliable. Concerns about grid demand and outages are real. The biggest opportunities in CRE lie in building and operating dependable networks and data centers in ways that don’t rely on the grid. Innovations in power generation and storage along with next-gen construction methodologies, like 3-D printing, will be critical components of these facilities.