The rise of e-commerce and of flexible working habits is part of a larger phenomenon, triggered by the digitalization of the economy. Stoneweg forecasts that as entire industries go immaterial, real estate will be deeply and lastingly impacted.
As the company launches its Swiss commercial real estate strategy, it shuns away from standard offices or classic shopping malls. Rather, it is investing exclusively in buildings that will profit from the digitalization of the economy – realtech assets, such as health and sport assets, food-court and entertainment hubs, coworking spaces, logistic hubs, and data centers.
Last month Stoneweg acquired the iLife leasure center for CHF 53.5 Million. Located between Geneva and Lausanne, the iLife center boasts 9’500 sqm of food courts, pop-up entertainment space, kids club, showrooms, and flexible office space. Built in 2015, it proved wildly popular in the region.
Earlier this year, Stoneweg bought a 3’000 sqm fitness center in Gland, the largest in the lake Geneva area, and let it to Let’s Go Fitness, a leader in Western Switzerland. Stoneweg bets that gyms will be increasingly sought after as a hedge against adverse effects of digitalization on real estate.
