A message from the Real Estate Committee, May 2020

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Dear Real Estate Section members,

It has been a challenging few months for all of us. The real estate sector was one of the first and most affected by the pandemic. As the IBA Real Estate Section, we have made several efforts to provide timely guidance and support to all of our members to help you deal with issues arising from the outbreak and country regulations.

As you know, the outbreak of the pandemic forced us to postpone our Annual Real Estate Investments Conference in Amsterdam, scheduled for the end of March 2020. We have been working closely with the IBA to confirm a new date, basing our decision on latest reports to make sure that all of you feel comfortable to attend the event. Please follow the IBA’s communication closely for an announcement of the new timing (in 2021), which should be made soon.

Over the past month we have been working closely with the IBA to update our communication to members including our website, which we plan to make more user-friendly and include a Covid-19-specific section. We have prepared a ‘Covid-19 relief measures: commercial leases’ publication which provides an overview of measures in 16 jurisdictions. It is currently available on our website and the IBA Covid-19 hub page along with other relief overviews.

Although our plans to meet personally to share knowledge, catch up with friends and breathe the air in the mix of ancient culture and booming new development in Amsterdam were postponed to 2021, for 2020 we are organising some webinars for an exchange of knowledge and experience and to discuss possibilities and measures for our sector to deal with the Covid-19 crisis.
 
The Real Estate Section’s first webinar was held on 26 May.  The webinar’s title was ‘Force majeure in real estate contracts and leases – a comparative jurisdiction analysis with a focus on Covid-19 ’. During the webinar the panelists discussed the subject of force majeure in the context of Covid-19 in detail, with a specific focus on real estate contracts and leases, and provided practical guidance on how to approach this topic in unpredictable Covid-19 affected times.  The webinar had over 990 registrants – a fantastic number for the IBA and our Real Estate Section.  Michael Lunjevich, of Hadef & Partners (Dubai), and the Senior Vice Chair of the Real Estate Section, was the moderator.  The panel included two speakers from Civil Law jurisdictions: Mariette Lafarre, of Lafarre Law Firm (Amsterdam), Treasurer of the Real Estate Section, and Cristiana Moreira, of BMA (Rio de Janeiro), Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the Real Estate Section; and two speakers from Common Law jurisdictions: Sushant Shetty, of Fox Mandal & Associates (Mumbai), Website Officer of the Real Estate Committee; and Philip Skinner, of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP (Atlanta), Co-Chair of the Real Estate Committee. The webinar was recorded and can be viewed by accessing a link on the IBA website.

The next webinar, 'Re-opening the Office: a comparative guide on the issues and best practices' will take place next Tuesday, 2 June at 1300 BST

Topics include:

• Preparing the building;
• Addressing employee concerns & requirements;
• What is the new normal for occupiers, owners and building managers? and
• What are the consequences for demand, pricing & sustainability issues?

We are planning to have more webinars in the future as we feel that this is a great way to keep in touch with all of you and share our knowledge and experience until we can meet in person again.  If you have any suggestions for webinar topics or would like to participate as a panellist please contact philip.skinner@agg.comor any of the other officers of the Real Estate Committee.

In the meantime, we will continue our publication efforts and are working to bring you special e-bulletins with articles specifically written for and by our members on various aspects relating to issues facing the real estate sector in months to come.

If you would like to submit an article or any other material relating to real estate issues or topics for publication on the Real Estate Newsletter and in the Section e-bulletins, please email them to mseabra@machadomeyer.com.br for consideration. We also welcome any suggestions that you may have on how the Section can do more for its members during this crisis.

Take care and stay safe

Izabela Zielinska-Barlozek
Co-Chair, Real Estate Section
izabela.zielinska@wardynski.com.pl

Philip Skinner
Co-Chair, Real Estate Section
philip.skinner@agg.com

Maria Flavia Seabra
Newsletter Editor, Real Estate Section
mseabra@mmso.com.br

Andrew Monteith
Officer, Real Estate Section
andrew.monteith@minterellison.co.nz

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