No Förderung, no transformation: Germany's green property reality

The closing panel at Berlin's Real Asset Finance & Debt Summit took its title from the scale of the challenge ahead: "Mammutaufgabe Transformation des Immobilienbestands" — the mammoth task of transforming Germany's existing property stock. An earlier panel had grappled with the consequences of the Zinswende, but this discussion took on an equally uncomfortable truth: Germany's real estate stock needs a fundamental energy overhaul, the economics of doing so barely stack up, and the industry knows it. The question is whether knowing it is enough.

Fritz Roth of Praeclarus Invest moderated a panel bringing together Marcus Buder, Head of Commercial Property Finance at Berliner Sparkasse; Bernhard Visker, Managing Director of B&L Real Estate; and Patrick Otto, Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Germany West at HypoVereinsbank, a member of UniCredit. The result was one of the more candid exchanges of the day.