Despite financial wobbles in Europe, tremors from Brexit, and uncertainty following the US presidential election, Nova is happy to report that 2016 was a brilliant year for our International business, and 2017 is shaping up to be even stronger. Nova’s business in Europe, Australia and Asia continues to grow across a variety of sectors. We believe this is partly due to strong USD exchange rates but also, largely, to the level of service and quality of products Nova offers its clients both domestically and abroad.
The international sectors that saw the most activity in 2016 and early 2017 include:
Retail – Sites ranged from small boutiques to one of London’s most prestigious shopping centres.
Warehouse/Commercial – This includes a number of 1 million+ square-foot assets for leading global retailers.
Office – In close third place come office properties in a number of major European cities.
Hotel/Residential – The hotel and student accommodation markets also performed well.
In Europe, Nova’s most active markets are the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, where we have regularly had both portfolio projects and single projects. Nova also continues its brownfield work in the UK, where we provide technical advice, due diligence, site investigation and remediation design for heavily impacted development projects on landfills, chemical works, steelworks and ports.
Project highlights in these countries include:
London, UK – Property and environmental assessment of a 1m sq. ft., belowground prime retail site, including assessment of long-term planned preventative maintenance schedules.
Germany – Property and environmental assessment of 30 retail sites across Germany.
Maastricht Aachen Airport, Netherlands – Red flag assessment of a warehouse facility at Maasricht Aachen Airport in Beek.
Netherlands – Building and environmental assessment of a portfolio of large Grade A offices in major cities across the Netherlands.
Sheffield Steelworks, UK – Site investigation and technical and cost advice on the redevelopment of this strategic 40+ acre site.
France, Italy and Spain were also stronger in 2016, as were Japan and Australia, where office and student accommodation lead the way. In Melbourne, Australia, Nova was contracted for building and environmental assessment of a 20-story block in the Central Business District.
In the first months of 2017, we have already seen strong demand in the retail, warehouse and hotel sectors, and all indications are that this trend will continue.
As always, Nova’s primary aim is to help our clients meet their goals and manage risk. International work can easily be commissioned through your usual Nova Project Manager. In addition, this year we will be attending a number of conferences where we are happy to meet and discuss potential projects and outline how we can assist.
MIPIM – Cannes, France – March 14-17, 2017
CREFC – Washington, US – June 5-7, 2017
Expo Real – Munich, Germany – October