David BOURLA
“Codata’s main strengths lie in the comprehensiveness of its data and the wealth of historical data available.”
Could you introduce Newmark ?
Founded in 1929, Newmark is a leading global commercial real estate and corporate real estate advisory firm, supporting investors, companies and property owners with their real estate strategies.
With an international network of 185 offices and nearly 10,000 experts, Newmark draws on a global platform to address complex challenges relating to real estate investment, office leasing in Paris and property valuation.
The Paris team operates across Capital Markets (office, living & care, and retail), Leasing (retail and offices) and Valuation.
What are your responsibilities within the Research team?
The Research department at Newmark comprises six people covering all asset classes: office, retail, residential and industrial.
Our work focuses on three main areas:
• Advising our clients at every stage of a property’s lifecycle,
• Conducting market studies, preparing supporting materials for specific projects and producing presentations,
• Producing and publishing research covering all the asset classes within our scope. These studies are widely distributed among our clients and receive nationwide media coverage.
How do you use the Codata solution?
Within the Research department, we regularly use the Codata solution. Its data is extremely useful in complementing our expertise in the retail market. Personally, I have been using the solution for many years and particularly appreciate it.
As part of specific studies focusing on cities, commercial sites or shopping streets, Codata provides us with the data we need to:
- Monitor changes in these commercial sites,
- Access historical data on retailer movements, including openings and closures,
- Track changes in the tenant mix.
We use this data to produce statistics and identify trends that help illustrate national or local studies covering a wide variety of current topics.
At Newmark, we publish a study on the French retail real estate market twice a year, with each edition including a thematic focus. For example, we published a focus on changes among fashion retailers in France. In this context, we used Codata to complement our analysis of fashion retailers’ store networks, including changes in the number of stores, the largest chains and developments within the sector by market positioning, such as mass market, mid-market and high-end.
Beyond these more targeted uses, Codata also helps us monitor broader trends. This is why we consult the Codata Digest every year, a study that I find particularly well structured.
Some of our colleagues use Codata as part of leasing assignments, including search mandates or leasing mandates on behalf of a landlord. The solution allows them to visualise the tenant mix of a commercial site or shopping street.
We also use the Retailer Index Cards, which allow us to monitor changes in retailers’ store networks and identify expansion or contraction trends among certain retailers.
One of Codata’s major strengths is its historical data. Being able to gain a long-term perspective on retail dynamics in France is particularly useful and valuable.
Personally, I find it very informative to follow data series and consult mapped plans.
I also appreciate the thematic analyses provided by Codata through its own studies, including changes by business sector and retailer rankings. These various rankings and publications allow us to validate certain trends that we have identified but for which we do not necessarily have exhaustive data covering the whole of France or a retailer’s entire store network.
Finally, Codata’s cartographic interface gives us an overall view of the retail offer within a commercial site.
In your opinion, what are the main strengths of the Codata solution?
Codata’s main strengths lie in the comprehensiveness of its data and the wealth of historical data available. In addition, the solution’s interface is intuitive, comprehensive and pleasant to use.