1. The impact of accessibility on the location value of commercial real estate Bart De Smedt Prof. Dr. Ann Verhetsel Department of Transport and Regional Economics University of Antwerp ERES Conference 2009 – June 24th - Stockholm Royal institute of Technology

2. 1 Introduction Globalisation  Obliterating role of space and location Porter (1998) Competitive advantages still heavily localized.  Importance of spatial proximity and face to face contacts. Each global decision has its micro economic implications in which location is still a key element.

3. 2 Qualitative research Role of accessibility within the broader set of location factors - Which are the different location factors that influence a location decision? - Changes in time? - Changes in importance related to specific sectors (Logistics, Offices, Retail) Clear definition of accessibility

4. 3 Location factors: from cost reduction to quality and network benefits PrimarySecondaryTertiary Economic Neoclassical factors Behavioral factors Before 1950 Transport cost Labour costs After 1950 Presence of the market Presence of supplying companies Agglomeration economies From 1980 Knowledge Technology Political, social and cultural influence

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6. 5 Definition accessibility Based on Geurs and Ritsema van Eck (2001) -Transport component (transport cost, travel time) -Land-use component (location and spreading, demand and supply) -Temporal component (time constraints of participants and network) -Individual component (subjective needs and abilities)

7. 6 Quantitative research Different sectors of commercial real estate (Logistics, offices and retail) Different accessibility profiles (car, rail, inland waterway, airport, harbor)  How do the different sectors react on different accessibility profiles and how is it reflected in the location value?

8. 7 Revealed preference Based on a large set of transaction data  Challenge due to strong protective attitude of Belgian real estate market. Import them in GIS related environment and add an accessibility profile to each transfer. Based on comparison certain typologies will appear between accessibility and location value.

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10. 9 Spatial Occupation of Offices in Brussels (1950) Spatial Occupation of Offices in Brussels (2005)

11. 10 District North European Area Central Station

12. 11 Stated preference DISCRETE CHOICE MODELING Based on the typologies we can build up discrete choices to further analyze which accessibility attributes have the largest impact on location value. The respondents will be asked to make trade-offs between certain attributes.

13. 12 Goal of further research To identify and quantify the magnitude of the accessibility attributes that are important for each sector. To identify if there are sector specific policy issues that are disclosed by the comparison of the revealed and the stated preference.

14. 13 Thank you for your attention.