2025 PropTech forecast from the JLL Spark team

Welcome 2025! In the spirit of forecasting (or manifesting) what the new year will bring, the JLL Spark team compiled their predictions on CRE themes for the year ahead. The top trends identified were sustainability, data center growth, a rebound in the CRE landscape, and – last, but not least – AI. Many of our predictions in 2024 came to fruition, such as the fed rate cut, spotlight on sustainability, a push for the return to office, to name a few. Will the same ring true for this year? Only time will tell… 

Sustainability has been a buzzword since the UN made an official push for ESG in its 2004 report Who Cares Wins. In the U.S., the effort dates to 2000 when the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building rating system for new construction was publicly launched. Fast forward to 2020 when JLL set science-based targets on sustainability and since then our strategy at JLL Spark is to bring tech innovations to the built world, especially in companies seeking to increase sustainability levels across the industry.  

“Despite constrained corporate budgets, decarbonization initiatives will remain a key focus. PropTech solutions that integrate green features into properties and leverage technology, particularly AI-driven systems, to reduce energy consumption are expected to attract the most interest.”
Danny Klein, VP of Innovation 

“Sustainability will be a key growth area, due to increasing focus and regulation around climate change and energy efficiency. We will continue to see new green building solutions, IoT-enabled energy management systems, and technologies that help property owners meet sustainability targets and comply with evolving regulations.”
Carolyn Trickett, Growth Principal 

Data centers were around in the 1990s to support the birth of the internet but are enjoying the limelight with the recent hypergrowth of cloud computing, IoT, and AI. The challenge is to balance the environmental impacts with modern business and society’s appetite for digital consumption.  

“The data center space will get very creative on multiple fronts (power, water, design, construction etc.) to continue its boom through 2025 and beyond.”
Raj Singh, Managing Partner 

“Expect a surge in startups serving the data center industry, focusing on energy efficiency and operational optimization. Simultaneously, we’ll see growth in companies developing alternative energy solutions like advanced nuclear and next-gen solar technologies. These innovations will address the increasing energy demands of both data centers and the broader real estate sector, while combating carbon footprints.”
Sonia El-Sherif, Chief-of-Staff 

Adoption of PropTech will gain traction in 2025 as property owners and operators finally see the value in investing in technology solutions to improve tenant experience and their bottom line. 

“The deployment of capital towards Property Technology will remain cautious, although there could be accelerants such as:  

• The need for more workplace management technology, to manage space in a more dynamic and efficient way, without sacrificing user comfort 

• The increasing pressure to build, operate, and manage more sustainable property portfolios  

• The growth of data centers around the world, which will also require specific solutions to reduce energy consumption and optimize their operations  

Solutions with the quickest payback time or strongest perceived ROI (particularly on cost reductions that will impact energy, space, and labor) will win over the nice-to-haves.”
Arnaud Bouzinac, Growth Principal 

“Real estate is predictably cyclical, so it’s reasonable to anticipate the strong return of leasing and capital markets transactions. What will be unique about this recovery is a new generation of investors, developers, brokers, and dealmakers who emerge victorious because they leveraged technology to outperform those who didn’t. From AI/ML advances that are streamlining operations and due diligence, to the massive amounts of hyper-specific CRE data that did not exist in previous cycles, it’s an exciting time for the industry. This won’t be just a typical rebound – expect to see technology drive the fundamental transformation of our industry, while the market is at its busiest. For those willing to embrace change, this will be a rare opportunity to take advantage of.”
Daniel Correa, Growth Principal 

According to Wikipedia, the AI boom was an ongoing period of rapid progress in the field of artificial intelligence that started in the late 2010s before gaining international prominence in the early 2020s. Generative AI then exploded in popularity in 2022 when OpenAI released its chatbot, ChatGPT, to the public, inciting a race within all industries, CRE included. JLL Spark’s investments in AI-based PropTech solutions include Elise AI, qbiq, Ren, PROBIS, with more to come in 2025. 

“As AI continues its rapid advancement, we foresee exponential growth in robotic applications, particularly in areas such as security, maintenance, and building management. The projected decrease in both hardware and software costs are expected to accelerate this trend, potentially leading to widespread automation in workplaces by 2025 and the years following.”
Laurent Grill, Partner 

“Given the speed of AI development, and overall simplicity of the tasks required, real estate functions will be taken over by AI agents in 2025. PropTech companies will build AI agents into all sorts of previously untapped service verticals, both B2B and B2C.  Customers won’t be able to tell the difference and will welcome the increased quality of service.”
Sean Wright, Investment Principal 

“While 2023/24 made the world comfortable with chat interfaces and generative AI, 2025 will be the year CRE organizations begin integrating meaningful AI applications directly into their workflows and systems without needing to prompt. Examples here can be automated data standardization, report generation, and client/target identification.”
Ajey Kaushal, Investment Principal 

“Companies will prioritize integrating AI into their respective workflows to address cost pressures and the complexity of business decision-making, especially in commercial real estate. The risk of not investing in AI could not be higher as enterprise customers will demand exceptional service and swift problem-solving capabilities at a lower cost to remain competitive globally.”
Erlinda Arriola, Senior Investment Associate 

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