Dive Brief:

• In an exercise in crystal-ball gazing, a group of experts in various aspects of commercial real estate gave their predictions for what buildings will be like by 2039.
• One prediction from Henry H. Chamberlain, head of the building-managers' group BOMA International, was that smart buildings will have so much technology built into them that it may be necessary to have IT expertise to be a manager.
• Another prediction was that brick-and-mortar retail will become a hybrid of store and warehouse to compete with online, and people will be able to see and touch in the store, then go home with the product from the warehouse out back.

Dive Insight:

The group provided seven predictions, which are all in the CNBC article. There were two ideas about shopping malls, though neither sees them as retail reality. One says they will be worth whatever can be done with the land on which they sit, and the other says at least some will be repurposed as community centers.