How Blockchain Is Revolutionizing Real Estate: Inside Build21's Innovative Approach

Imagine not just one, but twenty-one construction sites, all buzzing with groundbreaking blockchain technology. At Build21, blockchain is not just a tool; it's a game-changer that’s about to revolutionize the real estate industry from the ground up.
Traditionally seen as a bastion of complex transactions and exclusive investment opportunities, the real estate industry, is on the brink of a revolution thanks to blockchain technology, and Build21 is here to make it happen.
If you need a good reason why this could be the future, look no further.
Here are seven reasons, one for every day of the week:

1. Community-centric approach in blockchain real estate
   At its core, Build21 is about empowering communities. Blockchain technology enables a unique ecosystem involving various stakeholders: architects, engineers, builders, legal professionals, sociologists, end-users, and investors. This approach ensures that everyone involved has a voice and a stake in the development processes. By facilitating widespread participation, blockchain technology helps ensure that projects not only meet regulatory standards but also the practical needs and values of the community they serve.
2. Opening doors to decentralized real estate investments
   One of Build21’s visionary goals is democratizing access to real estate investment. Blockchain technology allows the company to offer inclusive investment opportunities, making it possible for individuals across different financial backgrounds to invest in real estate projects. This is a significant shift from traditional real estate investments, which are often limited to wealthy individuals or institutional investors.
3. Ensuring transparency in real estate transactions
   Transparency is the cornerstone of trust and collaboration in any sector and it is particularly crucial in real estate. Blockchain’s transparency ensures that all actions are recorded on a public ledger, accessible to all parties. This level of openness helps build, not only a home but trust among stakeholders as well. It makes the decision-making process clear and accountable.
4. Disruptive innovations with smart contracts
   Build21 leverages blockchain technology to introduce disruptive innovations in the real estate sector. The use of smart contracts automates many of the processes that traditionally require manual intervention, such as escrow and title transfers, thereby streamlining transactions and reducing reliance on intermediaries. This not only cuts down on time and costs but also minimizes the potential for human error.
5. Empowering real estate experts with blockchain
   Blockchain also plays a crucial role in recognizing and rewarding the contributions of industry experts involved in Build21’s projects. Through Expert NFTs—non-fungible tokens that represent a stake or contribution in a project—professionals are acknowledged for their expertise, fostering a more collaborative and incentivized working environment.
6. Decentralized decision-making in property development
   Through decentralized governance mechanisms and voting protocols enabled by blockchain, Build21 ensures that all major project decisions are made collectively by the community. This setup allows stakeholders to directly influence the development direction, ensuring that projects align closely with user needs and community values.
7. Sustainability and blockchain in Real Estate
   Sustainability is at the heart of Build21's mission. Blockchain technology supports this by providing a reliable and immutable ledger to track and verify sustainable practices and compliance with environmental regulations. This ensures that every project not only promises to be eco-friendly but also proves it through transparent and verifiable measures.

Blockchain technology is set to radically transform the real estate industry by making it more inclusive, transparent, green, and efficient. Build21 is at the vanguard of this change, using blockchain to empower communities, streamline processes, and promote sustainability in real estate development.
The road ahead involves tackling technological adoption, regulatory challenges, and upskilling within the industry, but we're ready to make this a reality. We're one block away from the future.

It's time to build!
Build21

The first guest in the AMA Build21 series is structural engineer Horia Mihnea.

At Build21, Horia serves as an Advisor.

What follows are some interesting aspects discussed during the session.

To listen to the entire event on X, click here.

Enjoy! It's time to build!

April 17, 2024

AMA

Raluca: I know you've designed millions of square meters for various buildings across Europe... that you have strong expertise in the technical assessment of existing buildings... I know you're passionate about historic monuments and that these buildings are very dear to your heart, and you're concerned about how to extend their life and add value in Romania.

Horia: Yes, I'm an engineer with extensive experience in design, and I've encountered most of the situations that can arise from the perspective of buildings. Now, of course, any new experience is a challenge.

Raluca: To give you an idea of how we'll operate, I think you've already seen that we have some questions on the Telegram group, and you're also a member of our Telegram group. For those who are not, I encourage them to search for Telegram Build 21 and join the community... What does a structural engineer do?

Horia: ...primarily deals with conceiving and thinking about how... to evaluate and construct a building's structural system. Simply put: it's about where to pour, how to pour the concrete, how big the column is, how big the beam is, how big the slab is, so that buildings can be executed and used... To provide the building's structural integrity.

...

Raluca: If you could answer from your perspective as a structural engineer, how would you explain in the simplest way what we will build at Build21?

Horia: From a unique perspective, that of a structural engineer. We're talking about sustainability. It's the key element that can define the way buildings are constructed... what we do at Build21 is viewed from multiple angles. And it's not just from the engineer's angle. It rather focuses on communities, so a specialist's vision is only part of the vision that defines Build21... about creating communities and about the long-term utility of buildings... This is again another quite important topic we need to address, their durability and how they are perceived over time.

Raluca: What's the lifespan of a building?

Horia: Generally... now speaking strictly from the behavioral pattern of investors, it's oriented towards a designed lifespan, a standard, which is 50 years, meaning in 50 years this building is expected to be decommissioned both morally and not just morally, but also technically, as all technical references regarding how buildings are constructed relate to this lifespan of 50 years, a lifespan that, in most situations, is exceeded, because on the time scale of a building, 50 years is not a very long time; rather, after 50 years, you can begin to appreciate the values of the period in which it was built.

...

Raluca: ...a strong theme for the European Union. From your point of view, what does sustainability mean and how is sustainability manifested in real estate?

Horia: ...reducing the carbon footprint. However! It's something that needs to happen over time and any action we take must be balanced. This is done on the structure... The structure generally may represent half the total weight of a building. If it represents half the weight of a building, it more or less represents half the carbon footprint that a building leaves on the natural environment... To make a simple association. Raw force, put a lot of concrete to make it resistant. But there are also other solutions to make buildings resistant. And here are many other companies that have found some good recipes in this regard. One such company is the Japanese company. Another is the Norwegian company, which have found some solutions in this sense.

...

Raluca: What is the long-term impact of integrating blockchain in Real Estate, in the context of transitioning to a greener and digital business model?

Horia: ...Digitalization and especially blockchain can have a very positive long-term impact, through potential technologies that may develop around it. A feature of the blockchain is the impossibility of interfering with previously recorded data. This overlaps very well over key elements of constructions, such as degradations and the moment they occur, i.e., marking degradations, without the possibility of being hidden, so that any long-term monitoring of a building using blockchain technology can produce extremely favorable effects. Similarly, for any document related to this construction, the use of blockchain technology is extremely useful and combined with the direction of digitalization of the construction sector...

• Build21 is a 100% Romanian start-up, founded by Adrian Vasilescu and Raluca Negrea;

• The company aims to create 21 unique real estate projects in Romania, which will contribute to enhancing the quality of life for those who use them;

• The company creates a framework for retail investors to access these developments.

Bucharest, 23rd of April - Engr. Adrian Vasilescu and Raluca Negrea, two Romanian entrepreneurs, are launching a new start-up: Build21. 

Build21 is a real estate company that applies blockchain principles and infrastructure to enable retail investors to access its real estate developments. The company's founding members, along with a group of people who are passionate about construction, architecture, communities, and blockchain, aim to develop 21 diverse real estate projects that will serve as benchmarks for the next 100 years in terms of sustainability, efficiency, aesthetics, and quality of life.

"We founded Build21 with the goal of changing the Romanian real estate landscape by offering a new business model that actively involves, from the very early stages of the project, the three main communities interested in the success of any real estate development: investors, experts (architects, structuralists, builders), and those who use the final space. We embarked on this path alongside an established community of experts, driven by an ambition to leave a sustainable valuable built heritage for future generations. We are now opening the doors to retail investors who want to contribute to our mission", says Engr. Adrian Vasilescu, CEO and Co-Founder of Build21.

Adrian Vasilescu is a construction engineer and entrepreneur with over 17 years of experience. He co-founded Cross Structural Design, a structural design company launched in 2009, and 481 Engineering, a monitoring and consulting company focused on how construction behaves over time. At Build21, Adrian is responsible for the strategic direction of the business and its development.

The company focuses on built-to-sell residential projects in Romania's urban areas, but it will additionally focus on improving existing buildings that can be transformed into high-quality residential spaces.

Build21 aims to develop a community of thousands of investors, who will have the opportunity to support the 21 real estate developments that are unique in Romania, and to benefit from the value generated by them. The involvement of such a large number of people is possible through blockchain infrastructure. Later this year, the company will provide an opportunity for the public to join as investors in the financing of the technological infrastructure, as well as the legal and fiscal framework required for Build21 projects, via a first round of financing through blockchain technology.

"Build21 decentralizes access to investment for retail investors, allowing them to participate with affordable amounts in the 21 real estate developments. Over time, the company aims to create one of the best investment products for Romanian retail investors, in terms of yield and accessibility. All while maintaining maximum transparency towards our investors and respecting the best corporate governance practices", adds Raluca Negrea, COO and Co-Founder of Build21. 

Throughout her 20-year career in management and marketing, Raluca Negrea established and managed several technology and communication companies. Raluca holds an Executive MBA from the Maastricht School of Management and has previously worked with investors. Raluca is in charge of marketing, communications, and technology resource management at Build21.

About Build21

Build21 is a company that develops high-quality real estate in Romania. Build21 projects are designed to have a positive impact on the physical and emotional health of individuals who live in them, as well as on the built heritage and on the generations to follow. The company operates with multiple communities interested in the effective development of projects: multiple investors, experts with renowned portfolios from the world's most prestigious design and architecture competitions, and tenants of the built spaces. Furthermore, the company aims to utilize blockchain technology to democratize access for small and medium-sized investors.

Many sectors of the economy today are marked by uncertainty and volatility, and real estate is no different. You may be wondering if it's a good idea to bet on real estate these days and enter the Build21 ecosystem.

Most of our team at Build21 team consist of professionals in the field: engineers, architects, contractors and real estate project managers, each with 10-15 years of experience.

We decided to stay in the field and take on the mission of building 21 real estate projects for two reasons: we believe in the impact that well-built spaces have on people's lives and we have faith in the future of the real estate market in Romania and the region.

We have our own vision of this and a number of reasons that make us confident, which we share with you here:

Romanians need new, better buildings

With more than 95% home owners, Romania has the highest home ownership rate in Europe *1.

The vast majority of these homes were built during the communist period, are 40 years old or more and offer low living standards. According to Eurostat, Romania ranks 2nd in the EU in terms of the number of people living in overcrowded homes *2.

Old and depreciated buildings

According to Romanian law, the projected lifespan of residential buildings is 50 years.

Thus, most of the housing stock in urban areas in Romania, build by 1989, is rapidly exceeding its maximum lifespan. This will make financing the purchase of such a dwelling increasingly difficult and will create a significant new demand for housing eligible for housing loans.

Dynamics of dwellings built in Romania between 1951 and 1989
Data source: National Institute of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook of Romania 1981-1990.

Data source: National Institute of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook of Romania 2007-2011, for 2011 provisional data *3.

Growing local markets

Beyond Bucharest and regional hubs such as Cluj, Timisoara and Iasi, which have traditionally attracted investments, in recent years more and more small and medium-sized cities are developing.

Cities such as Brasov, Craiova, Oradea and Sibiu are growing: some are encouraging migration and hosting new communities, while others are strengthening their economies through investments.

Real estate projects in all segments are growing in number, size and investment value in dozens of cities.

Prices will continue to rise

EU house prices have been on a steady upward trend over the last 10 years: between 2015 and 2021 they have increased by 38% *4.

Today, Romania has the lowest prices per sqm for housing in the European Union, after Greece. From here, prices can only continue to rise. In fact, they rose by 12.8% in a single year, between 2021 and 2022.

In addition, housing in Romania is some of the most affordable in Europe - while Slovaks can buy a 70 sqm house in over 13 years, Romanians can do it in about 6 years *5.

That's how we see it. We believe that the changing lifestyle of Romanians, supported by the constant growth of incomes, generates a growing need for new, good quality buildings. This demand, coupled with low prices compared to other European markets, makes Romanian real estate a solid investment opportunity in the medium to long term.

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Data sources mentioned in this article:

1. Homeownership rates in selected European countries in 2022, by country, Statista
2. Living conditions in Europe - housing, Eurostat, 2023
3. Analysis of the current housing situation in Romania in the European context, Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, No. 43 E/2014, pp. 5-24
4. The living sector in CEE - 6, Colliers, 2023
5. Deloitte Property Index 2023, Overview of European Residential Markets, 12th edition, August 2023