Wirtschaftsforum: Furthermore, you also operate your own project development company.

Raúl Comesaña: Currently, we are primarily developing in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, but also to a smaller extent on Rügen, developing over 660,000 m2 of pure building land from our own capital. In this process, we acquire plots of land, then produce the relevant development plans, take care of the infrastructure, and subsequently sell the individual plots for single-family homes or for commercial entrepreneurs without a construction obligation and free of builder's ties.

Wirtschaftsforum: Due to regulatory changes as well as new forms of living, this market is currently undergoing a profound transformation – how is your company experiencing these shifts?

Raúl Comesaña: What works well today may no longer work tomorrow – we are fully aware of this. Not only are the approval processes more complex and take longer than ten years ago, but also the need to create sustainable living spaces demands probably even greater foresight than before. Currently, for example, we are developing an area of 150,000 m2 with over 160 plots, where we are no longer laying gas lines but are relying on a completely different heating infrastructure. In another new construction project in the Zeuthener Winkel area, we are currently building a local heating network, which will later provide households with energy. I am convinced that topics such as energy-autonomous districts will play an even bigger role in the future. To position ourselves as a competent partner in this respect as well, we are working with the Fraunhofer Institute on a research project for thermal power plants, among other things. But our internal processes are also heavily affected by technological change – it is quite possible that AI will provide far-reaching impulses for more efficient processes in accounting and bidding, allowing us to utilize our employees less for routine tasks and more for really complex issues in the future.

Wirtschaftsforum: The population in Germany is getting older. How do the requirements for attractive living space shift in this context?

Raúl Comesaña: Within the framework of our very comprehensive development approach, we not only engage in the construction of age-appropriate living options but also operate a nursing service with the project 'PIA – Pflege ist alles' offering day care and shared living options in Berlin-Pankow. At the same time, we indeed experience how the demands and needs of older people change: Many do not want to live in a 100 m2 single-family house on over 1,000 m2 of land in their old age – maintaining such an area requires a lot of effort and energy. Therefore, alternative forms of living, such as in the form of communal living, previously more common in the student phase of life, are increasingly gaining interest among the elderly – sometimes also for sheer cost reasons, simply because the pension for many is sadly not enough to live on anymore. Moreover, the increased prices make the classic single-family house with 800 m2 of land, as it was largely typical here in Brandenburg, no longer feasible in many cases. The plots are getting smaller, the single-family home is becoming more of a rental property and will not necessarily be used predominantly as a private home anymore.

Wirtschaftsforum: After your management studies at the European Business School, you initially worked with other project developers before you finally decided to take over your father's company with the BBF Group – how easy was this step for you?

Raúl Comesaña: I naturally knew the business from a young age. At 14, I already worked in civil engineering, simply because it was important to me to experience what our guys do every day on construction sites – sometimes in temperatures of 30 °C and starting at 5:30 am. It would be impossible to run such a company from an ivory tower! Yet, many years later, the decision to take responsibility for the future of BBF Group and all its employees was not an easy one. My father once said: A company is like an octopus, as it infiltrates every corner of your life. As a business owner, you are constantly under pressure, and I too have driven to work in the morning, wondering how we would overcome the enormous challenges of the day. Of course, it was important to me to honor what my father had built over 30 years and to lead it into the future in his spirit. However, I also feel a clear societal responsibility that I want to face.

Wirtschaftsforum: What do you see yourself specifically responsible for?

Raúl Comesaña: My father originated from Spain, my mother from Königs Wusterhausen, and I was born in Berlin, and I greatly value what we have in Germany – a well-functioning constitutional state with a strong social conscience. That is why some of the debates we are currently having in our country make me very sad. In my view, the foundation for the continuation of a economically and socially healthy Germany is clearly the businesses that secure our prosperity on the basis of a sustainable value framework. However, this again comes with a far-reaching responsibility for entrepreneurs: It is up to us to provide our employees with a secure future, to ensure stable tax revenues, and to implement important innovations so that we remain competitive tomorrow.

Wirtschaftsforum: A responsibility that apparently fewer and fewer young people want to take on.

Raúl Comesaña: I believe many young entrepreneurs focus on start-ups and often want to reinvent the wheel. That is legitimate – but from my perspective, there are many beautiful and mature companies in the mid-sized sector that promise enormous potential for success. My experience teaches me that one can build well on the existing and at the same time advance important innovations to make the respective company also your own: as there is hardly anything more beautiful than inspiring other people to pursue an exciting vision together!