Inspired after watching a TEDx video this spring by Chris Bailey, I was determined to unplug during my summer vacation.
Here’s my experience after just having returned from that time away.
Continue ReadingUnplugged
Midtown Common erases all signs of Sears
“I think we’re eating in linens right now,” I said casually to my mom recently.
We were taking in the tastes offered by Midtown Common, the new Midtown Plaza food court located in the Sears vacancy.
Any semblance of the historic retailer, however, has all but disappeared.
The shopping space has been replaced with exposed concrete and a modern look.
Basically everything Sears wasn’t.
Continue ReadingNow that’s how you throw a music festival
It isn’t a summer music festival unless you’re trudging around in mud. At least that’s what Craven organizers over the years have led us to understand.
But what if I told you that isn’t the case everywhere?
What if a festival site was thoughtfully designed with drainage, sound control and amenities that could serve up to 65,000 people?
Montreal’s redesign of Parc Jean Drapeau has achieved just that.
Continue ReadingOn vacation!
Do I have a deal for you
There are many real estate investors who wish they’d just got into a market before a boom.
Appreciation of real estate investments has made many people wealthy over time.
For those willing to take the risk, the reward can be real.
Continue ReadingMaintaining a safe social place of community within a city core
The vibrancy of a city’s core creates the fabric of the community. A safe downtown gathering place provides an ambiance that reverberates throughout the city.
Who decides the definition of “safe”?
It’s a subjective word that may have different meaning to different people. I have my own translation and believe that “safe” is achievable.
Continue ReadingWhen time is not on your side
A focus on deal timelines are a necessary evil in our commercial real estate world.
They are the thread that binds conditional lease and sale transactions.
But what happens when issues arise beyond your control that negate those agreed upon timelines?
Continue ReadingOn vacation!
What does economically empowering women look like?
Specifically speaking, it depends on where you live on this earth.
Globally there are still approximately 2.7 billion women restricted from doing the same jobs as men.
But that’s not necessarily true in North America, right?
Okay, how about this more relatable fact: only 5 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
When we look at the general workforce, approximately 63 per cent of women (aged 25-54) participate in the labour market; that compares to 94 per cent of men in the same age category.
The statistic doesn’t tell us where those 37 per cent of women are or why they aren’t participating but it certainly highlights the imbalance between genders.
So it’s agreed, there is still some work to do.
Continue ReadingCould a long-term national lease devalue your commercial real estate?
We were recently called in to value and market a single tenant property with an existing lease in place. The tenant had been granted an option to renew during their last renewal negotiation.
I informed the owner that we would have been able to achieve a higher price if we were able to go to the market as a vacant property.
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