Colliers Talks

Alberta has long been the energy capital of Canada, but the city has also always had a small, yet mighty, technology ecosystem. Over the past several years, investment in and support of Calgary’s tech sector have grown exponentially, allowing firms that have historically had to relocate to other major markets in order to raise capital, to scale and grow right in Calgary. In 2020, a record-setting $455 million in venture capital was raised to support Alberta’s technology sector, nearly double the previous record set in 2019. A healthy technology ecosystem typically represents about 5% of the overall economy; currently, that number is about 3% in Calgary. The good news is, the city is on a great path and has a lot of room to run.  

Colliers’ Justin Mayerchak speaks with Dr. Breanne Everett, President & CEO of Orpyx Medical Technologies and Terry Rock, CEO of Platform Calgary about how technology firms are impacting Calgary’s commercial real estate landscape. 

In the words of Daniel Holmes, Greater Toronto Area Executive Managing Director and Market Leader with Colliers Canada: “In the commercial real estate sector, technology is rapidly evolving as professionals focus on revolutionizing the current landscape. Our industry is primed for disruption, yet information is not always as accessible as we'd like. There have been major steps in embracing technology solutions, yet there is a major disconnect between interest and adoption. As the saying goes, technology transformation is a journey, not a purchase.”

In this episode of Colliers Talks, Dan speaks with two prominent experts at the forefront of tech disruption: Shelby Austin, CEO and co-founder of Arteria AI, a startup that is well on its way in creating a client-service offering for drafting, negotiating and reviewing contracts, and Dean Hopkins, COO of Oxford Properties Group, a leading commercial real estate investor, asset manager and builder of business teams that currently manages nearly $70 billion of assets across four continents.

Tune in as Dan, Dean and Shelby talk about the undeniable – and growing – role and impact of technology within CRE, covering topics from the accelerated digital transformation, to change management and successful implementation, to the war on tech talent.

“When you look at life sciences today, it’s a game that’s won and lost on talent,” says Ty J. Shattuck, CEO of McMaster Innovation Park (MIP), Canada’s Premiere Research Park. Located in Hamilton, Ontario, MIP currently has 700,000 square feet of space under management and is set to expand to a staggering 3.2 million square feet.

Matthew Johnson, Senior Vice President with Colliers in Toronto and lead of Colliers Canada’s Life Sciences Practice Group, and Richard Shouldice, Senior Sales Representative with Colliers in Toronto, speak with Ty about the life sciences sector – its current state, growth trajectory and game-changing future.

They discuss:

• Canada’s challenge with transitioning its innovative research into commercial reality, and thus, McMaster Innovation Park’s mission and vision of helping companies grow by facilitating collaboration between academia and industry

• How MIP helps address the gap in the life sciences space continuum

• The role of attracting, securing and developing talent in the growth of life sciences

• How COVID-19 has brought to the forefront MIP’s goals and value proposition, and the industry as a whole

• Fostering the growth of life sciences on Canadian soil and the advantages of setting up operations in Canada

• MIP’s role in developing Ontario’s life sciences corridor and how a collaborative mindset can make Canada a global life sciences player

• Opportunities for landlords within the sector

• What’s next for MP and life sciences

And more.

Tune in and learn about an industry that while, according to Ty, is “not for the faint of heart,” is literally saving lives.

Proximity to the core. Distinct internal and external

building attributes. Low overall operational costs. These are the tenets on

which Allied – and its signature properties

– are founded upon. And these principles, which have enabled Allied to continuously

grow, as well as thrive amidst challenging circumstances, remain the company’s

focus and mission to this day.

In this podcast, Colliers’ Brian Rosen

and Colin

Worrell speak with Allied’s Michael Emory and Tom Burns on Allied’s

journey and approach to success; the Allied team’s creative, out-of-the-box

thinking that time and again gives rise to iconic, community-focused buildings;

how Allied has positioned itself to come out of the pandemic strong; the role

of ESG in the company’s future; and more.

Hear all about:

- How Allied’s mandate of distinguishing between “a building to buy” and “an Allied building to buy” coupled with its public company discipline helps the REIT stay focused on its vision and objective

- How Allied came to be known as a supporter of the arts

- The strategy Allied undertook during the pandemic that resulted in the company completing 258 transactions in 2020, 103 of which involved new tenants to the Allied portfolio and posting 98 deals in Q2 2021

- What excites the team about Allied’s ESG journey post-pandemic

- The strategic plays the company has made with the most notable properties in its portfolio, including the concept of “adaptive reuse”, which has allowed Allied to add office inventory to the markets it serves with “invisible cranes”

Listen and learn about the many aspects that set Allied apart from other landlords and why “As we come out of the pandemic, the kind of creativity [they’ve] practiced is going to be more in demand than it was pre-pandemic.”

The Good Fork: Tasty Eats, Great Business and Rave Reviews

"Good” does not begin to describe The Good Fork – its offerings, service quality, approach to adversity, even its focus on employee well-being. In this podcast, Zoe Adey-Babinski speaks with Tolga Yalcin, co-owner and Head Chef of the Toronto-based bistro whose Middle Eastern-inspired cuisine has earned it a 4.9 rating on Uber Eats. Zoe and Tolga discuss:

- Tolga and his family’s roots and connection to Turkey

- The ways The Good Fork has pivoted throughout the pandemic, including having to shut down for almost two months a mere five months after opening its new location; adjusting its menu and packaging; and shifting from a 10% takeout model to a 100% takeout strategy

- Working with third-party delivery companies

- Ensuring the well-being of The Good Fork’s staff in light of their busy work week

- The relationship of the business with its landlord throughout the pandemic

Tune in and learn how The Good Fork’s resilience has enabled it to go on “survival mode” while still satisfying customers’ tastebuds – and expectations.

Raise the Root Brings Local, Organic Foods & Community Support to the Table

You could say providing wholesome, taste-good, feel-good food is in Angela Donnelly’s DNA. Her family ran a natural foods and fresh produce market when she was growing up on Salt Spring Island, allowing her to “get a real feel for food”: She experienced organic foods and offerings from different cultures and learned how to cook, including local and small batch selections, making for a “real immersion” in the world of healthy, well-sourced produce and ingredients.

In this podcast, Zoe Adey-Babinski speaks with Angela Donnelly, co-owner of Raise the Root Organic Market in Leslieville, Toronto. They discuss topics including:

- How Raise the Root’s customer base has changed over the years as health and wellness and organic and natural foods came to the forefront, resulting in a “completely different food landscape”

- The market’s partnerships with local vendors, farmers, bakers and artisans, adding up to strong support of hundreds of fellow local businesses

- The role Raise the Root plays in creating community: “Our customers know we are their neighbour here in Leslieville.”

- The respect the Raise the Root team has for the people they employ and serve

- The big, accelerated shift to e-commerce and the digitization of the grocery experience

Hear about it all, including how Angela and her team “have made Raise the Root a safe haven – from the pandemic, from loneliness, and from the grind of boring food.”

“It’s a learning process for everyone and we are still

learning and growing every day, trying to figure out how to navigate such a

topic, especially in the workplace.”

In commemoration of Pride Month, Eliezer

Timolien and Leo

Lee discuss Diversity & Inclusion, approaching this important topic

from the perspective of a professional from the LGBTQ+ community. In this open,

candid conversation, Eli talks about his journey in commercial real estate: the

obstacles, the notion of fitting in, his experience working in a predominantly

homogenous industry – and overcoming such challenges to be his authentic self.

Eli and Leo tackle the concept of “making the uncomfortable

feel comfortable” in an effort to improve awareness in the workplace and

provide people both the ease and the environment to be their true selves. They

talk about various training and resources (for both members and allies of the

LGBTQ+ community) companies can design and deliver to further build on

Diversity & Inclusion initiatives and maintain the momentum that has been

collectively created – from inclusive benefits to self-identification

programs, to Employee Resource Groups.

Shedding light on challenges within the LGBTQ+ community

itself, Eli says, “Even we face our own stigmas.” He goes on to speak about his

experience dealing with implicit biases people have within the community that

could create negative perceptions of certain identities. Looking back, Eli and

Leo discuss the progress companies have made in fostering LGBTQ+-inclusive workplaces,

and discuss what more can be done to bridge gaps, facilitate critical

conversations and create a safe setting where people offer various

perspectives.

In the long-term, Eli “would love to see the Diversity &

Inclusion program shut down, but for good reason: that no one individual is

considered marginalized; that everyone is considered equal in terms of the work

that they are able to do, the skill sets that they are able to provide a

company; that they’re able to secure appropriate salaries so we don’t have the

wage gaps we’re seeing to this day…”

Eli and Leo agree “we have such a long way to go”, but are

optimistic about the steps the company, the profession, have taken towards

building a truly diverse and inclusive place for all.

Roelof van Dijk and Jeremiah Shamess provide an investment market overview for Q1 2021, discussing factors impacting the market; sales volumes and pricing; how different asset classes are faring amidst the state of the market and economy; and anticipated effects of the upcoming inclusionary zoning policy change in the Greater Toronto Area.

The residential sector led the way in volume. Industrial and multifamily saw significant upticks and so did, surprisingly, retail. Roelof and Jeremiah tackle the question: “Why is 2021 so aggressive in terms of volume and velocity?”

Delving into the “big plays” transpiring in the market, Roelof and Jeremiah talk about the purchases private buyers are making, the driving factors behind these moves, as well as what’s next for this segment that accounts for “over 60% of transactions in the GTA on any given year”. Likewise, they discuss foreign investment into commercial real estate, 32.8% of which flows into the GTA. Why is this region so attractive to foreign investors? Will this trend continue?

A conversation on the investment market is not complete without the mention of yield (a major driver of commercial real estate investment in Canada), cap rates (“Most people are looking at the Toronto area's fairly low cap rates.”), risk in each asset class (“The age-old sentiment ‘location is everything’ continues to prove right.”) and interest rates (which “will remain at least relatively flat in the near future”).

Roelof and Jeremiah also cover the effect of immigration (or the lack thereof) on the GTA, and the market outlook once immigration resumes.

Juxtaposing the positive with the negative, the experts speak about distressed assets. With the vaccine rollout and businesses and consumers resuming activity, they expect to see the number of challenged properties decrease.

Roelof and Jeremiah round out their conversation with key takeaways for 2021, including what to watch for in the multifamily sector, how e-commerce will continue to drive demand in the industrial asset class, and the enduring need for office space.

“If those businesses fail, our economy is going to fail in British Columbia.”  

Elizabeth Model, CEO of Downtown Surrey’s (in British Columbia) Business Improvement Association (BIA), had this thought upon realizing the significant impact of the pandemic on the City’s businesses and community. 

In this podcast, Colliers’ Madeleine Nicholls speaks with Elizabeth Model on the creative and innovative strategies the Downtown Surrey BIA created and implemented to support the close to 1,500 businesses in its jurisdiction amidst unprecedented pandemic protocols and businesses’ varying situations: Calling retailers, restaurants, shopping centres, one by one, to ascertain their circumstances, the level of support they needed, and how the BIA could best help. Recruiting and mobilizing 19 Simon Fraser University summer students to help get businesses up and running, from building websites and creating social media presence, to enabling a more proactive sales approach. And more. 

While covering the challenges brought on by COVID-19, the discussion also touches on the bright spots that emerged from such obstacles, including businesses helping businesses, Surrey residents shopping local, and entrepreneurs establishing operations at the height of the pandemic. 

Likewise, Elizabeth model shares best practices the Surrey BIA has learned and is adopting from other downtown associations, how she and her team are “keeping ahead of the game”, and her own thoughts on what’s in store for the next 12 months to two years. 

In this podcast, Colliers’ Arnold Fox and Jean-Marc Dubé sit down with Anthony Broccolini and Executive Vice-President Paul Broccolini and discuss (over some fine Italian wine) a slew of topics including:

• Broccolini’s beginnings

• Memorable projects that helped the company make its mark

• The markets the firm is eyeing

• Broccolini’s Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal and how the team is set to achieve it

• The impact of COVID-19 on the business, the marketplace, and e-commerce

• Current challenges in industrial real estate

• Trends and opportunities within Broccolini’s home base, Montreal

Listen to get valuable market and industry insights, and learn how Broccolini is staying true to its objective: “Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, we want to be the top brand in the market we’re playing in… and do a great job of servicing our clients.”