ULI Toronto was pleased to host its 7th Annual Fireside Chat with John Tory, Toronto’s 65th Mayor in an intimate evening in conversation with John Duffy, Principal, StrategyCorp – a celebration of family, business, and city building.  The pair discussed a wide range of topics, from the finer points of his growth and transit agenda for the city to his long and diverse career in business, law, and politics. 

“He always said you never learn anything by talking,” reminisces Steven of his late father Murray Menkes, who began as a small house builder in the 1950s. Murray, an opinionated risk-taking visionary, laid the foundation for his three sons: Alan, Steven, and Peter, who collectively elevated Menkes Developments Ltd. to new heights. Today, the Menkes Empire is responsible for some of the greatest real estate developments in the Greater Toronto Area. In an intimate conversation moderated by Paul Godfrey, president, and CEO of Postmedia Network and a close friend of the family, attendants at ULI’s 6th Annual Fireside Chat listened silently as the three sons shared stories and lessons learned over the course of 37 years.

An impending late-winter mega-storm was not enough to curb the opinions – or the attendance of those who wanted to hear it – of equally stormy Hazel McCallion, Mayor of the City of Mississauga. On February 27, “Hurricane Hazel,” as she is affectionately known, sat down with Jennifer Keesmaat, the Chief Planner at the City of Toronto for ULI Toronto’s 5th Annual Fireside Chat. For over an hour, the 200+ attendees at the Toronto Board of Trade were riveted by this rousing conversation between two of the GTA’s foremost leaders in the areas of urban development, transit, and job creation.

“Formerly of Cadillac Fairview and now of everywhere” was the attention-grabbing introduction from John O’Brian, vice chairman of CBRE, when he sat down with a longtime friend and fellow real estate veteran, Peter Sharpe, at the summer ULI Fireside chat on June 19th. The conversation touched on key people and experiences that influenced Mr. Sharpe’s career. While best known as the president and CEO of Cadillac Fairview from 2000 to 2010, Mr. Sharpe was asked to start his story at the beginning.

ULI Toronto’s popular Fireside Chat, featured a Rare Evening with Ed Sonshine, President &Chief Executive Officer interviewed by his colleague and friend, Fred Waks, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust who provided insights into his career experiences and the Riocan success story in creating Canada’s largest portfolio of shopping centers and his predictions on the future of retail in Canada and abroad.

In this episode of the ULI Toronto Proptech Interview Series, we hear from tech visionary and CEO of IBI and IBI Group, Scott Stewart. Scott shares his insights into how a major architecture firm like IBI evolved and adapted to meet the changing needs of the market by becoming a technology-driven design firm, how technology is enabling companies to be faster, better, and more cost effective, why the industry must think more widely beyond the obvious digital solutions, robots and more.

In the fourth episode of the ULI Toronto PropTech Webcast Series we hear from Tooey Courtemanche, CEO of Procore Technologies and Terry Olynyk, ULI’s Membership Committee Co-Chair and President and Managing Director of Multiplex Construction Canada Ltd, with Riggs Kubiak from Procore Technologies in the moderator’s seat. Tooey and Terry share their journeys in construction and technology, analyze the impact of COVID-19 on tech adoption, discuss innovation and creating a digital strategy, and explore how technology will continue to shape the AEC industry in years to come.

In this episode of the ULI Toronto PropTech Interview Series, David Abrams, Co-Founder & CEO of HILO shares his entrepreneurial journey from communicator and marketer, to co-founder of a PropTech start-up. David and Terry discuss the evolution of HILO, how technology is transforming the way that businesses, building operators and condo managers communicate with their tenants, and how in times like these technology is helping keep people informed and connected.

In this episode of the ULI Toronto PropTech Interview Series we hear from the founders of web-based construction software company, Bridgit. Mallorie Brodie, CEO & Co-Founder and Lauren Lake, COO & Co-Founder share their journeys as entrepreneurs and how they brought the concept of Bridgit to life. For how Bridgit brought digital solutions to an historically traditional industry, advice for innovating – including to never fall in love with your own ideas – going from ‘doing’ digital to ‘being’ digital, optimizing tools and data, overcoming challenges and finding the next milestone to get energized about, listen in!

In this episode of the ULI Toronto PropTech Interview Series, Amir Hoss, Founder & CEO of EAIGLE sits down with Membership Committee Co-Chair, Terry Olynyk, President and Managing Director of Multiplex Construction Canada Ltd., to discuss PropTech in the age of the pandemic. How is AI crowd monitoring providing essential occupancy data to owners and operators, and helping them to make more informed decisions? Tune into the conversation to learn more.