Editorial: Canadian Hi-Speed Rail & Foreign Pension Fund Investment

January 17th, 2012 No Comments »

In November of 2011 the Government of Canada, along with the governments of Quebec and Ontario officially released the final report on the high-speed rail study for the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.

Without delving into the details – which can be read in summary on High-Speed Rail Updates -  the Federal Government said in a  news release:

“The study found that high-speed rail is technically feasible in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor but will require significant public expenditure. With these study findings, the Government of Canada will take the time necessary to carefully consider possible next steps.”

This ambiguous statement was followed by more blunt remarks by politicians such as Ontario Transport Minister, Denis Lebel who told the Windsor Star “In these fiscal circumstances a new project of this scope is not a priority for our government” a reversal of the Provinces previously supportive position.

While this may be a belated response to the issue, on reflection, it seems the decision to leave the Hi-Speed Rail Proposal dangling without clear direction to proceed is the most significant and short-sighted decision made in Canada in 2011 of relevance to our readers.  Development of a hi-speed rail service in all likelihood would have profound benefits for the real estate and infrastructure of the locations it would service, in addition to providing transportation to the millions of people who would take the train.

Following is one of many reasons for supporting it:

There has been a lot of news recently about the extra-ordinary foreign investment capability of Canadians pension funds most recently in a January 12 article in the Financial Post.   While it is nice, and by all accounts essential, that the Funds invest in foreign markets to fulfill their responsibility to pensioners, their level of activity elsewhere begs the question what investments are they making in Canada?

In the case of the $152-billion CPP Investment Board this answer is easily gleaned from their Plan’s website where it states, “The CPP Investment Board invests in more than 3,100 public companies around the world, including 500 Canadian companies.”  In other words, fewer than 20% of the companies in which the Fund is invested are in Canada.

While Canadian pension funds are making a name for themselves as great investors in other countries and we can be genuinely grateful for their expertise, we are bombarded by reports if not the experience, of failing infrastructure in Canada.

The state of Canada’s infrastructure is described in a March 2009 report Canadian Infrastructure Crisis Still Critical found on The Canadian Council for Public Private Partnerships website (Download PDF).  It is an interview with Professor Saeed Mirza of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics at McGill University.  In the interview Professor Mirza states “Canada’s infrastructure is in a very dire state”. He estimated the national infrastructure deficit is to be between $350 and $400 billion.  This level of financial requirement is clearly only grazed by the recession related Federal stimulus funding of about $50-billion that is now coming to an ended.

One of the notable points made in the interview by Professor Mirza is that the scope and cost of Canadian infrastructure requirements is more than our governments can collectively afford.  This will come as no surprise to Canadians who negotiate the bad and deteriorating roads, odd drinking water, polluted waterways, rickety or non-existent transit, aging health care facilities and so on.  Furthermore, at this point Canadians are also feeling taxed out – most recently a 13% HST in Ontario – at a time when they have also accumulated significant personal debt.

Given that Governments can’t afford to upgrade and replace infrastructure the private sector including Pension Funds are increasingly being fingered to help address the problem.  The difference between Pension Funds and other private capital is that it is clearly ‘our’ money particularly in the case of CPP.

The Canadian commercial real estate industry is increasingly experiencing the benefits of what is known as TOD or Transit Oriented Development.  It makes sense for many well-known and obvious reasons – it creates higher density development adjacent to transportation nodes that help support the cost and functioning of the transit as well as the surrounding commercial, residential and infrastructure requirements.  It is a win win all around.

Not surprisingly private investment is flocking to TOD locations.  Furthermore government real estate companies such as Build Toronto are capitalizing on the opportunity they represent as a way of developing and selling municipal property at a premium – sales that help to fuel empty government coffers.

While some infrastructure investments may require significant public involvement to get off the ground others like many TOD’s across the country are attracting private capital.   These locations are highly attractive real estate investments that are proving to be viable and successful undertakings that generate multiple bidders and participants.

The Federal and Provincial governments report about the high-speed rail service between Quebec City and Windsor was  conducted by EcoTrain – a group of international consulting firms comprising Dessau, Deutsche Bahn International, KPMG, MMM Group and Wilbur Smith Associates on behalf of the Ministries of Transportation for Canada, Ontario and Quebec.  EcoTrain consider the potential of operating trains along the corridor at top speeds of 200 kph, or electric trains at speeds up to 300 kph.

The high-speed rail service, according to the report would attract 10 to 11-million passengers, generate $1-1.3-billion dollars a year and cost in the area of $20-billion to construct.  The corridor construction can be phased to service the most populated sections first – Toronto to Montreal – reducing the initial cost to under $10-billion.  It would replace the existing VIA service and create a currently non-existent dedicated rail line for passenger use.

Is a $20-billion investment distributed amongst several investors such as Canadian pension funds really ‘too’ expensive?   Given the experience of municipal TOD can we not assume that an inter-municipal rail service, its stations and municipal stops would also attract private investment of the same nature and proportion and enhance the financial viability of the rail service.

If $20-billion is the barrier to developing the High Speed Rail line (and based on the conclusion of EcoTrain it is the principal reason) then we urge all Canadian pension funds and the Federal Government to undertake to resolve the financial issue and immediately commence with this project.

If proceeding with the Hi-speed Rail Corridor means shifting funds targeted for foreign investments and taking a lower rate of return we think it should be considered.  Investment, particularly one with a long-term payoff, is to some extent a self fulfilling prophecy.. if you invest in your own country it will benefit, grow and prosper .. if you invest the same dollars elsewhere that country benefits not you.

By assigning pension fund investments currently allocated to foreign buys to the rail line existing commitments to the domestic infrastructure deficit and projects would not be impacted.

Finally, would you rather have your pension fund invest in a foreign country or in Canada in at least one, if not more, Nation building projects like the Quebec – Windsor hi-speed rail service?

Property Biz back in September. Have a great summer!

June 30th, 2011 No Comments »

This spring RENX has published the first three issues of Property Biz Canada (see links below).  As the inaugural editions they have served well to work out bugs in the publishing process and the types of stories we will be pursuing.

Whiterock REIT’s Highway-based Development Strategy Property Biz Canada, June 22, 2011
A Shopping Center in China, Just the Start for Ivanhoe Cambridge Property Biz Canada, May 24, 2011

Property Biz Canada will initially establish itself as the source of Property Business news in Canada, and there is mountain of interesting stories to write about, not covered by The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and CanWest news services.  We have provided some terrific articles, written by Property Biz’s skillful journalist Paul Brent, about Canada’s only industrial REIT PIRET, up and coming C2C Industrial REIT, League Assets and its enterprising CEO Adam Gant to mention a few.

On the development side we are providing stories about developments such as League Assets Colwood project in Victoria as well as a column written by myself — How High & Why — about urban intensification in Canada.

Property Biz is currently seeking companies and individuals to contribute content to our publication.  We are planning a legal column and would also welcome stories for How High & Why.  If you have a story about anything concerned with Property Business in Canada please call us to discuss it 613-569-6300.

As is the case with all RENX publications our revenues are entirely derived from our advertisers.  Thank you to Colliers, Archidata, Otera Capital, BOMEX and REALpac for supporting Property Biz Canada.  Please contact Chris Flynn to enquire about our rates.

Thank you to all our subscribers for reading Property Biz Canada. We look forward to our next issue in September.

Have a great summer everyone!

Ann White

Publisher,  Property Biz Canada
Real Estate News Exchange (RENX)

Branding Buildings Better: A Feature Column in Property Biz Canada

June 21st, 2011 No Comments »

Branding Buildings BetterThere are few people more savy than David Allison, President of Braun Allison, a messaging, marketing, and advertising firm located in Vancouver, about how to use the Internet, Twitter, websites, mobile apps, blogs and any other new media guizmo to market real estate. Rooted in the application of traditional marketing technique he has extended that knowledge and methodology to the unique approaches presented by new media.

Over the past year Allison’s Sell The Truth column in the RENX Commercial Newsletter has provided our readers with a steady stream of hot tips and thoughtful analysis about how to effectively market and sell property.

Now David is taking real estate marketing to a new level and offering a fresh round of strategic advice with the launch of his latest book Branding Buildings Better. In addition to the book David is re-branding his column on RENX from Sell The Truth to Branding Buildings Better which will be featured in RENX new publication Property Biz Canada.

Asked what to expect in Branding Buildings Better Allison said …

“Readers can expect information, observations, opinion, interviews and insights on how to use the latest branding and marketing tools and techniques to sell real estate developments. While the primary focus will be on residential pre-sell condominiums, we will visit the worlds of master-planned communities, commercial real estate, recreational and resort offerings, as well as land sales.”

“The marketing of real estate, and of pretty much everything else, is in the middle of a sea change. We are riding a wave of innovation and experimentation, and watching out for information and ideas that will help our industry grow and prosper. Ultimately, we hope to help developers tell better stories, and settle the right people into the right homes. If we can do that, everyone wins!”

David Allison was recently interviewed by BuzzBuzzHome.com in a video where he was asked “Five Questions“.

I would like to welcome Branding Buildings Better to Property Biz Canada and thank David for the extra-ordinarily astute advise he so generously provides to the real estate industry.

Legal Column in Property Biz Canada

June 6th, 2011 No Comments »

RENX recently launched a new National online publication and electronic newsletter, Property Biz Canada.  The first issue of Property Biz Canada was distributed on May 25, 2011. There are two more issues planned prior to July, with a break over the summer, then starting up again in September.

Property Biz Canada is going to have a column dedicated to legal issues associated with Canadian commercial real estate.  RENX is seeking law firms who would like to contribute  to the column.

Subscribers to Property Biz Canada and RENX are senior executives in the Canadian Commercial Real Estate industry.  Legal issues pertaining to all aspects of the industry covering topics such as property transactions, leasing, development, P3 arrangements and property management are all of interest to RENX readers.

We are looking for legal experts who would contribute on a one time basis or as frequently as they determine is appropriate.

Property Biz Canada will be published approximately every two weeks to start however our goal is to make it a weekly.  Articles may also be distributed in RENX popular Commercial Real Estate Newsletter.

If you, or someone in your firm is interested in contributing to Property Biz Canada, or you would simply like more information, please contact Ann White 613-569-6300 or email awhite@renx.ca.

Welcome to Property Biz Canada

May 24th, 2011 2 Comments »

Property Biz CanadaAs publisher of the Real Estate News Exchange I’d like to invite you to read the debut edition of our newest publication Property Biz Canada.

Since RENX’s inception more than ten years ago it has been my intention to launch this publication.  RENX, and I, are now ready to pursue this new venture and I am delighted the day for publishing the first edition of Property Biz Canada has finally arrived.

Property Biz Canada will provide news and information about the Canadian commercial real estate industry.   It is original content that is to compliment RENX popular news aggregation service.

It will fill a void for news about the Canadian property business, a sector of the economy that has gained prominence over the past 15 years.

Securitization of property particularly with the introduction of real estate investment trusts (REITs) into Canada in early 1990’s have provided both the average Canadian and institutions a new investment vehicle.   Yield hungry investors have poured capital into property investments that have  delivered stable and reliable returns over the past 20 years.

All of Canada’s major pension funds have acquired major property companies and in the past year have increased the allocation of their available capital to this sector.  Pension funds own a significant portion of the Class A real estate in Canada and continue to grow their domestic portfolios.

Just as Canadians have recognized the value of Canadian real estate, so have foreign investors.  An increasing number of non-Canadian’s, undeterred by the high level of institutional investment in Canada, are participating successfully in the Canadian real estate industry.

Now that the real estate companies active in Canada, particularly those that are institutionally owned, have soaked up much of high-grade, high-yielding property, they are seeking opportunities elsewhere.  This is evident in our lead article in the first edition of Property Biz Canada about Ivanhoe Cambridge’s La Nova development in China.

Urban intensification is a trend that is forcing the merger between traditionally real estate companies and developers, the construction industry, infrastructure owners primarily municipalities and lenders or financial partners who can see large developments to fruition.  New business models are emerging that provide a stream of new developments, business models and issues of relevance to our readers.

Changes in the Canadian property business have generated an insurmountable volume of questions to be asked, stories to written and issues to be followed in this industry.  An aspect of maintaining transparency in any sector of the economy is to have an informed media who actively provide news coverage.   I see RENX playing a important role in this regard.

It is our intent, starting with this first issue of Property Biz Canada, to delve into providing the Canadian real estate professional fresh content and a new source of valuable information.

We look forward to your feedback and comments about Property Biz Canada.  Please send us your stories, news releases, pictures and tips about anything concerning Canadian commercial real estate and related topics.

Ann White – awhite@renx.ca
Publisher, Property Biz Canada
A RENX Publication

Paul Brent, Editor – Writer for Property Biz Canada

May 11th, 2011 No Comments »
11-PBC-logobox

Launching May 2011

As publisher of the Real Estate News Exchange (RENX) I am pleased to announce that Paul Brent has been hired as the Editor and Writer for RENX newest publication Property Biz Canada.

Paul Brent has more than two decades of experience as a business journalist.  One of a handful of business journalists originally hired to launch the National Post in 1998, Paul was with the newspaper for seven years as a reporter and columnist. For the past five years he has worked as a freelance writer for the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Post, Investment Executive and Canadian Business among others.

Paul wrote a book about the history of Canada’s beer giants Molson and Labatts,  Lager Heads (Harper Collins, 2004) which was recently rated in the National Post as number 6 in the top 10 favorite business books.

In the earlier part of his career Paul Brent worked for Bloomberg News, the Financial Post and in the early 90’s he was an Associate Editor with AdNews.

I look forward to working with Paul Brent and to his fresh and insightful view of the Canadian property business.

Please feel free to contact Paul Brent with news, information and commentary for Property Biz Canada.

About Property Biz Canada

Property Biz Canada is launching in the spring of 2011. It is going to provide original RENX news, analysis and commentary from a National perspective about the operating and development activities of the commercial real estate industry with an emphasis on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs),  real estate operating companies (REOCs), pension fund owned and operated real estate companies as well as municipal, provincial and federal property assets and related Corporations.

Read my recent blog about the Launch of Property Biz Canada for more details about the publication.

RENX to launch Property Biz Canada

March 31st, 2011 1 Comment »
Property Biz Canada

Launching May 2011

In the spring of 2011, RENX is launching a new weekly online publication called Property Biz Canada.  It is going to provide original RENX news, analysis and commentary from a National perspective about the operating and development activities of the commercial real estate industry with an emphasis on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs),  real estate operating companies (REOCs), pension fund owned and operated real estate companies as well as municipal, provincial and federal property assets and related Corporations.

Property Biz Canada will provide news about the commercial real estate industry, a sector of the economy that has gained prominence over the past 15 years.  Real estate securities, particularly real estate investment trusts (REITs), have grown to become a popular choice for investors and money managers since first introduced in Canada in early 1990’s.  Yield seeking investors looking for secure investments have increasingly turned to REITs and Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs) following the rise and fall of the technology sector and more recently with the economic volatility associated with the recession.

Pension funds and other institutional investors have a majority interest in Class A commercial real estate in Canada that has a combined valued in excess of $100-billion.  These property companies have become familiar names in the business community, Oxford Properties Group owned by the OMERs, Cadillac Fairview owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, SITQ and Ivanhoe Cambridge Shopping Centres owned by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the  Canada Pension Plan Investment Board who acquired the assets of O&Y Enterprises comprised of the building portfolio formerly owned by the Reichmann family in Canada.

In the wake of the recession, in 2010, most Canadian institutional investors have increased their allocation of investment dollars for property and infrastructure .  They have also shifted their focus from domestic acquisitions and management to foreign investments.

Urban intensification has put pressure on all levels of Government to support increased development density.  This trend has created new partnerships between the development industry, the commercial real estate sector including multi-residential builders, and owners of urban infrastructure, primarily municipalities but often with a Provincial and Federal interest.

The trend toward denser cities is being accelerated by public investment in transit lines, which create ideal locations for high density mixed use development.  Government stimulus dollars directed toward infrastructure projects has further reinforced urban development.  As a consequence cash strapped municipalities are forming new arms length property development corporations that facilitate the creation and execution of strategic plans for their real estate holdings.

All these trends combined mean the Canadian real estate professional as well as the average person in this country has a growing stake in this sector of the economy creating an expanding market for information concerned with the property business.

As Canada’s premier online news service for the Canadian real estate industry, with 8,000 subscribers, RENX is uniquely positioned to immediately start delivery of Property Biz Canada to its existing subscribers and to effectively market to a broader audience.

Property Biz Canada is RENX debut as a weekly news publisher a product that will supplement its already popular news aggregation service.

I look forward to launching Property Biz Canada in the spring of 2011.

I welcome your thoughts, suggestions and feedback about this new venture.

Environmental Amnesia: A Product of Urbanization

August 3rd, 2010 No Comments »

For the early part of my life I had the incredible good fortune to live the summer months embedded in rural Ontario.  During those months I was immersed in the daily activities of running a half cottage, half hobby farm.  It was a family owned property that supported a couple of acres of vegetables, dairy cattle and chickens perched on the edge of a lake that offered a full range of swimming and boating options.

It was a childhood paradise living under the sky only to be forced indoors at the end of the day by the discomforts of biting insects, nightfall and the insistence of adults.  Nature was home, familiar, welcoming and full of creatures large and small, domestic and wild all cherished accomplices to a youthful adventurer.

One grows up, life moves on and like almost everyone now I ended up living in a city – Toronto. Not in the suburbs but smack downtown in the shadow of the CN tower in the St. Lawrence Market neighborhood.   It was an equally valued home as the Ontario countryside only different. Toronto is engaging, meaningful, chocked full of opportunity, sports, cultural and business related thrills and pursuit.  Some evenings, at loose ends, I would catch a breath of air (fresh?) and stretch my legs by walking up Yonge St. – Front to Bloor and back – a thoroughly enjoyable outing.

Cities are not only where most people end up, urban intensification is also touted as a solution to many of our environmental troubles.  Proximity to work, shopping, transit and community are determined to be effective means of minimizing travel, space requirements and reducing the environmental footprint of a crowded planet.  In fact the LEED green building rating system scores highly urban locations and transit nodes as determinants of the degree of sustainability it attributes to a property.

All the while I was living in Toronto I imagined our family property, which as an acreage has remained essentially unchanged in its dimensions, no longer a farm but still a cottage, would continue untouched by the human hand. I imagined a place that would somehow always retain its basic character – same plants, birds, water and the look and feel of a quarter century earlier.

Now after many years I have had the incredibly good fortune once again to return to that enclave of early sweetness and there have been some discoveries.   It isn’t the same.  It is really very different and some changes it isn’t easy to recall, describe or fully understand.  While the owners have done little to alter the landscape the winds of change have blown in from beyond its border.

No barn swallows, where in the past flocks used to lined the electrical wires in the evenings, eating their weight in insects, swooping, diving, chattering and tormenting building owners by nesting where they weren’t welcome.  No wrens, humming birds, meadow larks,  king birds, purple martens but a lot of crows and vultures.  The first birds in the morning a robin, a blue jay, a chickadee and a sprinkling of other songs where an orchestra of voices once filled the air.

No water snakes, salamanders, toads and a distinct decline in the number of smaller frogs and common garter snakes.   There seems to be a bonanza of turtles and some larger frogs but not the same mix as in the past – a different sound emanates from the marshes.

While the water is still fairly clear the lake bottom is now covered in a thick layer of  algae that clings to rock, soil and sea weed alike.  An algae bloom in the spring appears like huge green cauliflower beneath the surface that in the heat of the summer settles to the lake bottom.

Uncountable numbers of zebra mussels clinging to the rocks and crevices of the lake bottom and around the docks and shorelines making walking in the water treacherous.  Fewer pan fish, the rock bass, perch and sunfish that used to swarm around the dock always willing to grab a hook and worm just as the line hit the water.

There are also the new arrivals such as deer, coyotes, bears and raccoons in healthy numbers unknown in the days when farmers eliminated animals that preyed on their livestock and crops.

There is a flourishing collection of noxious plants that thrive in the warmer summers, poison ivy, sumac, grape vines and now also the giant hog weed.  These are plants that are known to have adverse reactions when in contact with people or to readily steal the sustenance from another species.

Co-incidentally, or perhaps not, this summer I had a skin reaction to an as yet unidentified plant that wasn’t poison ivy – the result of a gardening incident – that created permanently scaring blisters.  In the past I have been immune to plant toxins and able to stroll through fields of nasty and prickly weeds with little concern.

These are some of the obvious changes to our family’s country property that are easy to point out. Then there are all the things that you can’t quite recall or place a finger on – a forgotten flower, bird, tree, bush, butterfly or insect.  Come to think of it there is tons of milkweed but not many monarch butterfly caterpillars.

The environment is simply not as diverse, lively, bright or full of the same rich mixture of sounds and sights.  While it is still nature with all its infinite attractions, in my view, the quality of the environment has quite obviously deteriorated.

I wonder how many people living in cities were raised in similar rural settings?  How many of them are living with this fantasy that their sanctuary awaits them?  Given that there has been an unprecedented trend toward urbanization over the last 50 years I imagine many Canadians are in this category.

There is also a whole generation of people who will experience nature, as we know it today as ‘normal’.  For them the missing animals, algae infested water, the invasive species are all simply the way it is – it is their starting point – a new lower standard and expectation.

Furthermore with such a high proportion of the population living in cities how accurately is the environment going to be understood, observed and monitored and who is going to do it. Environmental scientists already suffer a credibility gap evidenced by the recent debate about whether climate change is caused by humans.

While urbanization presents a genuine solution for slowing the pace of climate change it may also produce an environmental amnesia amongst a generation of city dwellers.    Paradise Earth of only 25 years ago is rapidly becoming a forgotten World, residing in the memory of an aging population, many of whom naively may think it still exists.  A robust and healthy planet is being replaced by media imagery of the way it used to be perpetuating the belief that beyond the urban boundary little has change.

This is a personal account of my observations over the summer of 2010.   While I prefer to dwell on solutions I occasionally feel compelled to remind myself, and others, that the natural world is suffering at our hands.  It is also important, once in a while, to reinforce what an enormous loss we are experiencing by not preserving the natural environment.

Corrected: Green labels, embraced in Europe, new to the U.S., ignored in Canada

May 18th, 2010 No Comments »

The green building industry is relatively new in North America yet there is no shortage of labels, rating systems and standards.   LEED, BOMA Best, Energy Star and Built Green have all become available in Canada in the past 15 years and this is the tip of the iceberg globally.

Speaking at the inaugural Green Building Ottawa Conference held on May 13th, Wayne Trusty, President of Athena Sustainable Materials Institute whose Canadian head office is in Merrickville near the capital said ‘there are over 500 green building labels in the World.’

In the rapidly evolving world of green standards, and in spite of the what may seem like an abundance of rating systems,  there are industry experts who make a case for Canada to consider new green labels that are gaining market acceptance in other countries and being overlooked here.

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute (ATHENA) is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the sustainability of the built environment by helping industry professionals evaluate the environmental impacts of new and existing buildings through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).  It offers the only two software tools in North America for the life cycle assessment of whole buildings and assemblies.

Life Cycle Assessment, like that offered by the ATHENA Institute, is critical to the growth of environmental product standards such as those created by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

ISO 14040 is a series of standards for conducting life cycle analysis and ISO 14025 is for environmental declarations and programs. With reference to these two standards ISO has prepared a methodology for preparing quantified
environmental product data. An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) based on this data is international, verifiable and accurate information about a good or product that can be used as a green label that is not misleading.

In 2007 ISO released ISO 21930 that describes the principles and framework for environmental declarations of building products, taking into consideration the complete life cycle of a building.

Climate related data can be taken as an excerpt from an EPD where the information is expressed in CO2 equivalents for the life of a product. This information can be used to generate a ‘climate declaration’.

Following the commercial success of green labels like LEED in North America there has been an epidemic of companies that have undertaken to create their own ‘green brands’.  These ‘self declared’ labels have garnered well-deserved skepticism from procurement professionals and the public alike.

What EPD’s offer, that self declared private green brands lack, is a verifiable and accurate process developed through the use of international, scientifically accepted and proven methods for life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and services.   They provide a credible way to compare potential purchases so that professionals can optimize environmental choices, avoid green washing and deliver higher value to their organizations and customers.

Organizations and businesses have emerged that support and help to prepare EPD’s based on the ISO standard and create an international market for products with the declaration. A non-profit called the EPD®system based in Europe is one.  In the original version of this article we incorrectly assumed that it was somehow representative of all EPD’s globally. Nevertheless called the EPD®system website has current information about the tremendous growth in the demand for EPD’s around the World.

An October 2008 news report on the EPD®system website describes 89 EPD’s developed in 6 different European countries as well as Japan. Since the article was published EPDs evolved significantly and are now being used by transit services such as the Swedish rail service The Botnia Line which has issued EPD’s covering railway infrastructure and rail cars.

A recent article in Greener Buildings reports that the U.S. Government, which has mandated a substantial green house gas reduction initiative, is expected to give preference to EPD rated products as part of greening its procurement process.   In addition a U.S. based organization  The Green Standard is offering a Green Purchasing Accredited Professionals training program or GPAP.  Its inaugural course offered in March 2010 was attended by people from CB Richard Ellis.

Asked “What is the most effective step Canada could take toward a greener future?”  Wayne Trusty said ‘more data’.   Data is a vital ingredient for LCA’s,  the building block of EPD’s and similar labeling systems. ‘The EPD process has been ignored here in Canada’ he said.

Ian Theaker, Senior Sustainability Specialist, Halsall Associates, another speaker at the Ottawa conference, said that mandatory ‘energy efficiency labels’ for buildings would be the most powerful mechanism for accelerating the implementation of green building practices in Canada.

Theaker said that a building label that itemized a buildings energy footprint, green house gas emissions and the cost of energy would not be expensive to implement and would provide a market incentive for improving building energy performance. He said that the National Research Council is looking into it.

Since greening a building is entirely voluntary in Canada, Theaker said, there is no incentive for people who own poorly performing buildings to do anything.

The Real Property Association of Canada has declared a voluntary National Energy Consumption target for commercial buildings called 20 x 15.  The goal is for buildings to achieve 20 equivalent kilowatt-hours of total energy use per square foot of rentable area per year in office buildings by the year 2015.   Although this program is not enforceable, Theaker’s point, it does establish a target for reduced energy consumption for the real estate industry.

While energy labeling for homes has been mandated by the European Union, in Canada the Federal Government recently shut down the home based energy conservation program associated with recent Government stimulus money.  Furthermore,  Theaker said, in the housing sector in Toronto only a quarter of the homes that are sold  have a property inspection.

“Canada is falling further, and further behind other countries” in implementing measures that will move the country toward a greener economy according the Theaker “and it will have a difficult time catching up.”

Will the GTA be flooded by PPP opportunities?

May 12th, 2010 No Comments »

In the Greater Toronto Area there are five active public real estate companies: Build Toronto, Toronto Lands Company, Waterfront Toronto, Ontario Realty Corporation and Canada Lands Company owner of Downsview Park. Each organization has been established to develop and manage public property in order to  generate a sustainable revenue stream or enhance the value of its assets or both.

Build Toronto

The newest of these organizations Build Toronto announced that it is open for business today, May 12th at the Toronto Board of Trade.  It was established in 2009 by the City of Toronto under the direction of Mayor David Miller.

Build Toronto has a portfolio of 31 properties representing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate.  The properties include underutilized transit land, parking facilities, libraries, police stations as well as the City’s residential properties.

Four large projects have been identified by Build Toronto as its first priority in the search for Canadian and International investors to partner in unlocking the market value of these sites.   The properties include:

(1) A 54-acre location next to the Downsview subway station.

(2) 154 Front Street at the corner of Sherbourne and Front in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.

(3) A 24 acre industrial property off the QEW highway near Islington Ave. and Lakeshore Blvd. in the city’s west end.

(4) 4050 Yonge St. an under underutilized 2 acre site projected for a 450,000 square foot development at the corner of York Mills Rd. and Yonge St.

All of these are Class A locations with extraordinary development potential.  Under the direction of the Build Toronto Board, which includes leaders in Canadian real estate industry, Build Toronto seemed destined to find suitable partners that will see the properties developed.

In addition to Build Toronto there are four other public real estate companies.  They are:

Toronto Lands Company

The Toronto Lands Corporation was created in September 2007 and incorporated in April 2008 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Toronto District School Board.  The TLC’s mission is to maximize the Toronto District School Board’s real estate revenues in order to reinvest in TDSB schools and students.

Shirley Hoy, CEO of Toronto Lands Company said her organization is expected to generate a $30-million surplus annually for the Toronto School Board.

Waterfront Toronto

The Waterfront Toronto website says that it is building the largest urban revitalization project in North America.  It is mandated by the three levels of Government each equally represented on its Board of Director to develop the publicly owned waterfront lands in downtown Toronto.

Ontario Realty Corporation

The Ontario Realty Corporation manages one of the largest real estate portfolios in Canada, consisting of approximately 6,000 buildings and structures and over 80,000 acres of land across the province. The portfolio includes a wide variety of properties ranging from detention centres to office space, courthouses and heritage buildings.

Its major projects in Toronto include 222 Jarvis St., the Keele-Wilson Provincial Campus Redevelopment and the West Don Lands Flood Protection Platform.

Canada Lands Company

Canada Lands Company Limited is an arms length, self-financing Crown Corporation reporting to the Canadian Parliament through the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

In Toronto CLC owns the CN Tower and several downtown office locations as well as other properties listed on its website.

Downsview Park in Toronto is a 572 acre property that was taken over by the Federal Government after the Canadian Forces Base on the property was closed in 1994.  It is operated by PDP a crown corporation and subsidiary of the CLC established in 1999 that received full ownership of the Park in 2006.

While Build Toronto is well positioned to succeed with a strong Board of Directors and an exceptional portfolio of properties all five of these organizations are competing in the same jurisdiction for essentially the same partners and investment.

Does the presence of the five public development organizations work to their advantage or will the GTA becoming flooded with public private opportunities?  Could flooding the market dilute the value of the opportunities to the development organizations and the public?