Barbara Carss
Canadian Property Management
Resilience still lacks climate action profile
Climate change adaptation measures are typically viewed as risk management rather than levers for investment returns, but they are inherently linked to building and portfolio value.
Canadian Apartment Magazine
Potential property tax relief looks uneven
A potential incentive for new purpose-built rental housing in Ontario comes with adverse implications for existing multifamily properties, thanks to the mathematics of property tax allocation.
Canadian Property Management
Defaulted real estate loans on the upswing
Many creditors and debtors are now grappling with the fallout from a largely unexpected change in market conditions over the course of their loan agreements.
Canadian Property Management
Energy storage prompts a battery of precautions
In step with the projected surge in energy storage installations, fire safety advisors are actively working to help clean tech adopters understand and mitigate the risks.
Canadian Property Management
Investment returns show slipping values in 2023
Canadian investment returns for 2023 show retail improvement, industrial deceleration and continuing office value decline, as capital loss balances out income growth for a flat total return.
Canadian Property Management
CRE fosters all-in approach to decarbonization
Daunting net zero targets in the buildings sector are spurring an all-in approach to decarbonization that assigns roles to finance, engineering, management and operational teams.
Canadian Property Management
Building electrification projects impart lessons
The business case for electrification works best when retrofits are synced with the end-of-life of existing mechanical equipment and/or asset repositioning plans
Canadian Property Management
Outdoor lighting principles hail the dark side
Guiding principles for responsible nighttime lighting define how light should be applied, but, first, prospective installers are advised to consider whether lighting is even necessary.
Canadian Apartment Magazine
Interest rates subdue multifamily developers
Fallout from higher interest rates may continue to subdue multifamily development, but lenders express more confidence in prospects for new purpose-built rental and high-rise condominium projects next year.
Canadian Property Management
Lenders set to curtail office exposure in 2024
Lenders generally expect to curtail office exposure while increasing overall allocations to Canadian real estate in 2024, findings from CBRE Canada's annual survey reveal.
Canadian Property Management
Climate action levers key amid competing crises
Strategists are pondering the most effective climate action levers to keep attention focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions as other events and pressures commandeer priority-setting agendas.
Canadian Property Management
Generative AI poised to realign CRE status quo
Emerging generative AI applications could realign the status quo within commercial real estate’s property administration, brokerage and investment management services.
Canadian Apartment Magazine
Conversion momentum draws on combo of drivers
Replicating Calgary’s nascent office-to-residential conversion momentum in other markets will likely depend on the same combination of weak office values, strong housing demand and generous incentives.
Canadian Property Management
Social destabilization unsettles city fabric
Data, collaborative networks and a suite of tested best practices can be valuable resources for property managers pressed to respond to the unsettling social destabilization occurring in many Canadian cities.
Canadian Property Management
Net zero spoilers embedded in behaviour traits
Professor Robert Gifford, a behavioural psychologist affiliated with University of Victoria’s School of Environmental Studies, tallies dozens of traits that could be undermining climate progress.
Canadian Property Management
Ontario keeps clinging to 2016 market values
The recent regulation to postpone Ontario's property reassessment for another year stretches the assessment cycle to double its originally intended time span.
Canadian Property Management
Rooftop solar photovoltaics spark safety advice
Rooftop solar PV installations pack a potentially lethal electrical charge, necessitating vigilant monitoring and maintenance of the many system components.
