Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 1099

There are 26 cantons in Switzerland. One of the smaller cantons is Zug. It has a population of around 122,000 people and an area of 239 square kilometers. The capital of the canton is the town of Zug , which itself has a population of about 29,256 (as of December 2015) and an area of 21.61 square kilometers. 

To help put that into perspective, a single municipal ward in downtown Toronto ( Ward 28 - Toronto Centre-Rosedale ) had a population of over 66,000 people back in 2011.

But as small as Zug may be, it is known as one of the most business friendly jurisdictions in the world. It has some of the lowest corporate taxes and the local revenue service prides itself on calling each taxpayer a “client” as opposed to a “debtor.” 

As of 2010, the canton’s registry listed more than 29,000 companies , with more than 1,000 arriving and being started each year. There are about as many companies in the canton as there are people in the town of Zug.

It’s a classic example of jurisdictional arbitrage and it’s one that Zug seems determined to keep. In July 2016, the town of Zug began accepting digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, as payment for city fees. 

The impetus for doing so was to help advance Zug’s position as a global center for cryptocurrency innovation. There’s a very real government supported push to make Zug into “Crypto Valley.” And startups from around the world who are working in this space are starting to take notice . To me this feels like a natural extension given the canton’s existing strengths and reputation. (More reading here and here .)

I’ve been to Zug maybe twice and, at first blush, it could easily pass for your average sleepy-yet-affluent Swiss town. But then you think about all of the money that flows through this place and you quickly understand why that modest, but very tasty, breakfast sandwich just cost you all of the CHF’s in your wallet. 

Of course, if the entrepreneurs in Zug get their way, we won’t be carrying around wallets anymore. We’ll be paying with some sort of crypto varietal. And that would only strengthen this canton’s story: You don’t necessarily need to be big to be globally impactful – just put the right policies in the place. 

Oh, and have a very high quality of life and an immensely beautiful natural setting. Those things help as well.

Photo by Martin Sattler on Unsplash . The above photo is actually of Morschach in Switzerland, not of Zug. I couldn’t find a royalty free image of the latter. Please forgive me for the false advertising.

The German investment fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has just closed on the Herzog & de Meuron -designed mixed-use parking garage / event space at 1111 Lincoln in Miami Beach . 

They paid USD$283 million or $1,932 per square foot. It’s one of the biggest deals ever on Lincoln Road.

The complex includes 94,488 square feet of office, 51,839 square feet of retail, and a 300 stall parking garage / event space (people get married in this garage). The sale also includes retail space at 1664-1664 Lenox Avenue, but excludes two new residential units according to The Real Deal . I’m assuming it is these two .

The seller was developer Robert Wennett, who bought the site – existing office building + surface parking lot – in 2005 for $23.5 million. He then spent $65 million on the widely celebrated HdM garage and built himself a penthouse residence on top if it .

I am very curious to know the cap rate . But it would also be interesting to try and figure out what sort of premium could attributed to the fact that this is a pretty famous complex designed by HdM.

The Wall Street Journal once wrote that several hundred people walk into this parking garage every single day just to look around. I have been one of those humans on many many occasions. See above photo.

For more photos of 1111 Lincoln, click here .

It’s late. I just got home from the office. And I’m exhausted.

But I did just receive my copy of Toronto Architecture: A City Guide . The “handbook” was originally written by Patricia McHugh (1934-2008), but it was recently updated by Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic . (Also, shout out to Vik Pahwa for the terrific photos he took for this guide.)

When I opened the book, one of the first things that stood out for me were these two lines:

Toronto has in fact rebuilt itself over and over again.

This book is, in part, a tool to understand that story.

In my view, this is one of the biggest compliments that you can pay to a city. Cities should not be static entities. Because if they are, then they will inevitably fail. Change must be a constant.

As I read through the guide, that wonderful spirit of reinvention is abundantly clear. But I think the real way to experience this handbook is on the streets of Toronto – and probably with a good camera. That’s why it’s called a handbook. 

The book is primarily structured around 26 distinct walking tours, each of which could be covered off in an afternoon. Along each tour, Patricia and Alex point out which buildings you should be focused on and provide pithy, yet insightful, comments for each.

I believe that the more you know, the more you can appreciate. So if you’re interested in architecture and/or Toronto, I would you encourage you to think about getting a copy. And if you’re interested in going on a walking tour, tweet at me .