Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 225

Today, I'm excited to share that I'll be attending the second annual Elevate event this December as an industry ambassador. This means I get to ride alongside industry celebrities like Norm Li . (He better be DJ'ing.)

Put on by Zonda , in partnership with Livabl and ARCHITECT Magazine, the event is focused exclusively on "the art of high-rise luxury living." Everything from the overall state of the housing market to how to sell branded residences .

Here's the agenda and here's the list of speakers .

I wasn't able to attend last year, but I heard from a number of industry friends that it was very well done, which is why I agreed to participate this year. That now means I have a discount code you can all use if you'd like to attend -- BRANDONVIP30.

For those of you who like art and culture things, the event also happens to fall right after Art Basel. This was done on purpose, and so now you have at least two good reasons to be in Miami Beach in December.

A branded residence is, as the name suggests, a residential building with a known branded attached to it. Historically, these have tended to be hotel brands. But it really just needs to be any brand that people know, care about, and will pay a premium for. So it could also be a fashion brand, a car brand, or whatever else.

This is a growing segment of the residential market. According to UK-based Savills , there were only 15 or so of these "schemes" in the 1990s (the UK uses scheme in lieu of project, which always sounds conniving to me), but by the end of this decade they expect the pipeline of branded residences to exceed over 1,200.

I would also argue that projects designed by celebrated architects and/or designers are a form of branded residence. And this is not being captured in Savills' number above.

Whatever your definition, today, the branded residence capital of the world seems to be Dubai , which feels right. And the biggest brands, by what appears to be a long shot, are Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton (hotel side), and YOO and Trump (non-hotel side). Here are the full rankings from Savills :

This is an interesting part of the real estate business for a few reasons. One, it makes sense. A New Balance shoe that gets co-branded with Aimé Leon Dore unlocks additional value for both sides. ALD has a brand that certain people care about. So, of course the same would be true of real estate paired with the right brand.

Two, it's a growing market, and I think this is aided by the fact that development is an intensely local business -- so it can be hard to grow a globally-significant brand on your own. Sometimes you just need to borrow someone else's.

And three, it's usually a less risky approach to getting your name on buildings. Branded residences typically operate on a licensing model, which means developers pay for the right to use the brand. The brand may also capture some of the upside in the form of a percentage of sales. That's less risky than putting up your own money.

In 2019, London implemented something known as an Ultra-Low Emission Zone (or ULEZ) . The intent was to reduce the number of older and higher-polluting vehicles entering and driving around the city.

It works like this: If you have a vehicle that does not meet the ULEZ emission standards, you need to pay a daily charge of £12.50. This applies all day every day (except Christmas) and it is in addition to London's congestion charge.

It's also done entirely through license plate cameras. If you enter the zone, don't have an approved plate, and don't pay the charge within a few days, you get sent a fine. The result is that London's ULEZ is now the largest clean air zone in the world ( at least according to London ).

It also achieved its intended purpose. In 2017, only 39% of cars entering London would have met the ULEZ emission standards. Today the number is over 95%. Meaning, most people don't actually pay the charge.

At the same time, nitrogen dioxide levels in the zone have more than halved, improving overall health outcomes. It's a perfect example of taxing the things you want less of. What's also interesting is that there were positive second-order consequences.

Vehicle traffic as a whole declined by about 9% in the first year, with no evidence of displacement to other areas. And according to this research study , it actually encouraged more kids to walk and take other forms of "active transport" to and from school.

Seems like a no brainer to me.