Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 870

Real estate development has historically been, and unfortunately still is, a male dominated business. ( The story of Florence Casler is, however, a great outlier.) If you want some empirical evidence for this, pay attention to the length of the line for the men's bathroom the next time you're at a real estate conference or event.

This needs to change. Which is why my good friend Taya Cook (of Urban Capital ) has just announced, in partnership with Sherry Larjani (of Spotlight Development ), the first all-female development project in Canada. It's called Reina and it's planned for a vacant site at 689 The Queensway, Toronto. Here is an excerpt from a recent RENX article :

“We’re embarking on this project to create more visibility for women in real estate development, and to inspire younger women to see career possibilities,” said Cook, the director of development at Urban Capital, in a release announcing the project. “It’s a huge industry and a massive economic driver for the region. For some reason it has been seriously lagging behind in gender equity.”

Two things are probably important to mention about the team and project.

Firstly, the women developing Reina are all leaders and key decision makers. This is important for the project's broader mission, but also because it will likely remove male biases from the design process. Everything from architecture to construction will be led by women and will incorporate a "female perspective." Secondly -- and this just makes the narrative even better -- the site used to house a strip club.

Congratulations Taya, Sherry, and the rest of the project team on a terrific development and initiative: "Condominiums designed by women. Developed by women. Built for everyone." Follow Reina on Instagram, here .

Image: Reina Condos

Last week the Government of Canada filed a 2,100-page submission with the United Nation's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCOLS), states with coastal territory have the exclusive rights to about 370 kilometers beyond their shores in order to conduct economic activity. This includes the exclusive rights to any resources. However, states may also make claims to further extensions underneath the water if they can substantiate them through scientific research. Last week's submission attempts to do exactly that for an additional 1.2 million square kilometers of sea bed.

Here is a map from High North News :

The challenge with all of this is that Norway, Denmark, and Russia all have their own continental shelf claims, and there's geographic overlap. (The US has not yet ratified their UNCOLS agreement.) So it is unlikely for this to be resolved anytime soon, though all states seem willing to work with the UN. This is a relatively new debate because the North Pole and Arctic Ocean were previously considered neutral territory. But climate change is opening up new economic opportunities (i.e. there's a lot less ice). That's worrisome in its own right.

Click here for the full press release from the Government of Canada.

Being a sports fan is like having a bipolar disorder. The highs are high. And the lows are low. But right now -- with the Toronto Raptors having clinched their first ever NBA Finals appearance -- we are all on a high. Though the job is far from over, this city has waited 24 seasons for this moment . Turns out, all we were missing was one of the greatest basketball players of all time .

https://twitter.com/donnelly_b/status/1132668677600501760

It's pretty amazing to see how far we have come both as a franchise, and as a global city. When Scotiabank Arena was completed in 1999, it, and the surrounding area, looked like this . On Saturday night after the win, it looked like this , a veritable "sports alley." I have long thought that Bremner Boulevard should be placemade into a sports alley connecting Scotiabank Arena (on the east) and the Rogers Centre (on the west).

From now until this Thursday, all is right in the world. Enjoy it Toronto, and Canada. Masai Ujiri made a bet that I think most, if not all, of us would agree has paid off. Had it not, Raptors fans across the country would be criticizing him for trading away our franchise player. But that's par for the course in this bipolar world of sports fandom.