When the music stops
When I was in grad school studying real estate, I remember one of my professors once making a joke about the lifecycle of developers. He said that developers usually start by first doing a small project. Then they take the profits from that project and roll them into a bigger project. Once that is done, they take those profits and roll them into an even bigger project. And then they go bankrupt. The point he was trying to make was that development is a risky business. One of the reasons for t...
When the music stops
When I was in grad school studying real estate, I remember one of my professors once making a joke about the lifecycle of developers. He said that developers usually start by first doing a small project. Then they take the profits from that project and roll them into a bigger project. Once that is done, they take those profits and roll them into an even bigger project. And then they go bankrupt. The point he was trying to make was that development is a risky business. One of the reasons for t...
Trading height for open space
Park City Planning Commission assesses development proposal for 1500 Kearns Boulevard
Trading height for open space
Park City Planning Commission assesses development proposal for 1500 Kearns Boulevard
A 10-storey, single-stair apartment building on 640 square feet
It's fun to examine projects that I could never underwrite or build in Toronto. Here's another one from Tokyo — a 10-storey, single-stair apartment building on a busy street, next to a metro station. The site itself is only 59.49 m2 (~640 ft2), and the building footprint is 47.97 m2 (~516 sf), for a total of 388.28 m2 (~4,179 ft2). There's retail on the first and second floors, one home per floor on levels 3 through 8, and then a two-storey home on levels 9 and 10. All of this is serviced by ...
A 10-storey, single-stair apartment building on 640 square feet
It's fun to examine projects that I could never underwrite or build in Toronto. Here's another one from Tokyo — a 10-storey, single-stair apartment building on a busy street, next to a metro station. The site itself is only 59.49 m2 (~640 ft2), and the building footprint is 47.97 m2 (~516 sf), for a total of 388.28 m2 (~4,179 ft2). There's retail on the first and second floors, one home per floor on levels 3 through 8, and then a two-storey home on levels 9 and 10. All of this is serviced by ...
The final connector
I sometimes joke that one of my part-time jobs is charging devices, and so I love that the world has shifted to USB-C as the standard for wired charging. It's trendy to criticize the EU for over-regulating things, but this is one area where I'm glad they stepped in and forced everyone, including Apple, to get on board. Phones, tablets, and laptops basically have 100% adoption at this point, and adoption is similarly high for other small appliances, electronics, and even airplane seats. All of...
The final connector
I sometimes joke that one of my part-time jobs is charging devices, and so I love that the world has shifted to USB-C as the standard for wired charging. It's trendy to criticize the EU for over-regulating things, but this is one area where I'm glad they stepped in and forced everyone, including Apple, to get on board. Phones, tablets, and laptops basically have 100% adoption at this point, and adoption is similarly high for other small appliances, electronics, and even airplane seats. All of...
How online grocery shopping is strengthening retail real estate
There are now over 2,300 cities and towns across the US where Amazon offers free same-day grocery delivery for Prime members. This means a 2-hour delivery from an Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market. And apparently, 90% of what people buy this way is perishable, namely, fruit. Perishable food purchases also increased 30x this year, according to the company. When it comes to online grocery shopping, this falls under what is typically referred to as the "delivery" bucket. There are three main sh...
How online grocery shopping is strengthening retail real estate
There are now over 2,300 cities and towns across the US where Amazon offers free same-day grocery delivery for Prime members. This means a 2-hour delivery from an Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market. And apparently, 90% of what people buy this way is perishable, namely, fruit. Perishable food purchases also increased 30x this year, according to the company. When it comes to online grocery shopping, this falls under what is typically referred to as the "delivery" bucket. There are three main sh...
