Two B.C. projects win CDBI Awards of Excellence

The Canadian Design-Build Institute (CDBI) has announced the winners of its 2017 Design-Build Award of Excellence. The winner in the buildings category was the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre in Kelowna, B.C. The winner in the infrastructure category was the Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project in Metro Vancouver, B.C.

“We have a panel that includes owners, contractors, architects and engineers that examines the submissions. They select the winners using a weighted rating system followed by a discussion of practice and design qualities,” said Uel McFall, CDBI chair. “It is amazing to see how complex these projects are, yet it is possible to control cost and schedule and develop innovative approaches and designs.”

The CDBI Award of Excellence is presented annually to recognize excellence in Canada’s design-build industry and to acknowledge design-build teams whose projects contribute to the growth and stature of the design-build profession. Award recipients demonstrate the highest standards and principles in the design-build industry and the business community in pursuit of excellence.

Buildings Category: Interior Heart and Surgical Centre

This project with a nearly $124 million final cost initially comprised a three-storey facility which was then expanded after project award and available fund increases both in square footage and height to a four-storey, 14,763-square meter facility. It contains 15 operating rooms and all associated staff support facilities, including a pre-op area, a cardiac surgical intensive care unit, post anesthetic recovery rooms, a medical device reprocessing area and post-op recovery area.

To accommodate the added fourth floor to an already existing design and partially-constructed building, mechanical connections were located outside one of the walls for easier access during construction as well as for maintenance. This solution was hailed a breakthrough by operational personnel. As of February 2017, the project is also LEED Gold certified.

Owner: Interior Health Authority
Design-builder: PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc.
Consultant: HDR / CEI Architecture Associates Inc.

Infrastructure Category: Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project

The Evergreen Line Rapid Transit project is an 11-kilometer advanced light rail transit system extension connecting Coquitlam City Centre through Port Moody to Lougheed Town Centre in approximately 15 minutes. The Evergreen Line was completed and in service as of late 2016.

The scope consisted of 5 kilometers of elevated guideway, 4 kilometers of at-grade guideway and 2 kilometres of tunnel. There are 7 passenger stations along the way, 5 power propulsion installations, signal operating and monitoring systems, a vehicle storage and maintenance facility and miscellaneous related facilities. The project area required provision for high seismic requirements in poor soil conditions and difficult tunnel boring environments. Parts of the line were to be constructed near an existing active rail freight alignment.

The more than billion-dollar budget included a provision for substantial land acquisition. The actual project budget was $889 million, and the final project cost was $925 million, with the increase due primarily to systems enhancements requested by the owner. The project was delivered on schedule.

Owner: Province of British Columbia
Design-builder: SNC Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc.
Consultant: SNC-Lavalin, MMM Group (a WSP Company)

Design casts Stereo D’s new facility in low light

At a time when organizations are pushing meeting rooms and private offices into the middles of floor plates, Stereo D Canada has done just the opposite. It’s a strategy which upends current thinking about giving employees equal access to outdoor views, observed Ted Shore, principal at Quadrangle.

“Interiors, through the ‘80s and ‘90s, was all about the democracy of light,” said Shore. “We spent an awful lot of time convincing clients … if you do need a private office, then move it off the outside, have some interior glass and let the light be open to the workstations, so this is an interesting reversal of that.”

In fact, the work that occurs at Stereo D’s new Toronto outpost in Liberty Village demands darkness as visual effects artists convert movies into 3D, as Stephen Gallop, general manager and vice president of Stereo D Canada, explained.

“The images that we’re looking at here, you’re then going to go see in a theatre,” said Gallop. “Those things are very bright, very dark, they’re going to be under scrutiny.”

Locating its Canadian outpost in Toronto gave Stereo D the opportunity to recruit students out of schools that are internationally recognized for animation and visual effects, such as Seneca and Sheridan. Since employees are of a younger demographic, selecting a site in the trendy Liberty Village neighbourhood, with its live-play-work options and proximity to transit, was seen as a strategic move in attracting and retaining talent.

Around 240 employees now occupy phase one of the space, which spreads 45,000 square feet over a split level. With phase two complete, the studio is expected to accommodate more than 400 employees as it eyes adding animation to its offerings.

Uplighting mounted on widely spaced columns satisfies the mandated minimums for illumination without casting glare on the dual monitor-equipped workstations. For similar reasons, said Shore, this area features a fairly muted, primarily grey colour palette offset by spirals of fire-engine red coil that drop cabling from basket trays to BIVI by Steelcase workstations, which were specified in walnut.

“When I started looking three years ago, it was nearly impossible to find dark frames,” said Vera Gisarov, senior associate at Quadrangle. “You can find the walnut, but it’s hard to find all the dark finishes together because everybody’s doing white.

“I went to NeoCon this year, and all the showrooms are starting to show this.”

Providing a reprieve from the dim work area are a boardroom with views to outside, a sky-lit “central park” and a spacious kitchen with 20-foot ceilings.

“You get pools of light looking down corridors and views,” said Shore. “It was a way of breaking up the otherwise dark studio.”

In these spaces, a combination of industrial and theatrical accents contribute to a steampunk look. Steampunk, with its roots in science fiction, is inspired by the Victorian era, which is appropriate given the 1900s vintage of the heritage building — previously home to the Canada Bread factory — in which Stereo D Canada’s facilities are located.

Most notably, an artist reimagined old boiler end caps as clocks, which are repurposed in the central park, where they are set to the time zones of the company’s three locations, including its outpost in Pune, India, as well as its headquarters in Burbank, California.

The boiler end caps aren’t the only relic of the facility’s past to be incorporated into its new use. The kitchen, which, incidentally, used to house the boilers, retained its concrete flooring, except where the floor had to be raised, said Shore, pointing out the seam where the old concrete meets the new concrete.

“It was all part of the character of the building that we wanted to highlight, not make go away,” he said.

In the meeting rooms, Edison-style bulbs extend from custom light fixtures and replicas replaced circa-1940s factory windows comprising a grid of panes, which easily integrated privacy frosting across its centre row.

In a living room-esque space off reception, lounge seating is anchored by gothic-patterned, moss green rugs, which Gisarov noted were created using carpet tile.

Although the facility is not a client-facing one, it does present well if celebrated directors ask to stop by, as they sometimes do when they’re in town, said Gallop.

Blackout curtains pull back to reveal a room with a 13-foot screen used to review movies in detail during the 3D conversion process. This redundancy is required of studio in order to maintain its security status, which involves audits by high-profile clients.

“With the caliber of the movies that we handle, we have to protect our clients’ material,” said Gallop.

Stereo D Canada’s past credits for 3D conversion include the block-busting kids’ film “The Big Friendly Giant,” Oscar-nominated “The Martian” and super-hero movie “X-Men: Apocalypse.”

In addition to the blackout curtains, there are similar redundancies that place multiple barriers in the path of sight lines to sensitive areas, which are also covered with security cameras.

“Even if someone happened to be looking into the floorplate, they aren’t able to see directly into workstations, they are looking into a secondary space, whether that is an office or a kitchen,” said Gisarov.

In addition to four review rooms, there is a fully accessible main theatre featuring a 26-foot screen and 30 lounge-style seats.

Movies are projected onto either the silver or white screen, depending on whether 2D or 3D material is being viewed, from a 2K Barco. The sensitive machine sits on its own stand, which penetrates the floor, grounding it on the concrete to ensure a crisp image.

The theatre is also acoustically treated and wired for sound in case the post-production studio ever branches out in audio work.

“This is the best room in the house, as they say, and was the last room finished here because the theatres take the most time and effort to complete,” said Gallop.

Michelle Ervin is the editor of Canadian Facility Management & Design.

Canadian GRESB participants close gap to leaders

Canadian participants in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) are gaining ground on the perennial front-runners from Australia/New Zealand, narrowing the gap in their scores to just three points for 2017. Two new respondents undertook the rigorous reporting exercise, which plots portfolio-wide ESG (environmental, social, governance) intent, practices and outcomes, boosting Canada’s numbers to 18 organizations that collectively achieved an average score of 70 out of a possible 100 points — up from 66 in 2016. Meanwhile, Australia/New Zealand’s 73 average was a one-point drop from the previous year.

Many other participants — collectively encompassing 850 entities in 62 countries holding US $3.7 trillion in assets — also made gains, as the global average score climbed three points from 2016 to this year’s 63. North America, with 18 Canadian and 186 American participants, was the most improved among the continental regions, making a five-point step up to attain an average score of 64.

“Canada is dragging the U.S. along,” said Dan Winters, GRESB’s head in the Americas, who was in Toronto for the results presentation earlier this month.

Notably, the North American average was just 47 five years ago (Canada’s average score was 55 in the same year). This year, Canadian GRESB participants exceeded the North American average in all seven of GRESB’s ESG aspects — broadly characterized as Management & Policy, equating to 28 per cent of the total score, and Implementation & Measurement, making up the greater portion of available points.

“Canada outperforms on Implementation & Measurement due to expansive energy/water/waste data collection and more green building certifications,” the GRESB 2017 snapshot of results notes. Nevertheless, Winters reminded attendees that continuous improvement is an inherent performance expectation that doesn’t necessarily merit effusive congratulations.

“GRESB is a dynamic benchmark,” he advised. “We are making progress as a big community so we might have to make it harder.”

His oversight area stretched further this year with 11 South American organizations now taking part. This, along with three African participants, broadens the continental representation of the database, which also includes 66 respondents from Australia/New Zealand, 124 from Asia, 433 from Europe and nine globally diversified funds.

Winters typified participants’ involvement as a journey that often begins as a means to comply with their own corporate sustainability and responsibility requirements, gets fuelled by competitiveness, and becomes a revelation of GRESB’s risk management potential and business value. A survey of the 58 investor members — including AIMco, HOOPP, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Ontario Teachers, Oxford Properties Group and Presima in Canada — who have comprehensive access to the data, revealed that 94 per cent of them consider GRESB results in their investment process, while more than one-third set specific targets for GRESB performance.

“The old mantra about what you measure, you manage — that’s passé,” Winters asserted. “It’s: what you measure, you improve.”

That’s a hypothesis Paul Finkbeiner, president of GWL Realty Advisors, reiterates while promoting the company’s 2017 status as the North American leader for office/industrial portfolios. “We view the management of environmental, social and governance factors as part of our duty to our clients, being important to reducing long-term risk and improving our financial outcomes,” he says.

Numerically, Canadian participants account for about two per cent of all reporting entities, but their share of overall asset value once again reflects the clout of Canada’s key institutional owners. North American assets are collectively pegged at more than US $2.3 trillion versus about US $804 billion in assets in Europe and US $164 billion worth in Australia/New Zealand.

“The dominant numbers (of participants) come from the Europeans. ESG is what they do,” Winters observed. “Here in North America, that’s where the money is.”

Western receives $13.8-mil investment for new labs, equipment

The Government of Canada is investing $13.8 million in new research infrastructure, including new labs and equipment, at Western University through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The funding, which comes from the CFI’s Innovation Fund, is part of over $554 million announced last week by Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan at institutions across Canada. The funding will go towards 117 new infrastructure projects at 61 universities, colleges and research hospitals across Canada.

“The Innovation Fund encourages institutions and its researchers to think big and strive to be global leaders by conducting world-class research. This funding pushes researchers to aim higher in their pursuits by collaborating across disciplines, institutions and sectors,” said Dr. Roseann O’Reilly-Runte, president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, in a press release. “With this support, institutions can build on their current research strengths and set their sights on accelerating research that will create social, health, environmental and economic benefits for all Canadians.”

The Innovation Fund supports initiatives that allow universities, colleges and research hospitals to build on existing areas of expertise, including artificial intelligence, quantum science, brain health and renewable energy, to name a few. The fund was created to help provide scientists with the help they need to discover, innovate and train their students for future jobs.

As part of the announcement, an additional $127 million was awarded under the CFI’s Infrastructure Operating Fund, which provides research institutions with assistance in the operation and maintenance costs associated with new research infrastructure.

“The discoveries, innovations and skills developed in these new, state-of-the-art labs will go a long way in improving our lives, our economy and our future prosperity,” added Minister Duncan.

IREE certification for retrofits coming to Canada

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), and the Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) are working together to bring the Investor Confidence (ICP) Project and its Investor Ready Energy Efficiency (IREE) certification to Canada.

In the Pan-Canadian Framework, the Canadian federal government recognized the role that retrofitting buildings will play in reaching Canada’s targeted emissions reductions. Additionally, CaGBC’s A Roadmap for Retrofits in Canada report found that exisiting buildings could potentially reduce overall emissions by up to 51 per cent by 2030. ICP will help facilitate the mass retrofits required to achieve these goals, while the IREE-certified projects will provide clarity on the long-term performance of energy efficiency technologies and help create greater access to competitive financing, which will be necessary to achieve retrofits on a large scale.

ICP is a global underwriting standard for developing and measuring energy efficiency retrofits and is administered by GBCI. Its IREE certification signals to investors that a project has adopted best practices that can help reduce transaction costs and increase savings. The protocols offer investors a consistent roadmap for assessing risk and expected outcomes from deep retrofits.

“The Advanced Energy Centre is pleased to play a role in introducing the Investor Confidence Project and supporting the IREE Certification’s launch in Canada,” says Shawn Peterson, senior associate of the Advanced Energy Centre at MaRS. “Our cities need innovative financing mechanisms for improving building performance at scale. Ontario’s large concentration of institutional real estate, financial capital and support to invest in low-carbon building solutions makes it an ideal market for investors.”

The IREE certification is currently being used by project owners, investors, engineers and insurance companies in North America and Europe.

“We believe that the ICP can play a critical role in the acceleration of Canada’s retrofit economy by instilling investor confidence in green retrofits and by providing a tested, ready-made tool that government and industry can leverage to accelerate uptake across the country,” adds CaGBC President and CEO Thomas Mueller.

Mary Van Buren is new CCA president

Mary Van Buren, a bilingual marketing, strategy and digital expert, is the new Canadian Construction Association (CCA) president. She takes over from retiring Michael Atkinson, who first joined CCA in 1981, and has held CCA president’s position since 1993.

“It’s an exciting time to join CCA and the construction industry. I’m thrilled and honoured to work with our executive committee, CCA board and our partner associations to improve the value of the association and to advance the interests of the construction industry, a cornerstone of the Canadian economy,” said Van Buren.

She has worked in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors and has held executive roles at leading associations and not-for-profits, including the Canadian Medical Association’s subsidiary, MD Financial Management, and Export Development Canada. In her most recent role as vice-president of marketing and IT at the Canadian Real Estate Association, Van Buren led a team of 60 to grow its premier services, REALTOR.ca and WEBForms in the double digits.

CCA is celebrating its centennial in 2018 and currently going through a strategic planning exercise.

“Mary’s background in strategy and marketing will be an asset shaping the plan for the next five years and communicating our new priorities and initiatives to our partner associations and members,” said Chris McNally, CCA chair.

Most construction associations in Quebec are now CCA partner associations. CCA’s materials and newsletters are published in both official languages and simultaneous translation has been added for the board meetings and some conference sessions. “Having a bilingual president will further strengthen our capabilities and ties with the Quebec-based partner associations,” remarked McNally.

Senior execs plumb real estate talent pool

The quest to remain relevant in rapidly changing times challenges the commercial real estate industry as a supplier of product to the marketplace and as an employer. Tenants’ increasing demand for space that expresses their corporate values and engages their employees is mirrored in the industry’s own needs to retain top talent and attract successive generations of skilled professionals.

Prominent senior real estate executives attempted to pin down the somewhat intangible concepts of leadership, team-building and inclusiveness during a panel discussion to kick off BOMEX 2017 — the national conference of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada — earlier this fall in Toronto.

Beginning with a few upfront quips to acknowledge the panel’s prevailing age, gender and ethnicity in contrast to the workforces they lead, moderator Michael Brooks, chief executive officer of REALPAC, probed how organizations are recruiting, deploying and advancing real estate talent. Panellists represented a cross-section of key employers, including the public sector, pension funds, private equity and listed companies, but voiced some common staffing goals and concerns.

“Building a high-performance team and a high-performance culture is a core focus of my career,” said Jon Love, CEO of KingSett Capital, as a preface to his three-point strategy for attaining those results.

That entails: 1) providing opportunities to learn, thrive and advance; 2) compensating staff in line with their achievements; and 3) having leadership in place to ensure that steps 1 and 2 occur. It’s a philosophy other panellists echoed.

“Our organization comes down to our people. People want to be part of something that’s growing,” concurred Blake Hutcheson, president and CEO of Oxford Properties Group. “The culture comes from a series of tiny and good decisions through which you demonstrate how to behave.”

Underpinning those value statements are big corporate agendas like commitment to sustainability, openness to innovation and targets for growth that make for an invigorating work environment, as well as the nuances of how expectations are stated, performance is evaluated and contributions are recognized. Among the challenges, panellists agreed there is both a need to inject commercial real estate’s ranks with a steady and high-calibre supply of entry-level employees and to broaden its base to be more reflective of Canadian demographics circa 2017.

Recruitment goals and challenges

Toni Rossi, president of Infrastructure Ontario’s real estate division, decried levels of gender and ethnic diversity that lag other sectors and society at large. “It’s actually a problem for our industry,” she said.

Rossi urged companies to be more proactive in “putting programs in place that make people want to be included.” Suggesting efforts should be framed as targets, not quotas, — “Quotas cause people to have the wrong visceral reaction,” she maintained — she pointed to the already existing targets for more women on boards of directors and in senior executive positions and advised that such policies must be backed up with active mentoring and monitoring.

Hutcheson reported that Oxford, which is the real estate arm of OMERS (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), one of Canada’s largest pension funds, is “loading up the organization to get it right for the next generation” while the current leadership structure still skews largely toward white men. “We’re not getting it totally right at the most senior ranks,” he conceded.

The same is true of other companies represented on the panel, such as QuadReal Property Group, with just one woman on its six-member board of directors, appointed earlier this year. However, the newly formed real estate subsidiary of British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) has been on the frontlines of forging a corporate culture as its workforce has grown from zero to 500 in the course of about 16 months. This also involves absorbing asset-level staff from the companies that had previously been the outsourced managers of QuadReal’s $24.5 billion portfolio and melding them into a unified whole.

“It’s a journey,” observed Remco Daal, president of QuadReal’s Canadian division — noting that the company’s human resources department is currently disproportionately larger and younger than other staff complements.

Ambitious plans for growth and diversification, including significant portfolio expansion outside Canada over the next decade, figure in hiring priorities. “If you want to attract younger workers, you need younger recruiters,” Daal reasoned.

Given the company’s antecedents, it’s perhaps not so surprising that securing outside expertise also remains central to the management strategy. “I would say our philosophy is: partner, partner, partner.” he noted.

Outreach underpins management

Panellists stressed that effective leaders listen, draw lessons from a wide array of resources and make receptiveness a cornerstone of problem solving and strategic planning. “Every CEO, and any manager who’s any good, is interested in what people are saying and thinking,” Love asserted.

“I notice there can be a disconnect between young professionals and people in the organization who have more experience,” reflected Adam Paul, president and CEO of First Capital Realty.

As a Gen Xer, he faces a relatively equidistant gap to bridge to either the millennials or boomers on his team. To do so, he has devised some formal channels for reaching out in an informal way, including regular “coffee chats” with four or five staffers from different departments. Student interns are also encouraged to submit ideas for new ways of working or delivering service.

“I was blown away by their intellect, their energy, their creativity,” Paul said. “As leaders, if you simply spend some time with them, it goes a long way.”

Rossi likewise recounted how summer students successfully introduced Yammer as an in-house social networking platform that now facilitates both idea sharing and intergenerational communication for the entire organization. She sees entry-level staff and aspiring young professionals as a potential tonic for the current homogeneity of upper management.

“It’s the younger group that may start to leapfrog,” she predicted. Nevertheless, Paul suggested the mid-career cohort has little reason to fear it will be left behind.

“To be in your 40s and in the real estate business today, is probably the best time to be in real estate,” he said. “I think there’s a ton of opportunities.”

Barbara Carss is editor-in-chief of Canadian Property Management.

The perils of ignoring succession planning

After a 25-year run and a record year for transactions, commercial real estate in Canada may finally be at a crossroads. There are several emerging risks that suggest that the long-term outlook for real estate may not be as bright as many believe. Chief among them is the issue of executive succession planning, which threatens to disrupt the industry.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private equity real estate (PERE) managers face a unique challenge in developing succession strategies that identify the next generation of leaders with the skills and experience needed to drive growth. Advocating for succession planning in public companies has typically been the domain of institutional shareholders, but because they are a product intended for retail investors, REITs face little external pressure on the topic of succession and have been mostly unchallenged by boards and shareholders to seriously address the issue.

Without proper planning, Canada’s REITs and PERE managers are running a serious risk. To understand why this challenge is unique to the real estate industry, it’s helpful to consider how REITs in Canada got their start.

History

The early 90s was devastating for the real estate business. The first REITs emerged largely as a way for real estate sponsors to lure wary investors back into the sector. The founders of the first REITs were fiercely competitive and earned their reputations for being aggressive acquirers as they consolidated properties limited only by their access to capital. They built their companies in their own image and investors cheered the distributions.

Fast forward a few decades, and the same founders are still in charge – but older. According to a CIBC report, in 2016 there were more than 20 REITs included on the S&P/TSX REIT index that were still being led by the original founder, and 70 per cent of the CEOs of companies on the index were expected to retire within the next five years. These findings should be a wake-up call for investors and highlight just how important succession planning is for organizations to ensure that their executives have the right skills and experience to lead in an evolving marketplace.

An Evolving Industry Requires Different Competencies

Change is already coming and it’s clear that the next decade in commercial real estate will be unlike the one previous. The original REIT founders built their businesses on acquisitions, but the next generation of real estate executives will face a host of new and evolving threats, including the continued growth of e-commerce, which has triggered an industry-wide transformation that threatens the very existence of brick-and-mortar retailers (formerly the bread and butter of many of the big REITs). As a result, a strategy focused exclusively on acquisitions and retail leasing may be supported by asset intensification.
In response to these changes, owners have begun mining their portfolios for more residential and mixed-use opportunities which will require different management skills. Instead of being focused solely on deals and acquisitions, which require only a small and focused team, the next generation of real estate executives will need broader management skills, as well as direct experience driving intensification projects and managing mixed-use residential developments.

The Experience Gap

A further risk to consider is the experience gap between the founder and the potential successor. Because real estate has enjoyed a near unbroken 25-year run of success, the second generation of executives – many who are around the age of 45 – have limited experience working through a downturn and will be untested and unprepared when it comes. By avoiding the issue of succession, organizations are missing a valuable opportunity to extend the transfer of knowledge and experience from the founder to the incoming leader.

Succession Solutions

Organizations need to address the challenges of succession planning with a range of strategies. Here are three considerations when formulating an approach:

Waiting is risky – Because it’s such a personal matter, founders tend to avoid the issue of succession and often make the mistake of waiting until there is a very narrow window of time until they exit the organization. In most cases, new leaders need to manage through a two-to-three-year development cycle to fully immerse themselves in their roles, so waiting until the current CEO’s exit is in sight puts a smooth transition at risk.
Tried and true is unreliable: By nature, CEOs and founders tend to hire successors in their own image. Though they are critical to the planning process, founders need to maintain a level of objectivity in terms of what the future needs of the organization will be. The knowledge and experience that got them to this point will not guarantee future success, as the evolving industry requires new abilities, a progressive outlook and a fresh approach to problem-solving.
Diversity is invaluable: The real estate industry tends to be insular, and therefore those who work within it have likely progressed through their careers with the same world view. As such, investors and boards should encourage diversity at every turn. A global perspective, as well as the perspectives of other industries and genders, is invaluable for incoming executives, and will improve their overall leadership skills and decision-making.

The commercial real estate business may be set for major change. With disruption on the horizon, executives will need new skills to drive continued growth in an evolving market. Leadership assessment methodologies can identify and support the development of top talent.

These tools can be used to evaluate potential internal and external candidates, establish development recommendations and provide the necessary coaching to foster cross-functional knowledge. REITs and organizations with significant real estate portfolios should seize the opportunity to plan for smooth executive successions that ensures that their organizations are well positioned for the future.

Robert Baron is Partner & National Practice Leader of Odgers Berndtson’s Real Estate & Infrastructure executive search practice.

LaSalle names Michael Cornelissen senior VP of acquisitions

Michael Cornelissen has joined LaSalle Investment Management (LaSalle) as senior vice-president of acquisitions for its business in Canada.

In this role, Cornelissen will be responsible for sourcing real estate investment opportunities on behalf of the firm’s Canadian closed-end value-add strategy, the LaSalle Canada Income & Growth Fund series, as well as executing specific investment strategies for a range of custom client accounts, both domestic and international.

Cornelissen will be based in LaSalle’s Toronto office and will report to the firm’s Head of Acquisitions in Canada, Stephen Robertson.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mike to our acquisition team, as we seek to expand the investment capabilities of our platform in Canada,” said Robertson. “His strong transactional and finance track record fit well within our target strategies, as we continue to take advantage of opportunities across various portions of the risk spectrum going forward.”

Over the course of his career, Cornelissen has completed nearly $4 billion of direct real estate acquisitions and dispositions across all major asset types. He joins LaSalle from Forgestone Capital, where he was vice-president of acquisitions, and led the sourcing, due diligence, structuring, negotiations and closing of institutional quality assets for the firm’s value-add offering.

“I am eager to join a firm such as LaSalle, with its vast depth of resources and impressive investment track record both in Canada and around the world,” said Cornelissen. “I look forward to working with colleagues across the firm to drive value creation and enhance investment performance for our clients.”

Joseph Brant Hospital’s new patient tower opens

The Michael Lee-Chin and Family Patient Tower at Burlington’s Joseph Brant Hospital officially opened on October 12, marking the end of Ontario’s 2017 construction season.

The 425,000-square-foot, seven-storey tower will provide an additional 172 beds and includes a new emergency department, two new operating rooms, expanded cancer care, an intensive care unit, and recovery and inpatient units. Smart systems technology will make it easier for hospital staff to provide faster triage, shorter emergency room wait times and a better standard of care. Seventy per cent of patient beds are located in single-patient rooms, compared to 15 per cent before the hospital’s redevelopment.

“After years of planning, I am thrilled to see the opening of this new, state-of-the-art patient tower,” said Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, in a press release. “Our investment in the redevelopment and renovation of Joseph Brant Hospital will reduce wait times and help us continue to provide high-quality health care close to home for people in Burlington and the surrounding area.”

Ontario is contributing about $371 million in the Joseph Brant Hospital redevelopment project. As part of the 2017 Budget, an additional $9 billion was committed to support hospital construction projects across the province, bringing the total planned hospital infrastructure investments to more than $20 billion over the next 10 years.

Trades and technologies centre opens at Lethbridge College

A newly expanded trades and technologies centre opened at Lethbridge College on September 27. The building, which was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects in association with Sahuri + Partners, nears 170,000 square feet, making it one of the largest buildings in Lethbridge.

The Trades Technologies Renewal and Innovation Project (TTRIP) provides space and programming for over 880 additional students, a 50 per cent increase from its previous capacity. The expansion provided new workshops, labs, offices and classrooms around a north-south central spine and adjacent learning commons.

“The goal was to bring a cohesive and legible plan that identifies and provides views into the different program areas,” said Michael Leckman, principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects, in a press release. “Also a priority was to create informal study and gathering space to encourage student encounter and the opportunity to continue learning outside the classroom or workshop setting.”

A first phase of the state-of-the-art expansion included the addition of large automotive and heavy agriculture equipment bays to the Crooks School of Transportation, which opened in September 2015. Lethbridge College set a high bar for energy-efficient design with a “net zero utility cost to operate” goal for the new facility, which aims to maintain the energy used to operate the building at no more than a smaller facility if replaced.

“Energy modeling, user input and process loads were analyzed and a comprehensive array of passive and active sustainable design features were implemented that allow us to exceed the target,” said Dan Gallivan, associate at Diamond Schmitt, and project architect. “Solar control, efficient glazing and minimizing the area of the building envelope enhanced building performance so that it is now positioned to achieve a high level of LEED certification.”

One of the building’s defining features includes a swooping roofline, referencing the region’s landscape. Eighty light tubes embedded in the roof, in addition to clerestory windows, provide plenty of natural light to the large program areas.

The facility is designed to be a learning tool. Various building techniques and materials including structural concrete and steel, glulam timbers, masonry and curtain wall glazing allow instructors to demonstrate construction methods and performance.

“The building itself is beautiful and has already become a showcase piece on campus, but the practical applications and technological benefits that it will provide to students is the most exciting part of this project,” added Dr. Paula Burns, president and CEO at Lethbridge College.

Protesters pre-empt Canadian Housing Strategy

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Parliament Hill today at an event organized by the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) and supported by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

The protest comes a few weeks before the liberal government presents its Canadian Housing Strategy, in anticipation that the strategy won’t offer any new commitments beyond those already announced in the last Morneau budget, despite the requests made throughout the consultations carried out by Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.

“For the moment, the 11.2 billion $ planned for the Canadian Housing Strategy are not proportionate to the needs. This funding is scheduled on much too long a period and does not prioritize low-income households,” explained Véronique Laflamme, FRAPRU’s spokesperson.

“To be taken seriously, the Liberals must, in fact, spend the $11.2 billion within the next two years—the time they have left before the next election,” added Yogi Acharya of OCAP. “The money must be directed to fixing and building social housing, restoring federal housing subsidies, and addressing the crisis of homelessness.”

According to official numbers, 989,385 tenant households in Canada have core housing needs, living in a dwelling that is either too small, unsanitary or too expensive. FRAPRU predicts that some 365,000 households living in social housing built before 1994 will join their ranks when the units they rent lose their federal long-term subsidy agreements, while several buildings are also in dire need of major repairs.

According to FRAPRU, the federal withdrawal from the social housing sector is one of the main causes of the current crisis of affordable housing found across the country. “Nearly 25 years without significant investments in social housing has done substantial damage and Ottawa needs to invest massively to start to resolve the issue,” said Laflamme.

FRAPRU also demands that the Canadian Government formally recognize that all Canadians have a fundamental right to decent, safe housing. “On the private market, many low-income households live in senseless insanitary conditions and suffer abusive rent increases. The Federal Government cannot abandon these tenants,” argued Laflamme.

As a reminder, the protesters left behind giant portraits of poorly-housed tenants in front of the offices of the Prime Minister. These tenants testified during the Tour for the Right to Housing that FRAPRU led this fall throughout Quebec.

FRAPRU has promised to react publicly as soon as the Canadian Housing Strategy is revealed on November 22nd (Canadian Housing Day). Various events will be organized in several parts of Canada, following a call to action by OCAP, FRAPRU, and of the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) from Vancouver.

Canada’s Best Restroom is crowned

Cintas Corp. has named the restroom at Bayview Village Shopping Centre in Toronto, Canada, the winner of its Canada’s Best Restroom Award.

The eighth-annual award honors businesses that value hygiene and style and recognize the parallel between clean restrooms and customer retention. The shopping center’s restroom was recognized for its elegant chandeliers and touch-free fixtures. It was selected from five finalists in a public online vote. Bayview Village Shopping Centre will be enshrined in Cintas’ Canada’s Best Restroom Contest Hall of Fame and receive $2,500 in facility services.

“We’re extremely honoured that the public voted us Canada’s Best Restroom,” said John Minas, general manager, Bayview Village Shopping Centre. “Bayview Village is one of Canada’s most prestigious shopping centres, and our washrooms reflect that. We take pride in providing our glamorous guests with a chic and clean restroom experience.”

The restrooms at Bayview Village Shopping Centre feature fully enclosed stalls, each with its own touch free toilet, faucet and hand dryer. There is a nursing room equipped with a changing station and sink, as well as two cushioned chairs. The washrooms also include stylish sconces on both sides of its hand washing basins.

“It was a tight race amongst this year’s finalists that came down to the wire,” said Candice Raynsford, marketing manager at Cintas Canada. “The support that Bayview Village received shows the impact that stylish and well maintained washrooms have on the public’s perception of a business.”

The 2017 finalists were selected based on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements. Online voting was open to the public from July 11th through September 8th, which produced the following placements:

Bayview Village Shopping Centre – Toronto, Ontario
Spring Grill House Restaurant – Hamilton, Ontario
Dorinku Restaurant – Edmonton, Alberta
New City Gas – Montreal, Québec
Renaissance Hotel – Montreal, Québec

Prepping for flu season with the value of cleaning

The flu season normally peaks in Canada around November, and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is already cautioning that people could be in for bad spell. While health officials won’t quite know what to expect until later this fall, facilities should still brace themselves with effective cleaning methods no matter what strain will spread.

“Every flu season is different each year, says Dr. Michelle Murti, a public health physician at Public Health Ontario. “In this part of the season, we’re just starting to see some flu activity, so it can be hard to say what will happen throughout the rest of the season. Until we start seeing more activity, we’ll then have a better sense of the more dominant strain of influenza for this year.”

The PHAC’s first FluWatch report found influenza activity remains at inter-seasonal levels across the country, but several indicators are above expected levels compared to previous seasons. And during the last week of September, a greater number of regions reported sporadic activity compared to previous seasons.

Meanwhile, health officials often look to what’s happening in the Southern Hemisphere to get a sense of what may come to Canada, and Australia is just recuperating from a worse-than-normal peak season of Influenza A (H3N2), a flu subtype that is a more severe strain, especially for high risk groups like the elderly and young children.

“Australia has been having a bad flu season, but that doesn’t always translate into what we see here,” adds Murti. “It’s an indication, but not a prediction of what we might experience in our fall and winter.”

Case for Effective Cleaning

No matter what strain of influenza is circulating, facilities must be prepared. Health Canada says flu is ranked among the top ten leading causes of death in Canada, and still many Canadians aren’t getting vaccinated, resulting in potential complications for those high risk groups. Only one-third of Canadians aged 12 and over got the flu vaccine in 2013-2014, according to Statistics Canada.

Mitigating the spread of influenza and cold germs in schools and long-term care facilities, where many of these age groups conglomerate, is a challenging and significant feat for facility managers and cleaning professionals. An infected person can be contagious for seven days after symptoms appear, leading to fast-spreading germs, while many staff continue working knowing they are ill.

Many others stay at home, which, from an economic perspective, means lost productivity and more healthcare costs. In fact, the Canadian Healthcare Influenza Immunization Network says about 1.5 million workdays are lost every year because of the flu, costing the nation $1 billion.

An effective cleaning and hand hygiene regimen can greatly reduce the spread of pathogens, improve human health, enhance the indoor environment and increase productivity.

How Influenza Spreads

Influenza is usually spread through sneezing, coughing or talking. Pathogens can travel person to person up to six feet.

“Even a day before a person has symptoms, they can start shedding virus particles—people may already be excreting secretions into the environment,” cautions Murti. “As they become sick, those first two or three days are when they shed the most virus.”

Infected individuals can also spread these germs by touching objects and high-touch surfaces, like desks, toys, books, electronics, keyboards, doorknobs, counters and faucets. Pathogens can also harbour on floors and railings, as well as walls and light switches. The viruses are transmitted to whoever touches the object, transferring the germs from the hands to the eyes, mouth or nose.

Battling Germs on Shared Surfaces

The only way to prevent contact with the virus and stop potential cross contamination is through effective cleaning. Often surfaces are not cleaned or not cleaned enough. When they are cleaned, a disinfecting wipe is often the only product used. According to the ISSA, routine cleaning removes the soil, dirt and impurities that harbour the infectious agents, while disinfecting kills the remaining environmental pathogens.

Disinfecting does not clean a surface; it kills other pathogens as per the product label, but only if used correctly and after the surface has been properly cleaned. If soils are still present on a surface, the efficacy of the disinfectant is diminished. To prevent this and ensure shared surfaces are cleaned and disinfected, do the following:

Spray an all-purpose cleaner directly onto a microfiber cleaning cloth; use the cleaning solution sparingly, then wipe shared surfaces.
After cleaning, disinfect using EPA registered products with label claims indicating the product kills the flu. Properly apply the disinfectant, either using a disinfecting wipe or by applying a Drug Identification Number registered (DIN-registered) disinfectant to a fresh microfiber cleaning cloth. Always follow label directions for dwell time—the amount of time disinfectants must reside on a surface in order to properly kill germs.
If necessary, use a third microfiber cloth to remove any chemical residue.
Administrators and cleaning staff should list, in writing, all touchable areas that must be cleaned, along with cleaning frequencies. Having this in writing helps ensure the steps are carried out. Some of these high-touch areas include elevator buttons, microwave and refrigerator handles, coffee pot handles, thermostat controls, remote controls and restroom partition handles.

These steps should be repeated regularly if not daily, especially in the winter months when we see the most cases of influenza.

Effectively Cleaning Larger Surfaces

It is typically the job of the cleaning workers to ensure that germs and bacteria, whether from influenza or other infections, are removed from larger surfaces and that these areas are also properly disinfected. They should follow the same steps just mentioned using a DIN-registered disinfectant and microfiber along with the following:

Only use microfiber cloths five to ten times. After that, germs and bacteria start to accumulate on the fibers, causing them to be spread on surfaces and not be removed.
Again, it is imperative to allow disinfectants to dwell on surfaces for about ten minutes or as instructed by the manufacturer.
When wiping surfaces with an all-purpose cleaner, encourage workers to use a heavy hand; this increases agitation, necessary to removing pathogens.
Never double dip cleaning cloths. Some workers fill a bucket with water and a cleaning solution or a disinfectant. Each time they place the used cloth back in the solution, they are double dipping. In time, the cleaning solution or disinfectant loses its efficacy.

The Bigger Picture

Cleaning staff are on the front line when it comes to combating the spread of influenza in public spaces. Education and learning the right steps and why they are so important will also help germ-proof facilities or, at the very least, keep the number of sick cases down.

Paul Goldin is Vice-President of Professional Cleaning Solutions for Avmor, Canada’s leading provider of professional cleaning solutions, Avmor’s innovative products and cleaning programs promote efficient, healthier and sustainable practices that exceed performance expectations. He can be reached through the company website at www.avmor.com or [email protected].

Ontario moves to reform new home warranties system

The Ontario government last week delivered on previously announced plans to introduce legislation to reform the province’s new home warranties system. Minister of Government and Consumer Services Tracy MacCharles unveiled on Thursday the Strengthening Protection for Ontario Consumers Act.

If passed, the proposed legislation would split up responsibility for managing the new home warranty program and regulating new home builders and vendors, and assign these functions to two new administrative authorities. The proposed legislation also contains provisions designed to simplify dispute resolution for consumers who identify construction problems in their new homes.

The reform plans addresses some of the recommendations made by Justice J. Douglas Cunningham following a public review of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and Tarion Warranty Corporation, which currently manages the new home warranty program and regulates new home builders and vendors.

“I am pleased to introduce proposed legislation that will provide consumers with the protection they deserve when making significant purchases — like a new home,” said Min. MacCharles. “Building a fair, safe and informed marketplace is a key priority of this government.”

The Strengthening Protection for Ontario Consumers Act also contains provisions aimed at combatting code of ethics violations and conflicts of interest on the part of real estate professionals. The proposal includes tougher rules for brokers, brokerages and salespeople representing multiple parties to a transaction and steeper fines for professional misconduct. These may not be the only changes coming to real estate rules, with a broader review intended to improve consumer protection and industry professionalism due to carry into 2018.

Province strengthens consumer protection with new rules: OREA

Ontario realtors are happy with the Government of Ontario’s decision to introduce real estate legislation that, if passed, will implement North America-leading rules governing how real estate professionals can represent consumers. Ontario has proposed a Mandatory Designated Representation (MDR) model, which will tackle conflict of interest situations and consumer confusion that can be caused by the current multiple representation system.

“These new rules are some of the strictest in North America when it comes to transparency and consumer protection,” said David Reid, Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) president-elect, in a press release. “Ontario realtors were pleased to work with the government to bring more clarity of a realtors’ duties to the consumer and address any real or perceived conflict of interest.”

The MDR model will set a North American leading standard for greater transparency, enhanced clarity of realtors’ duties and obligations and more stringent consumer protection.

Ontario has also committed to allow consumers to work with a realtor of their choosing as an impartial transaction facilitator under a strict set of rules. This model would only apply if both clients involved in the transaction consented to the use of a facilitator in writing. Consent would come through with a simple, plain language document that clearly outlines the duties and obligations of the realtor to the consumer, and features much higher fines for realtors that break the rules.

“A big part of a realtor’s job is to act as a facilitator, bringing a willing buyer and seller to the table to find a win-win solution,” said Tim Hudak, OREA CEO. “Where a realtor is acting as a facilitator, the government’s proposal will ensure a high level of transparency and consumer protection.”

The proposed legislation would also double fines for breaches of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002, (REBBA) Code of Ethics and mandate new disclosures in real estate forms, both of which the OREA supported as part of Ontario’s REBBA review process.

“Right now, too often fines amount to a mere slap on the wrist,” added Hudak. “Ontario needs much stronger deterrents for unethical behaviour and a regulator that isn’t afraid to throw the book at the small number of rule breakers.”

Guelph named best local association by OHBA

The Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) President’s Gala welcomed 2017-18 President Pierre Dufresne and recognized esteemed OHBA members and local associations for their commitment to the association and industry.

The Guelph and District Home Builders’ Association (GDHBA) was presented with the 2017 Local Association of the Year Award. Among its many achievements, the most notable is its pioneering efforts surrounding Net Zero Energy (NZE) programs and building technologies and features that garnered the attention of the media. It has received various prestigious awards from other industry partners, as well.

The association continues to share best practices, finding practical solutions for the industry, and seeing positive changes in the marketplace. GDHBA is also very engaged with City Council, using various methods to express their concerns about the various issues faced by those in the industry. As a result, local policy makers often engage with and consult the GDHBA on issues of mutual concern.

“There are so many shining stars in GDHBA’s membership who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in building better homes and truly innovating building science and sustainable technologies,” said Pierre Dufresne, president of the OHBA, in a press release. “GDHBA also invests in their members – new members can only be brought on if they have a mentor, which helps ensure and promote a culture of legacy of lifelong learning. Beyond their own membership, GDHBA also seeks to connect meaningfully with the community by initiating various local in-kind sponsorships, hosting product showcase and dinner meetings open to the public, and partnering with school boards to pilot a co-op program to better expose students and parents to skilled trades.”

Steve Deveaux, vice president, land development at Tribute Communities was named the 2017 OHBA Member of the Year. As past Chair of the GTA-based Building Indsutry and Land Development Association (BILD), Steve has shown passion for the industry and its associations. He has worked alongside the OHBA on government advocacy efforts at the provincial level, including inclusionary zoning and reform of the Ontario Municipal Board.

Harry Herskowitz, partner at the law firm DelZotto, Zorzi LLP and past Chair of the Tarion Warranty Corporation, received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution and leadership in his role at Tarion, as well as years of leadership and service to the residential construction industry.

Laura Higgs, executive officer of the Sudbury and District Home Builders’ Association (SDHBA); Jon Whyte, Chair of the OHBA Land Development Committee and president of the Niagara Home Builders’ Association; Danielle Rinaldi of Rinaldi Homes; and Lynda Busch, Niagara Home Builders’ Association executive officer also received special recognition awards.