Barbara Carss
Canadian Property Management
Fastidious work lies ahead of AI advancement
Early adopters and enthusiasts in the commercial real estate industry cite AI's possibilities for portfolio management, risk management, valuation and assessing investment performance.
Canadian Property Management
Office-using sectors make space for AI expertise
Artificial intelligence (AI) underpins job growth and real estate demand in North America’s most active markets for tech employment, including Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
Canadian Property Management
Energy data refines ESG performance metrics
Energy efficiency will gain standing in the 2025 GRESB assessment when the global benchmark for ESG performance of commercial real estate portfolios introduces revised scoring for its energy performance metric.
Canadian Property Management
Salvaged steel fit to fortify decarbonization
The cost case for salvaged steel looks promising even with an embryonic supply chain and a raft of logistical complexities to recover and then reuse structural members in new construction projects.
Canadian Property Management
Prized office tenant steps up green demands
Ottawa landlords are contemplating a list of new expectations from a prized office tenant following recently announced updates to the federal government’s green operations strategy.
Canadian Property Management
Ontario retailers ponder alcohol sales viability
Leases and logistics will be major factors in whether Ontario retailers can act on pending flexibility to sell beer, wine, cider and ready-to-drink alcohol-infused beverages in grocery and convenience stores.
Canadian Property Management
A transparent need for data strategies
Based on self-reporting, many of the commercial real estate firms subject to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s pending climate-related disclosure rules are grappling with how they will comply.
Canadian Apartment Magazine
Promise of safe haven woos foreign investors
Foreign investors contemplating Canada’s multifamily market may see more theoretical than actual opportunity, given the current scarcity of available product.
Canadian Property Management
Capital gains tax adjustment unnerves CRE
The jump in the capital gains inclusion rate is expected to have an immediate impact on property sales, while being factored into longer term asset management and investment decisions.
Canadian Property Management
Resilience still lacks climate action profile
Climate change adaptation measures are typically viewed as risk management rather than levers for investment returns, but they are inherently linked to building and portfolio value.
Canadian Apartment Magazine
Potential property tax relief looks uneven
A potential incentive for new purpose-built rental housing in Ontario comes with adverse implications for existing multifamily properties, thanks to the mathematics of property tax allocation.
Canadian Property Management
Defaulted real estate loans on the upswing
Many creditors and debtors are now grappling with the fallout from a largely unexpected change in market conditions over the course of their loan agreements.
Canadian Property Management
Energy storage prompts a battery of precautions
In step with the projected surge in energy storage installations, fire safety advisors are actively working to help clean tech adopters understand and mitigate the risks.
Canadian Property Management
Investment returns show slipping values in 2023
Canadian investment returns for 2023 show retail improvement, industrial deceleration and continuing office value decline, as capital loss balances out income growth for a flat total return.
Canadian Property Management
CRE fosters all-in approach to decarbonization
Daunting net zero targets in the buildings sector are spurring an all-in approach to decarbonization that assigns roles to finance, engineering, management and operational teams.
Canadian Property Management
Building electrification projects impart lessons
The business case for electrification works best when retrofits are synced with the end-of-life of existing mechanical equipment and/or asset repositioning plans
Canadian Property Management
Outdoor lighting principles hail the dark side
Guiding principles for responsible nighttime lighting define how light should be applied, but, first, prospective installers are advised to consider whether lighting is even necessary.
