Vancouver Commercial Real Estate Podcast

Ever wonder what makes Surrey so attractive for both business and families? This week, Surrey's Board of Trade CEO, Anita Huberman, joined Matt and Cory to discuss Canada's next big major city and driving forces behind it. If Surrey was not on your list of places to invest in, it should be now after listening to this episode! Anita breaks down all the economic drivers behind the massive growth of BC's second largest city and what makes it attractive for so many developers. She also shares which areas of Surrey are next to boom and may not be in the forefront of the public's eye just yet, which always makes for a great investment opportunity. Anita also shares some interesting stats when it comes to the age demographic of Surrey (hint: you haven't yet missed the boat to invest in this booming city). Stats show Surrey is on pace to become BC's largest city or municipality by 2040. Whether you're talking about industrial, office, retail or multifamily, Surrey is a place that should be high on everyone's investment list!

The world's richest man is the founder of an electric car company and that could be foreshadowing of what's to come in the future. This week, Cory and Adam welcome Maxime Charron from Leading Ahead Energy, an industry leading electric car charging solution provider. Max talks about how, in case you have been living under a rock the last few years, the impact the electric vehicles are having on society is causing more and more developers and commercial landlords to install EV car charging solutions on their properties. Shopping centres, industrial parks, office towers and parking lot owners are just a few of the groups highly interested in offering car charging solutions to their customers and tenants and are building a business around this. Max discuss where he thinks the business is headed and why gas station companies are also looking at this model. Plus, tune in for Cory's take on which market he would buy into and why!

It's no secret downtown Vancouver has been slower than its pre-COVID form but is it as bad as other cities? This week, Cory welcomes Nolan Marshall, the newly appointed CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (BIA) to discuss what is next for downtown Vancouver and how things have fared over the pandemic. Nolan joined our city from New Orleans where he experienced the devastating floods of Hurricane Katrina and played a role in the rebuilding of one of America's great cities. With people hopefully returning to the office in larger numbers come 2022 and the reopening of Rogers Area and other large venues, how is downtown preparing for the increased activity and what fun and exciting stuff is planned for 2022? Nolan paints a picture of the challenges ahead, but shares a lot of excitement planned and you might be surprised by his view on the office market downtown. As we look to better times ahead, Vancouver could have the perfect man in place to lead downtown through the end of the pandemic and return to normal...but before Nolan lets us go, he shares his best commercial real estate advice that won't disappoint! BIA Downtown Vancouver - https://www.dtvan.ca/

Did you find the perfect commercial property to invest in but, not sure how to or where to start? This week, Cory and Matt welcome commercial mortgage specialist Matthew Dunnigan, from the Impact Commercial Group, who breaks down all the steps needed from start to finish to help you acquire that commercial investment property you have always wanted. Matt discusses what asset classes banks are most bullish on, how much of a down payment you need to get started and everything in between. Matt also gives us his picks of which BC cities and asset classes he would invest in heading into 2022. This episode is a great refresher for a seasoned investor and a can't miss for all of those looking to enter into the commercial real estate landlord business. Grab a pen and paper to take notes because after finding out just how simple it is to finance commercial real estate, everyone will be adding an investment property to their Christmas list this year!

This week Cory and Adam are joined by the Investorpreneur himself Peter Leung who has amassed an international real estate portfolio in cities such as London, Vancouver and Hong Kong. Peter provides his insight on how investors can get started in commercial real estate, how commercial offers greater opportunities for investors that require funding than residential, his perspective on the Vancouver and BC marketplace, and he divulges a spectacular investment strategy. Peter shares his predictions on where the market is going in the coming years and what asset classes he is most interested in post COVID. This is an episode for all commercial real estate investors!

So many commercial real estate deals happen off the MLS. So, where do investors go for detailed market data and what can it tell us? Raymond Wong from Altus Group sits down with Cory & Matt to detail why Altus is a one stop shop when it comes to data and research in the world of commercial real estate across Canada. How does BC stack up against other commercial real estate markets across Canada? How have a number of the key BC commercial markets performed during Covid in relation to other markets? And what does the future look like across multiple BC markets and asset classes based on current trends? Knowledge is Power, as they stay, so best to grab your notebook for this one! 

If you have ever read an article about Commercial Real Estate in Vancouver, chances are you have read an article by Frank O'Brien. This week, Cory and Matt welcome senior writer Frank O'Brien, of Glacier Media (home of Business in Vancouver and Western Investor) to discuss some recently published articles on the booming Commercial Real Estate market in BC. Frank sheds some light on each asset class and where he sees the winners and losers in the post-COVID era. He also gives us a sneak peek at the upcoming Best in BC which is published each year in the Western Investor where Frank and his team predict the 5 best real estate markets in 2022. If you're looking to see how things play out in the coming months or want a glimpse into the next commercial market to boom, this is the episode for you!

Don't have the millions and millions of dollars needed to enter the self storage asset class in BC? Don't worry! This week, Adam and Cory welcome Nationwide Self Storage Trust co-founder and Chairman, Hugh Cartwright, whose company offers investment opportunities into their self storage developments for as little as $10,000. Our listeners have spoken and the boys have listened. After Partick Wood from WWC Victoria joined the guys for a previous episode, outlining the self storage asset class and how profitable the business model can be, VCREP was inundated with requests on how listeners can invest in the booming self storage industry. Fast forward a few months, Hugh Cartwright breaks down the investment opportunity and when the next Nationwide opportunity will be upon us. If you have always wanted to take part in self storage, but don't have $20 million in the bank, make sure you sit back and take notes!

They say hindsight is 20/20 and looking back over the past 20 years and seeing the amazing run up in value the Vancouver real estate market has had, it's fair to say we all wish we would have bought more. Some people would even say if you buy in now, you might have missed the boat...but don't worry! If this is you, we might have found the next Vancouver real estate market and it's only a short "boat" ride away. This week, Matt and Cory welcome Chard Development's President and CEO Byron Chard to talk about the booming Victoria real estate market. Byron discusses everything Victoria and some of the exciting projects Chard has in the pipeline and shares with us some of his thoughts on where the Victoria market is headed and some of the stats he shares might surprise you and sound familiar to Vancouverites. If you're looking for that next real estate market to invest in and want to get in before it's too late, you'll want to make sure to grab a pen and notepad and listen to this episode!

North America's best industrial market just keeps getting better and better as Strand looks to add 1,000,000 SQFT to Vancouver Island's industrial driving force Langford, BC. This week, Adam and Cory welcome Strand Development's President Mike Mackay to talk about everything Langford and the exciting projects in Strand's pipeline. With the recent acquisition of the former Langford Speedway, which encompasses over 80 acres of prime development land, the growth and excitement of the Greater Vancouver Island industrial market just keeps growing. A multi-phase project set to launch this year, Strand (in partnership with Bastion Developments) will add to one of North America's most desired industrial markets, further attracting local, national and international tenants to Vancouver Island. Investors alike have been buying up Victoria, Colwood, Esquimalt and Langford for the better part of the last three years, so don't miss your chance to hear about the future of one of the best marketplaces on the planet.