I saw a headline yesterday that the CDC was now reporting that vaccinated people can spread COVID just as easily as unvaccinated people. I then thought to myself, “this is not a good headline if you’re trying to encourage people to get vaccinated.” What I… Read More
Monthly archives of “July 2021”
Province reveals vision for new Ontario Place
Plans to redevelop Ontario Place (here in Toronto) have been in the works for many years, even before it closed in 2012. Supposedly it was losing over $20 million a year at that time. It had obviously lost its relevance. Back in 2010 (or thereabouts)… Read More
First ever virtual shoe try-on activation
Earlier this month Snapchat announced the acquisition of Vertebrae, which is a 50-person company that allows brands to create and manage 3D versions of their products. Why does this potentially matter? Because Snapchat is already doing stuff like this: (If you can’t see the embedded… Read More
Cost of the Olympic Games, 1960-2021
There are many reasons why one might want to host the Olympics. Brand building is certainly one. Making some kind of profit is another. But the direct economic benefits aren’t always clear. Embedded above are two recent charts from the WSJ outlining 1) the cost… Read More
The numerical impacts of inclusionary zoning
Our cost consultant, Finnegan Marshall, gave our team a presentation today on what’s happening with construction costs in Toronto and across Canada. I’ve said this before, but hard costs are no joke right now. One of the areas that they focused on was the impact… Read More
DDG Partners + GS Invest = Azur
Last week I wrote about a project in New York by DDG Partners called 100 Franklin. If you missed it, go here. I didn’t, however, say much about the developer. Though at the time I was wondering why their website was no longer up. DDG… Read More
A new agricultural frontier in Canada and Russia
Last year over the holidays, I attended a virtual wine tasting event that was put on by one of our partners. It was with a vineyard / winemaker in Spain and so it was evening for us and some ungodly hour for him. At the… Read More
Construction is messy
The typical way to build buildings is through a design-bid-build approach. The way this works is that you first design stuff and create drawings. You then ask people to price the stuff that you have drawn. And then you proceed to build what is on… Read More
Project Profile: 100 Franklin by DDG Partners and Palette Architecture
100 Franklin is my kind of project. Developed by DDG Partners, 100 Franklin is a small boutique condominium project that was completed last year in New York’s Tribeca. From what I can tell, there are only 10 residences in the project, ranging from 1,427 to… Read More
New 3D-printed bridge erected in Amsterdam
This 12-meter 3D-printed stainless steel bridge was recently erected in Amsterdam. As is par for the course, some people hate it and some people love it. I’m in the latter camp. Designed by Joris Laarman Lab in collaboration with MX3D and Arup (engineering), the bridge… Read More