It would be easy to assume that Paris might be a city trapped in its architectural past. Its global brand is most often associated with the work of Haussmann from the 19th century. The city itself is almost entirely devoid of modern skyscrapers. And heritage preservation rules are, from what I gather, strict. But look behind and beyond Haussmann's facades, and you'll find a city that is progressive and experimental.

Take, for example, the Bourse de Commerce. Originally constructed in the 18th century as a hall to both store and sell wheat, a recent renovation by Japanese architect Tadao Ando dropped an exposed concrete cylinder right in the middle of it. It is now a contemporary art museum and, in my opinion, one of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the city.

Paris certainly cares about its past — as it should — but it's also not afraid to intervene and break free from it in dramatic ways.

Home, as I've always said, is not an actual building typology. A home can be anything. For some people, a comfortable home might be a suburban single-family house in a bucolic community. And for others, a home might be two converted office spaces in Le Marais that also double as a highly coveted event space for art and design. That's the thing about homes, they're very personal.

This latter scenario describes the home of Jérémy Rocher and Kym Ellery -- a space that seems to be making the rounds in Paris and getting people in the art and design community excited. It was featured in HTSI magazine over the weekend and looks like the below. (In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, that is a piece by James Turrell.)

The design brief given to architect Simon Pesin was to create "a home and a meeting place for art." This is a fascinating use case to me. Because it's cool and interesting and, in my view, a positive thing for the city. Brands like Danish furniture company Frama are some of the groups that have programmed it, which suggests there's maybe a need for more unique spaces like this.

But at the same time, as a real estate developer, it's mostly impossible to underwrite spaces like this. If you were developing this building and thinking about the various buyers/tenants who may want to one day occupy it, this segment would never be on your list. In fact, it is yet another example of Jane Jacobs' famous mantra that "new ideas require old buildings." This is an old building. Here's an excerpt from HTSI:

Rocher bought the property six years ago, though he and Ellery only moved in last year. “It’s funny, the property was on the market for six months because people didn’t see the potential behind it,” he says of what was formerly two office spaces fitted with partition walls, false ceilings and carpeting. “Even the windows and skylights were hidden,” he adds, pointing skyward.

Thankfully, all you need is one person to see the potential. That is one of the magical things about cities.

Photos: Depasquale + Maffini

I love seeing these kind of small and creative infill projects.

In this case, this, is a conversion of an old TV and radio repair shop into a new 4,800 square foot gallery and workspace (there also looks to be a single residential suite based on the photos). These are the kinds of projects that can really make and/or transform an area. However, they are often few and far between.

Here's something that I think about a lot:

In Toronto’s red hot market, it wasn’t easy finding a building large enough to do all of these things; that Mr. Low-Beer had been out of the city for two decades only added to the shock: “I wasn’t fully cognizant of the fact that every square inch was going to be priced out as a condo; I thought you could get an old garage or some place on a highway that was undesirable.”

Having cheap and undesirable spaces in a city can be a huge benefit, because they lower the barriers to entry and allow for new ideas. And at the end of the day, it is new ideas that usually make cities so exciting. Jane Jacobs was on to someting here.

But over the last real estate cycle, this has been a challenge because of how frenetic the market has been. It has been a challenge for people wanting to convert TV repair shops into new creative spaces, and it has even been a challenge for new/smaller developers wanting to, yes, build things like condos.

However, all of this started changing about a year and a half ago. And I would argue that right now is the best time in the last 15 years to be a new entrant. Two years ago, it was hard to buy development sites, and it was mostly impossible to negotiate favorable deal terms (such as structure).

This current reset has changed that. And it is creating opportunities for those who can be creative.

It would be easy to assume that Paris might be a city trapped in its architectural past. Its global brand is most often associated with the work of Haussmann from the 19th century. The city itself is almost entirely devoid of modern skyscrapers. And heritage preservation rules are, from what I gather, strict. But look behind and beyond Haussmann's facades, and you'll find a city that is progressive and experimental.

Take, for example, the Bourse de Commerce. Originally constructed in the 18th century as a hall to both store and sell wheat, a recent renovation by Japanese architect Tadao Ando dropped an exposed concrete cylinder right in the middle of it. It is now a contemporary art museum and, in my opinion, one of the most architecturally interesting buildings in the city.

Paris certainly cares about its past — as it should — but it's also not afraid to intervene and break free from it in dramatic ways.

Home, as I've always said, is not an actual building typology. A home can be anything. For some people, a comfortable home might be a suburban single-family house in a bucolic community. And for others, a home might be two converted office spaces in Le Marais that also double as a highly coveted event space for art and design. That's the thing about homes, they're very personal.

This latter scenario describes the home of Jérémy Rocher and Kym Ellery -- a space that seems to be making the rounds in Paris and getting people in the art and design community excited. It was featured in HTSI magazine over the weekend and looks like the below. (In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, that is a piece by James Turrell.)

The design brief given to architect Simon Pesin was to create "a home and a meeting place for art." This is a fascinating use case to me. Because it's cool and interesting and, in my view, a positive thing for the city. Brands like Danish furniture company Frama are some of the groups that have programmed it, which suggests there's maybe a need for more unique spaces like this.

But at the same time, as a real estate developer, it's mostly impossible to underwrite spaces like this. If you were developing this building and thinking about the various buyers/tenants who may want to one day occupy it, this segment would never be on your list. In fact, it is yet another example of Jane Jacobs' famous mantra that "new ideas require old buildings." This is an old building. Here's an excerpt from HTSI:

Rocher bought the property six years ago, though he and Ellery only moved in last year. “It’s funny, the property was on the market for six months because people didn’t see the potential behind it,” he says of what was formerly two office spaces fitted with partition walls, false ceilings and carpeting. “Even the windows and skylights were hidden,” he adds, pointing skyward.

Thankfully, all you need is one person to see the potential. That is one of the magical things about cities.

Photos: Depasquale + Maffini

I love seeing these kind of small and creative infill projects.

In this case, this, is a conversion of an old TV and radio repair shop into a new 4,800 square foot gallery and workspace (there also looks to be a single residential suite based on the photos). These are the kinds of projects that can really make and/or transform an area. However, they are often few and far between.

Here's something that I think about a lot:

In Toronto’s red hot market, it wasn’t easy finding a building large enough to do all of these things; that Mr. Low-Beer had been out of the city for two decades only added to the shock: “I wasn’t fully cognizant of the fact that every square inch was going to be priced out as a condo; I thought you could get an old garage or some place on a highway that was undesirable.”

Having cheap and undesirable spaces in a city can be a huge benefit, because they lower the barriers to entry and allow for new ideas. And at the end of the day, it is new ideas that usually make cities so exciting. Jane Jacobs was on to someting here.

But over the last real estate cycle, this has been a challenge because of how frenetic the market has been. It has been a challenge for people wanting to convert TV repair shops into new creative spaces, and it has even been a challenge for new/smaller developers wanting to, yes, build things like condos.

However, all of this started changing about a year and a half ago. And I would argue that right now is the best time in the last 15 years to be a new entrant. Two years ago, it was hard to buy development sites, and it was mostly impossible to negotiate favorable deal terms (such as structure).

This current reset has changed that. And it is creating opportunities for those who can be creative.