This past weekend a rooftop restaurant, pool, and entertainment venue called LAVELLE opened upon atop 629 King Street West here in Toronto. It’s on the rooftop of a condo by Freed Developments, that for some reason is no longer called the Thompson Residences.
This past weekend a rooftop restaurant, pool, and entertainment venue called LAVELLE opened upon atop 629 King Street West here in Toronto. It’s on the rooftop of a condo by Freed Developments, that for some reason is no longer called the Thompson Residences.
Here’s a sampling of their Instagram to paint you a picture:
I mention this not because I went, but because I think it’s interesting to see how Peter Freed is evolving his company and brand. He is best known as a real estate developer. But what he wants to do and what he is doing is turning Freed Developments into a “vertically and horizontally integrated progressive lifestyle company.”
According to this recent press release, LAVELLE is the first venture of Trademark Hospitality Inc., which itself is “a branch of Freed Hospitality.” This is him selling not just selling a place to live, but selling a particular lifestyle and a certain community – and then taking an active and ongoing role in the programming of it.
The other example that comes to mind is that of Equinox Fitness. I’m sure you all know this company, but what you may not know is that it’s owned by a real estate development firm called Related. The New York-based company acquired them in 2005 (closed in 2006) for about half a billion dollars.
Here’s why they did it (excerpt from this press release):
Related and Equinox have historically shared similar visions. Both companies are known for their commitment to lifestyle, service, innovation and design, and have a passionate following amongst dedicated upscale consumers. The companies’ respective customers have similar demographic and psychographic profiles and both foster fiercely loyal clientele who are passionate about their brands.
Related has redefined the residential marketplace, created the benchmark for sophisticated urban living and has been committed to quality fitness facilities in its buildings since the mid-eighties. Since its inception 15 years ago, Equinox has been widely recognized for being an industry innovator and for delivering an unparalleled fitness experience.
Both companies will enjoy a number of key strategic opportunities from the partnership. Related will secure a well known brand as a quality anchor tenant for key current and future developments. This will also help Related to enhance the quality of its amenities and facilities available to residents.
So this is not a new thing. In both of these cases, the goal is to create a brand and identity centered around a precise lifestyle. I mean, Related even mentions “psychographic profiles” in their news release. They know who their audience is, just as Freed does.
Another way of looking at this is how it ties into what I see as a broader shift away from just development to more city building. It’s not just about throwing up a building and then moving on. It’s about trying to foster a certain kind of community and lifestyle. We may not all agree on what that community should be, but overall I think it’s an exciting direction for cities.
If you’re taking a similar approach in your business (or even if you’re not), I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
I recently heard someone define a habit as something that you need to do in order to feel normal. In other words, until you do it, you don’t feel yourself.
This, of course, could refer to both good habits and bad habits. And most of us probably have habits from both camps. But I like it as a clear and simple definition.
I’ve written about disciplines and habits a few times before, because I think of myself as having a few. The most public of my habits is this blog and, at this point, I certainly don’t feel normal if I don’t write everyday. I’ve missed a few days since I started writing in 2013 and each time I felt bad.
My other big habit is going to the gym and lifting weights. And since my snowboarding injury back in February, I haven’t been able to do this properly (though I still tried). It’s easily the longest break I’ve taken from it since I started this particular habit when I was 16.
Because of this, I really haven’t felt myself for about 2 months. My energy levels aren’t the same and I just don’t feel as mentally sharp. Those are some of the main reasons why I love this habit. And I still haven’t adjusted.
Thankfully (with some help from Totum Life Science), my back and shoulder are finally starting to feel better. And so today, instead of writing about cities, I’m going to go to the gym and try and do one of my regular workout routines.
I’m not quite at 100% yet, but I should be soon. And then I’ll finally feel normal again.
Retail is one of the hardest – if not the hardest – real estate category to get right. If you don’t have the right setup, the right location, and the right tenant mix, you can fail pretty easily. It’s a bit of an art. And that obviously applies to both landlords and tenants. I mean, we all know what recently happened with Target Canada.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Aura Condos in Toronto, which is supposedly the tallest and largest residential condominium in Canada. There’s about 1.1 million square feet of residential space across 79 floors and somewhere around 150,000 to 180,000 square feet of retail space (the estimates I found online varied). The main anchors include Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, and Hard Candy Fitness (which also serves as the gym for the residences above).
But what’s probably most unique about the retail component of this building is the P1 level (the first underground level). It’s made up of small retail condos, some of which looked to be about 90 square feet. That means that each retail unit is individually owned, just like a residential condominium, and there’s no singular landlord focused on curating the tenant mix and ensuring the entire retail center does well.
Now, I’m told that this approach works perfectly well in other parts of the world and I know that we’re trying it in other parts of the Greater Toronto Area, but I worry about the long term viability of this (P1) space in particular. When I was there on Saturday there was almost no foot traffic and probably half of the retail units were vacant.
Maybe it’s because there isn’t enough employment density in the area. Maybe it’s because it’s not well connected to other P1 level retail. Or maybe it’s because the anchors all sit above this space, as opposed to around it (as they do in traditional malls). Whatever it is, I wasn’t feeling product/market fit.
I hope I’m wrong.
Images: P1 Retail at Aura Condos
Here’s a sampling of their Instagram to paint you a picture:
I mention this not because I went, but because I think it’s interesting to see how Peter Freed is evolving his company and brand. He is best known as a real estate developer. But what he wants to do and what he is doing is turning Freed Developments into a “vertically and horizontally integrated progressive lifestyle company.”
According to this recent press release, LAVELLE is the first venture of Trademark Hospitality Inc., which itself is “a branch of Freed Hospitality.” This is him selling not just selling a place to live, but selling a particular lifestyle and a certain community – and then taking an active and ongoing role in the programming of it.
The other example that comes to mind is that of Equinox Fitness. I’m sure you all know this company, but what you may not know is that it’s owned by a real estate development firm called Related. The New York-based company acquired them in 2005 (closed in 2006) for about half a billion dollars.
Here’s why they did it (excerpt from this press release):
Related and Equinox have historically shared similar visions. Both companies are known for their commitment to lifestyle, service, innovation and design, and have a passionate following amongst dedicated upscale consumers. The companies’ respective customers have similar demographic and psychographic profiles and both foster fiercely loyal clientele who are passionate about their brands.
Related has redefined the residential marketplace, created the benchmark for sophisticated urban living and has been committed to quality fitness facilities in its buildings since the mid-eighties. Since its inception 15 years ago, Equinox has been widely recognized for being an industry innovator and for delivering an unparalleled fitness experience.
Both companies will enjoy a number of key strategic opportunities from the partnership. Related will secure a well known brand as a quality anchor tenant for key current and future developments. This will also help Related to enhance the quality of its amenities and facilities available to residents.
So this is not a new thing. In both of these cases, the goal is to create a brand and identity centered around a precise lifestyle. I mean, Related even mentions “psychographic profiles” in their news release. They know who their audience is, just as Freed does.
Another way of looking at this is how it ties into what I see as a broader shift away from just development to more city building. It’s not just about throwing up a building and then moving on. It’s about trying to foster a certain kind of community and lifestyle. We may not all agree on what that community should be, but overall I think it’s an exciting direction for cities.
If you’re taking a similar approach in your business (or even if you’re not), I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
I recently heard someone define a habit as something that you need to do in order to feel normal. In other words, until you do it, you don’t feel yourself.
This, of course, could refer to both good habits and bad habits. And most of us probably have habits from both camps. But I like it as a clear and simple definition.
I’ve written about disciplines and habits a few times before, because I think of myself as having a few. The most public of my habits is this blog and, at this point, I certainly don’t feel normal if I don’t write everyday. I’ve missed a few days since I started writing in 2013 and each time I felt bad.
My other big habit is going to the gym and lifting weights. And since my snowboarding injury back in February, I haven’t been able to do this properly (though I still tried). It’s easily the longest break I’ve taken from it since I started this particular habit when I was 16.
Because of this, I really haven’t felt myself for about 2 months. My energy levels aren’t the same and I just don’t feel as mentally sharp. Those are some of the main reasons why I love this habit. And I still haven’t adjusted.
Thankfully (with some help from Totum Life Science), my back and shoulder are finally starting to feel better. And so today, instead of writing about cities, I’m going to go to the gym and try and do one of my regular workout routines.
I’m not quite at 100% yet, but I should be soon. And then I’ll finally feel normal again.
Retail is one of the hardest – if not the hardest – real estate category to get right. If you don’t have the right setup, the right location, and the right tenant mix, you can fail pretty easily. It’s a bit of an art. And that obviously applies to both landlords and tenants. I mean, we all know what recently happened with Target Canada.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Aura Condos in Toronto, which is supposedly the tallest and largest residential condominium in Canada. There’s about 1.1 million square feet of residential space across 79 floors and somewhere around 150,000 to 180,000 square feet of retail space (the estimates I found online varied). The main anchors include Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, and Hard Candy Fitness (which also serves as the gym for the residences above).
But what’s probably most unique about the retail component of this building is the P1 level (the first underground level). It’s made up of small retail condos, some of which looked to be about 90 square feet. That means that each retail unit is individually owned, just like a residential condominium, and there’s no singular landlord focused on curating the tenant mix and ensuring the entire retail center does well.
Now, I’m told that this approach works perfectly well in other parts of the world and I know that we’re trying it in other parts of the Greater Toronto Area, but I worry about the long term viability of this (P1) space in particular. When I was there on Saturday there was almost no foot traffic and probably half of the retail units were vacant.
Maybe it’s because there isn’t enough employment density in the area. Maybe it’s because it’s not well connected to other P1 level retail. Or maybe it’s because the anchors all sit above this space, as opposed to around it (as they do in traditional malls). Whatever it is, I wasn’t feeling product/market fit.
I hope I’m wrong.
Images: P1 Retail at Aura Condos
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