At this point, it is well known that I am a big fan of neon. It is something that we have obviously worked to incorporate into our Junction House project through things like our rooftop placemaking sign (it's actually LED), our collaboration with local artist Thrush Holmes (his work incorporates neon), and the neon popup gallery that we hosted last year in collaboration with the Downtown Yonge BIA and Neon Demon Studio. So it was no surprise that a friend of mine sent me an ArchDaily article this morning talking about how neon lighting shapes architecture.

What I like about the piece, and the pictures it includes, is that it emphasize the spatial qualities and potential of neon. For a lot of us, neon has come to represent brash advertising. Neon is bright. That was and is great for advertising. But that association has been changing. Even cities like Hong Kong, which have for so long been synonymous with neon, are starting to lose that form of advertising. I'm not saying that loss is a good thing. But I do think that we are now seeing neon being used in completely different ways. It has become more creative. It has become architectural.

Below is an excerpt from the ArchDaily article that speaks to this same idea. But what you really want to do is shoot over and look at all of the photos.

Yet because neon is so fundamentally associated with signage, which can feel limiting or kitschy for some architects, it is often neglected. Rudi Stern writes further that “Unfortunately for many architects, neon is the last shoddy pink ‘pizza’ sign they have seen, and they summarily reject a medium that offers great promise as a spatial and environmental element.” Thus, despite its historical and commercial associations, neon has the potential to be even more than retro symbols or cosmopolitan phrases. Abstract designs, atmospheric colors, and the kinetic properties of light combined can completely alter a space even without references to a historical aesthetic or explicit messages. In the images of the With.It Home below, BodinChapa Architects have used neon in a non-representational way to create a stunningly memorable James Turrell-esque room that is simultaneously tranquil and radiant. Neon light has the power to completely transform a room even if used in as simple a way as lining the corners of the ceiling, due to the unique properties of light in conversation with the sense of space itself. If architects can move past its commercial associations and investigate its relationship to architectural space, neon can become an even more powerful atmospheric element than it is already.

Photo by Yuiizaa September on Unsplash

I was recently asked about why I'm not writing more about the impact of COVID-19 on the real estate industry and on city building more broadly. The honest answer is that, like everyone else, I've been preoccupied with two other topics: our health and our economy. And as we write this playbook for the very first time and start to think about reopening the global economy, these are the two things we are obviously going to need to balance.

I also don't believe that we're going to see a fundamental reshaping of our cities. Many of the trends that were already underway could get accelerated. But it feels too premature to prognosticate pivotal shifts in the way we are going to live our lives (though they make for good headlines). And, ultimately, I believe wholeheartedly in what Fred Wilson wrote earlier this week: "In person social interaction is the core of being human and I think this pandemic is reminding all of us how vitally important that is."

All this said, it is probably time to talk about what's happening in the real estate / development space.

Much of the real estate industry has been focused on rent collection and on working with all of its various stakeholders so that as many people and companies as possible can make it to the other side of this. Everyone has bills to pay. Tenants have expenses. Landlords have expenses. And I don't think that many people appreciate how interconnected and circular the whole system is. The rents that get paid are, in many instances, being used to fund people's retirements. (i.e. The real estate is owned by pension funds.)

Earlier this week, Slate Office REIT announced that it had collected 97% of April rents and Slate Retail REIT announced that, as of April 14th, it had collected 80% of April rents. These are extraordinary numbers, particularly when you consider that retail and hospitality are two of the hardest hit asset classes right now. Over 60% of Slate Retail REIT's portfolio is made up of essential tenants, such as grocers and pharmacies, which is why this number is so above average for the retail space. This was a deliberate decision made well before COVID-19.

On the development side of things, projects in the approvals phase are still moving along, albeit more slowly. All municipalities have rightly cancelled in-person council meetings and in-person public meetings. But I don't see why these can't shift to an online forum and I hope that we will see that happen sooner rather than later. We are spending time on this. I also see it as an opportunity to reconsider how community engagement is done and how the process can better collect broad-based community feedback. As we all know, public meetings tend to attract one particular demographic.

Pre-construction condo sales and land sales have slowed dramatically. As Charlie Munger mentioned in the Journal this week: "Everybody's just frozen." We are all trying to glean what the future holds. (Charlie and Warren have been remarkably quiet over the last several weeks, but they'll be on the online stage -- on my birthday -- for their annual meeting.) At the same time, we have noticed sentiment start to become more positive over the last week or so and we have sold a number of larger suites at Junction House. In my humble opinion, now is an excellent time to continue making these sorts of decisions if you are in a position to do so.

I will end by saying that we are all trying to find our way during this unprecedented time. Now is not the time for parochial attitudes. We are all in this together. It is our health and our economy. The global economy is far more interconnected than some might think. If any of you know of causes that you believe should be supported right now, I would encourage you to leave those suggestions in the comment section below.

The Ontario Association of Architects recently announced its short-list of projects for their annual Design Excellence Award. (If you aren't familiar with the OAA, here's a bit of background.) There are so many excellent projects on their 2020 short-list, that I would encourage you to check them all out.

However, as a developer, it is my duty to shamelessly plug the architects that we are working with. superkül, the firm behind Junction House, was short-listed for two projects -- both of which are custom homes. One of them is in Toronto and the other is in Singhampton, Ontario, which is just south of Collingwood and the Georgian Bay.

The second home -- called Woodhouse -- is located on a 90-acre site. And I love everything about it. I love the "breezeway" that separates the living areas from the more private sleeping areas, and I love how they incorporated an existing 19th century log cabin into the build.

Here are a few photos:

Photos by Alex Fradkin and Kayla Rocca