Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.
Our first shoring rig was delivered and setup today at Junction House. A second one is on the way shortly.
It will take a couple of months to complete all of our caisson piles. If you’d like to learn about how shoring is constructed, check out this “explainer” from UrbanToronto.
It was also an absolutely beautiful day here in Toronto — not a cloud in the sky. So here are a few photos from site.
Somehow — even after I sarcastically put out the above tweet — I ended up on a BISNOW panel next week about the impact of COVID-19 on Toronto’s residential real estate market.
When I was asked if I would do it, I replied with: “Does this mean I will need to put on pants?” That was interpreted as a, “yes, I will join the panel.” And so here we are.
It’s on Wednesday, May 13 at 2:30pm. Steve Keyzer of Gin & Sonic fame (Colliers International) and Kevin Stark (Trinity Development Group) are also speaking on the panel. To register, click here. I’ll do my best to be as controversial as possible.
The below press release went out this morning. It’s a good news story that shows the resiliency of grocery and food logistics.
On a related note, Slate Retail REIT also recently announced that, as of April 14th, it had already collected 80% of April rents and was outperforming the industry. At that time and based on industry feedback, the REIT estimated that a number of retail strip center landlords were seeing April rent collections in the range of 40-50%.
TORONTO and LONDON, April 23, 2020 /CNW/ — Slate Asset Management (“Slate”), a leading alternative asset management platform with a focus on real estate, announced today the final close of its Slate European Real Estate Fund III (“Slate Europe III”). Consistent with its predecessor funds, Slate Europe III will target grocery real estate assets in Europe. The oversubscribed closed-end fund exceeded its target size of €200 million and closed at its hard-cap of €250 million.
“During this unprecedented time of market disruption, we are pleased to close Slate Europe III at its hard-cap and are thankful for the confidence investors from diverse geographies continue to place in us as Slate expands its presence across Europe,” said Brady Welch, Slate’s London-based Founding Partner. “We have been investing in last-mile logistics for some time and are proud to launch our third fund in the European grocery real estate space since 2016, a feat that underscores our commitment to the sector and validates the importance of last-mile solutions in the grocery real estate market.”
Since December 2016, Slate has completed a total of 250 grocery property acquisitions in Europe comprising over 450,000 square meters of gross leasable space. Slate has European offices in London, Frankfurt, Dublin and Luxembourg.
About Slate Asset Management
Slate Asset Management is a leading real estate-focused alternative investment platform with over $6.5 billion in assets under management. Slate is a value-oriented manager and a significant sponsor of all of its private and publicly traded investment vehicles, which are tailored to the unique goals and objectives of its investors. The firm’s careful and selective investment approach creates long-term value with an emphasis on capital preservation and outsized returns. Slate is supported by exceptional people, flexible capital and a demonstrated ability to originate and execute on a wide range of compelling investment opportunities. Visit slateam.com to learn more.
For Further Information
Investor Relations
+1 416 644 4264
ir@slateam.com
SOURCE Slate Asset Management L.P.
This blog has been a little too serious as of late. So here’s something fun. Last week, Toronto street artist birdO, StreetARToronto, and Slate Asset Management unveiled the new 10-storey mural that I wrote about last month. The large-format art piece is part of the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto Monumental Program and our (Slate’s) ongoing effort to do things that are great and remarkable at Yonge and St. Clair. Below are some photos of the mural by Riley Snelling. I love how these turned out (birdO in his bird mask, of course, helps make them).
For the full press release, click here.
Photos: Riley Snelling
We are looking to hire a Project Coordinator to join the Development team here at Slate Asset Management in our Toronto office.
This is an ideal position for someone who is passionate about development and cities; who wants to be part of an entrepreneurial and growing team; and who is able to be hands on and take ownership over what they do.
The Project Coordinator would work closely with the full Development team and support all aspects of project delivery from acquisition to exit/stabilization. Eventually, we want this person to lead a portfolio of their own development projects.
We’re looking for someone with the following skills and characteristics:
If you’re interested after reading all of this, please send your resume and cover letter to brandon@slateam.com. Your short cover letter should include why you want to work at Slate, as well as your favorite recent development project (it can be anywhere in the world but make sure to include why).
Alongside this, we would like to see a link/URL that helps us get to know you better. This could be your Twitter or Instagram, a personal blog, a portfolio, or something else that represents who you are. If you don’t have any of these, well then you’ll have to get creative.
Thanks for your interest.
On Monday, Slate Asset Management announced a minority investment from Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Petershill Program. This is great news, so here’s a copy of the full press release that went out.
Toronto, August 19, 2019 – Slate Asset Management L.P. (Slate), a leading alternative asset management platform with a focus on real estate and real assets, today announced a passive, non-voting minority equity investment from Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Petershill program, creating a strategic relationship with one of the world’s leading investment managers and positioning Slate for future success. The transaction will have no impact on the control or decision making of Slate. The day-to-day operations and management of Slate will remain unchanged.
The investment provides capital that Slate will use to enhance its platform and increase its GP investments in current and future businesses and investment vehicles, further strengthening the firm’s alignment with its clients and investing partners.
The investment accelerates Slate’s goal to build the leading independent alternative investment platform in real estate and real assets. As part of the transaction, Slate Founders Blair and Brady Welch have made a long-term commitment to the business.
To date Slate has completed over $11 billion of transactions across Canada, the U.S. and Europe, through multiple vehicles spanning co-investments with global institutional partners, private equity funds and publicly-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts.
“This investment in our platform is an endorsement of our people, our strategy and our future,” said Brady Welch, co-founder of Slate. “For our investors and our team, this is excellent news; our strategy and model remain the same, and we can now benefit from our new relationship with Goldman.”
Blair Welch, co-founder of Slate, added that: “Since we started Slate nearly 15 years ago, we have showed that we can build tremendous value by providing our investors with a unique perspective, focusing on the fundamentals of the assets we acquire and delivering hands-on management that is innovative and creative. With our new relationship with Goldman Sachs, Brady and I are enthusiastic about what all of us at Slate can accomplish together over the next decade and beyond.”
“Slate Asset Management is an incredibly innovative, dynamic real-estate focused alternative asset management platform,” said Robert Hamilton Kelly, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Petershill program. “We are big believers in the strategy, the team and the model. We are excited to partner with Slate as they work to capture the opportunities before them.”
About Slate Asset Management
Slate Asset Management L.P. is a leading real-estate focused alternative investment platform with over $6 billion in assets under management. Slate is a value-oriented manager and a significant sponsor of all of its private and publicly-traded investment vehicles, which are tailored to the unique goals and objectives of its investors. The firm’s careful and selective investment approach creates long-term value with an emphasis on capital preservation and outsized returns. Slate is supported by exceptional people, flexible capital and a demonstrated ability to originate and execute on a wide range of compelling investment opportunities. Visit slateam.com to learn more.
About Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (GSAM) Petershill Program
The Petershill program is managed by GSAM’s Alternative Investments & Manager Selection (AIMS) Group, which provides investors with investment and advisory solutions across leading private equity funds, hedge fund managers, real estate managers, public equity strategies and fixed income strategies. With investments in over 20 asset management firms, the Petershill program provides strategic capital to mid-sized asset management firms and has raised over $5 billion of commitments since inception. GSAM is one of the world’s leading investment managers with more than $1 trillion in assets under supervision globally as of June 30, 2019.
For more information:
Slate Asset Management
Katie Fasken
416-583-1785
Goldman Sachs
Patrick Scanlan
212-902-5400
We are reasonably confident that summer will eventually arrive in Toronto this year, and so we (Junction House) have partnered with Indie Alehouse to host a public and outdoor beer garden from June through to August, right in the Junction.
We are calling it The House Beer Garden because we both have “House” in our name and that’s as clever as we get.
Here are the details:
There will be four editions of The House Beer Garden and each will host a different local food vendor. For the first one, we will be welcoming Chau Toronto and their modern Asian bites.
The timing of the first Beer Garden also happens to line up with the Annual Summer Solstice Festival in the Junction (that was deliberate). So Dundas Street West will be closed to cars and it’s going to be a lot of fun.
No need to RSVP. Just show up at 2720 Dundas Street West, Junction. See you in two weeks.
This morning the Toronto Star published a profile piece on one of Junction House’s earliest purchasers: Barbara Martinez. Barbara downsized from a house to a 1-bedroom condominium in Roncesvalles, but then realized that she still wanted space to entertain and have guests over. So she decided to buy a 3-bedroom penthouse at Junction House with an approximately 350 square foot terrace. That’ll work. It is truly one of the nicest suites in the building, and will come equipped with a view of the Toronto skyline that looks something like this (see background projection below):
I am quoted in the article as saying that mid-rise condominiums in Toronto’s neighborhoods naturally tend to attract a different set of buyers compared to, say, a downtown tower. That is true and we are seeing it play out at Junction House. Yes, we have 1-bedroom suites that are perfect for young professionals and/or investors, but we also have some spectacular 2-storey suites (the House Collection) and larger single-storey suites for people just like Barbara. Congratulations on your new home purchase!
Photos: Steve Russell for the Toronto Star
We just received a bunch of photos back of our Junction House Sales Gallery. So today is photo day on the blog. (Thank you Dialogue 38 for coordinating these.)
Here’s the front “gallery” area. The artwork hanging on the wall is by local artist, Leeay Aikawa. Her work is terrific. You can see this space as you walk along Dundas Street West.
Here is the model suite pavilion and main reception area (evening shot). The bar area is absurdly long. It was designed to accommodate beers from Indie Ale House down the street.
Dialogue 38, the designers of the space, really wanted the model suite to be a “pavilion” — something akin to Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. So here’s the ramp that takes you up and inside.
Finally, here’s the model suite. The kitchen is by Scavolini. And the backsplash is a penny tile.
The sales gallery is located at 2720 Dundas Street West and is now open every day of the week except Tuesdays. The hours are 1PM to 7PM during the week and 12PM to 5PM on the weekends.
Okay, I promise that after this post I will stop talking about the Forever mural that Ben Johnston recently completed at Junction House – at least for a little while.
I admittedly don’t know Emma and Justin, but I would like to congratulate them on their recent engagement at Junction House.
Emma thought they were going to take anniversary photos, but instead Justin proposed in front of Forever. If you can’t see the embedded photo below, click here.
Forever certainly feels like the right message to me. Congratulations Emma and Justin.
P.S. Junction House was in the National Post over the weekend. Link.
