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Is the romance of flight dead? Not if Toronto’s Downsview project has anything to say about it. As we witness yet another urban transformation, this one asks: can a planned community bring history to life, or will it simply be another footnote in the city’s forgotten development history? In my latest article, I explore how Northcrest Developments is betting big on the past to shape the future. By preserving and repurposing an old airport’s iconic hangars and runway, they're creating a community where nostalgia meets modern urban living. If you’re intrigued by how history and innovation can coexist, and what that means for the future of urban development, dive into the full story. This project might just change the way we think about preserving our past.

Ehson Kolb and I are back with our quarterly earnings call analysis of what real estate giants are saying about technology's role in their businesses. A few takeaways from this quarter's calls: 📈 Efficiency is king. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, but “efficiency” was the word of the quarter. MAA, JLL, Welltower, EQR, and Lennar all mentioned technology’s role in improving operating efficiencies. Overall, real estate tech is seen as a path to improving margins, not generating additional revenue. ✨ AI and data featured prominently in several calls, and some interesting data came out about how major players are using AI productively. For example, Equity Residential shared some interesting data in the context of their use of an AI leasing assistant. They quoted a booking rate of 13.3%—80,000 of 600,000 AI leasing engagements resulted in a (tour) booking. If I recall correctly, human tour booking rates are closer to 20-25%, but (a) the quality of inbound on chat versus phone call is probably lower, and right now AI is only handling chat and (b) AI has 24/7 coverage and is ~free, whereas humans are expensive and take lunch breaks. 🔋 Each quarter, fewer real estate firms have felt the need to discuss technology in their quarterly earnings calls. On the flip side, those that do spend more time on it and feature it more prominently. Clearly, public markets pressure to have a “technology narrative” has faded, and the reduced need for every firm to figure out a technology angle has elucidated the line between real estate firms that are fully bought into technology from those who were merely browsing. Full letter linked in comments!

Property insurance is suddenly sexy. Discover why a tragic turn of events in a Mexican beach town could sway global real estate values by over $100 billion. It all hinges on a term you might not know yet: reinsurance. Intrigued? Read on below: https://lnkd.in/gfca3i2R