I had a chance to check out one of Westbank Corp’s latest developments, JOYCE, at their exclusive one weekend opening celebration. Located in Vancouver’s Collingwood neighborhood, JOYCE brings a high degree of artistry and beauty to one of the city’s most multicultural communities. The expansive views of Vancouver’s skyline, West Vancouver, and the North Shore Mountains from the rooftop garden are incredible. The development is transit-oriented, conveniently located next to the Joyce-Collingwood Skytrain Station. It’s surrounded by several lakes, schools, and parks such as the 222-acre Central Park.
eXp World Holdings, Inc. capped off its 2021 shareholder summit in the EXPI Campus, with world-renowned speakers from all walks of life sharing their journeys to success. The list included names like Grant Cardone, John Salley, Jamie Kern Lima, and Tim Storey. Even The Magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff was in the house to play tunes for a COVID safe avatar dance party. What resonated most with me was the common thread found in every major success story. It always comes down to hard-work, discipline, routine, and consistency. Daily dedication to achieving what it is you set out to do, without compromise. These are some of my favorite moments from the summit.
Marpole is one of Vancouver’s oldest communities, split up into four sub-areas of Granville, Hudson, Oak, and Cambie. It’s a bustling gateway from the south that visitors first encounter via the international airport (YVR). The neighborhood has an eclectic mix of shopping, entertainment, and housing in the form of apartment buildings under 5 storeys (50.1%), newer mixed-use buildings up to 12 storeys (9.1%), single-family (20%), and detached duplex (11.7%) according to 2016 census data.
eXp Realty, The Real Estate Cloud Brokerage, is one of the fastest-growing global residential real estate companies, and the largest by geography in North America. The international LLC was founded in 2009 by Glenn Sanford, and is a subsidiary of eXp World Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPI) which currently has a market cap well over $7.4…
Action Mailbox is a feature introduced in Rails 6 that enables you to route incoming emails to controller-like mailboxes. It opens up interesting use cases for how you can deal with inbound email in your own application.
The Beaver symbolizes good work ethic and determination, with a strong sense of family values. The Beaver has a great understanding of nature and working in harmony with his surroundings, he is very industrious working towards goals and gaining a sense of achievement. – Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre
Software as a service (SaaS) nowadays makes it easy to integrate e-commerce solutions into your application, and nothing comes close to the capabilities of Stripe. Founded in 2010 by Patrick and John Collison, Stripe has democratized online payment processing for internet businesses around the world—handling financial infrastructure for some of the largest companies like Amazon,…
“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” – Winston S. Churchill Once grounds for the provincial courthouse–Government Square was renamed to…
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” – Socrates The scene in the photo above gives me great solace, with all the uncertainty in the world right now. I captured the shot on a recent trip to Squamish—one of my favorite places…
mort-gage(old french)noun 1. Death Pledge CMHC released a publication on Mortgage Data Standards–analyzing the impact of initiating a system of data standards in the Canadian mortgage industry. One aspect of the data standards framework I’m paying close attention to is what the acceleration of digitization means to the future of mortages. The overarching premise is…
From laying off 35% of its employees in April, to becoming a publicly traded company valued at $4.8 billion via merger with Social Capital Hedosophia in September, Opendoor has been the talk of the tech world as they reinvent how people buy and sell homes. Opendoor’s co-founder, Ian Wong, spoke about the company’s meteoric rise…
“A framework to organize, communicate, and understand the science of our world.” – Esri on GIS Global real estate is an asset class more valuable than all stocks, shares, and securitized debt combined, at $228+ trillion. There are remarkable technologies pushing the boundaries of the industry’s evolutionary curve—Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, 3D…
“We believe that databases need to excel at more than simple selects to be useful for complex tasks, and our positive experiences with PostgreSQL has done nothing but reinforce that philosophy.” – David McNett Migrating data hardly ever comes without headaches and the odd “oh shit” moments, but after getting the hang of it, you…
“Once one software solution demonstrates it is valuable, the customer base will consolidate around that company for all its software needs.” – a16z a16z released an article on how SaaS businesses can scale to new vertical markets by directly embedding financial products into their software. Founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz (author of What…
Good designers are hard to come by––it can be a costly process to find the right candidate, and you may end up paying for work you aren’t satisfied with. Now that we basically all live on the internet, meeting in-person with design teams to hammer out a design brief no longer seems like an appropriate…
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” –…
Big data in real estate is a prime use case for real-time stream processing—a programming paradigm that allows us to instantaneously respond to data as it arrives. It is the antithesis to batch processing, whereby all data is loaded into memory before it is delivered and processed. The real estate profession is truly a matter…
Implementing authentication for third-party access is no small feat, but is imperative in order to compete in a complex API economy and expand business capabilities. With every application, securing protected resources always poses a unique challenge, particularly considering how rapid technology evolves. New solutions come along and customers expect a level of consistency across apps,…
Rails 6 shipped with the ability to use multiple databases in one application, making automatic connection switching as simple as adding a connects_to method in the respective class. To go a step further, we’ll set up an Amazon RDS instance, which benefits team members by providing consistent access to the same database—which could contain a…
Launch Academy presented a webinar on everything you need to know about the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)—a cross-Canada network of 255 industrial technology advisors, with $300 million in support for more than 3,000 development projects annually—and having gone through the process myself, it was a good refresher on how to acquire financial support for…
I love to program in Ruby as well as Python, and AWS Lambda functions provide the perfect solution to combine both language’s capabilities without additional server configuration. The aws-sdk-lambda library makes serverless computing workflow dead simple, by providing a gateway that connects to a Lambda function that will run Python code and return the results…
Managing large quantities of real estate data is computationally intensive, and well-suited for background processing. The task involves importing thousands of MLS® listings into a Redis in-memory data structure store, using an open government API for geocoding, and association with other models, therefore a lot can go wrong, and it’s important to isolate these functions…
“Maintainable code is more important than clever code.” – Guido van Rossum, creator of Python During this lockdown, I’ve been spending time taking online courses, specifically in the areas of Data Science, Machine Learning, and Python. My go-to platform right now is Coursera—I managed to complete three university-grade courses within a week for free. As…
“Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” – Epictetus The Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) opened today—a government program that provides $500 a week for up to 16 weeks as temporary income for Canadians affected by COVID-19. In a wise move to prevent system overload,…
“Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?” – Marcus Aurelius
The creators of Basecamp are set to release what promises to be a delightful new email service, called HEY: It’s a redo, a rethink, a simplified, potent reintroduction of email. A fresh start, the way it should be. HEY is our love letter to email, and we’re sending it to you. Coming April 2020 to…
Today begins “Phase 3” of Andy Frisella’s 75Hard—a mental toughness program that spans a year, consisting of a daily regimen, and a tactical guide to winning the war with yourself. The tasks are simple when taken at face value, but it’s the intent and consistency you put into it, which ultimately determines what you get…
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. – Marcus Aurelius Year of the Rat The Lunar New Year took place on January 25, 2020, and marked the beginning of the Year of the Rat; first of all zodiac animals in the 12-year cycle.…
As per tradition, a new version of Ruby was released on Christmas Day. Out of the 4,190 file changes since 2.6.0, Ruby 2.7.0 introduces some notable improvements.
“Data is the new oil.” – Debbie Gamble Powered by Techstars, and based in Toronto, the Colliers PropTech accelerator had its 2019 demo day showcasing a number of up-and-coming companies attempting to modernize the $200+ trillion asset class. There were products in multiple categories that leverage the capabilities of today’s technology; Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence,…
When it comes to blogging platforms, WordPress is hard to beat, claiming to power over 35% of websites, and recently announcing a $300 million Series D from Salesforce. Alternatively, Static Site Generators like Jekyll and GatsbyJS are becoming more prevalent, as they are less opinionated and more developer-friendly. They offer greater customization, simplicity, and ease of deployment with free…
Returning to one of my favorite cities after a number of years, it was incredible to see how rapidly Dubai has evolved into one of the most iconic destinations in the world, with its innovative neo-futurism architecture, and the ‘biggest’ and ‘best’ of everything.
Pictured above is the green roof on the Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver. It appears no detail has been overlooked, which is to be expected when the market value of its residential units is $1,600+/sqft. Providing a view of something more aesthetically pleasing than your typical tar and gravel roof, living rooftops also have many functional…
I was going through some old photos, and found this one taken from atop the Oriental Pearl Tower when I first visited Shanghai circa 2013. I’m still in awe at how many people inhabit the city, somewhere north of 24 million, one of the most populous in the world.
“Photography is a love affair with life.” – Burk Uzzle There is something about the image quality of Fujifilm’s new X100F that turns even the mundane into art. Having upgraded from the standard Canon DSLR, I wanted something more portable yet loaded with features, and the X100F doesn’t disappoint.
A recent meetup brought together Vancouver’s Airbnb community, hosted by Aaron Zifkin (Regional Director – Americas Operations) and Alex Dagg (Public Policy Manager, Canada). The event was geared toward shedding some light on where the regulations stand when it comes to listing your place on the company’s website, which currently has more than 2 million listings…
“In this project, the minimal glazing details and the layered landscaping blurs conventional boundaries to enhance the sense of continuity. The design celebrates the presence of nature in Vancouver.” – Kengo Kuma
The Sunset house by Mcleod Bovell Design, recipients of the Arthur Erickson Memorial Award, is a newly constructed 6,428 square foot house that fronts a steep, rocky terrain, with south facing views reaching as far as Lions Gate Bridge, and private views to the west. With a dynamic urban setting, the residence maintains a village/neighborhood feel that conforms to…
Vancouver’s 400 hectare urban oasis, Stanley Park, was recently voted the number one park in the world according to Trip Advisor, a travel website that receives 50 million+ monthly unique visitors, and millions of user reviews; 6,300+ of which were positively attributed to Vancouver’s most revered natural habitat by visitors from around the world.
A Mere Posting is a property that is listed for sale through the MLS®, by a homeowner who is not in an agency relationship with a REALTOR®. Although the homeowner must list the property through a licensed REALTOR®, the cost to do so is significantly less, as the agent has a limited involvement for a relatively…
“Designed to strike a fine balance between simple elegance and engaging playfulness.” – Oliver Lang There are exciting development projects under construction in Vancouver, with radical architecture that deviates from traditional run-of-the-mill design, livening up the neighborhoods with their presence. The Vanglo House is an RS zoned property in the Mount Pleasant area that possesses such…
Yes, it rains in Vancouver. A lot. But besides it being a default conversation starter, a reason to complain on Facebook, or perhaps even population control for our small city, some prefer to be resourceful and capitalize on the use of rain catchment systems. Also known as rain harvesting, it is the accumulation and deposition of…
“It will be like living in an idea.” – Urban Design Panel Words expressed by the Urban Design Panel regarding 777 – 795 West 41st Ave., where Arno Matis Architecture’s Aperture development is located along the Cambie Corridor. The structure, much like the 6th and Willow townhouse complex, possesses an architectural presence that welcomely deviates from the standard…
As Vancouver’s original Downtown founded in 1867, Gastown survived a period of decline and disrepair following the 1960s, today known as a tourist and commercial hub, and home to a number of the city’s most prominent high-tech businesses and startups.
The next building attempting to pierce the atmosphere is to be located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, aptly named Kingdom Tower. This will be the $1.2 billion centerpiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City near the Red Sea. It would stand 3,280 feet high (1km or 1,000 metres), and sit 200 metres deep.
“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” – Arnold Bennett It’s one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Western Canada, comprising 35% of Downtown Vancouver’s peninsula, and with the City under significant development pressure, its existing residential and commercial stock is undergoing a substantial turnover. The concern: does…
“The essence is the essential and the essential is the essence.” – Michael Green Designed by Michael Green Architecture, the townhomes sit on the corner of 6th and Willow in the Fairview area of Vancouver West. Its minimalist yet richly contemporary style blends into the surrounding environment, capitalizing off of the orientation to the sun with a weathering steel facade,…
Urban and Real Estate Economics at The University of British Columbia is one of the most interesting courses offered in their Real Estate program. Not because students wake up everyday excited to deconstruct the elasticity of supply and demand, but it’s a course that actually requires you to play video games. The game, Sim City. The…
Although typically classified under names such as coach houses, infill housing, and granny flats, Laneway House (LWH) is a great densification initiative that can provide many benefits for both the land owner and tenant. Made official in late 2009, the Council adopted regulations that would allow for Laneway Houses to be built on RS (single-family)…
