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Value: Weighed and Measured
John Clark AACI | Vice President, The Regional Group of Companies Inc.

Yes, I’m ranting about Norway’s sovereign wealth fund again

John Clark Commercial Strategy National Jun. 11 2019
It must be tough, trying to figure out what to do with US$1 trillion in a responsible and forward-thinking fashion. We in Canada, of course, do not have this problem. Unlike a certain other Arctic nation, Canada failed long ago

Public transit: Must revenues and ridership be at odds?

John Clark Commercial Public Transit National May. 27 2019
What is the answer to the recurring question of how best to manage a municipal transit system: focus on revenue by charging the highest possible fares most residents will grudgingly tolerate; or focus on user-friendly tweaks that will boost ridership?

Retail volatility part of deeper municipal fiscal concerns

John Clark Commercial Market Trends National May. 7 2019
For bricks-and-mortar retail, the sky is falling. For bricks-and-mortar retail, a rebirth is at hand. Which is it? Recent news articles have said both things. Take this one, published in some form in recent weeks by media outlets across Canada

Chinese politics at play in Canada’s real estate market

John Clark Residential Strategy National Apr. 15 2019
Whether or not you believe foreign buyers leave us at risk of becoming tenants in our own country, efforts to curtail their activity are clearly having a material impact on Canada’s big urban markets. Any careful real estate investor needs to

Beware becoming ‘smart’ if we can’t think for ourselves

John Clark Residential Proptech National Apr. 3 2019
Oh my, don’t we stand on the cusp of a brave new world. But, are we poor humans doomed to grow dumber as a consequence of our environment becoming smarter? The thought occurred to me last week while reading a

Do we accurately gauge economic cost of long commutes?

John Clark Commercial Labour National Mar. 18 2019
Commute times in Canada are getting longer, while the number of people working from home (excluding farmers) continues to hold around six per cent. That’s what Statistics Canada reports from the 2016 census. It’s not exactly fresh news, having been

How productive are you, really, in the modern office?

John Clark Commercial Office National Mar. 4 2019
Let me be frank: the office design concepts most popular today — or at least the ones we are told are popular — fail to take into account how technology is changing how we work and how most people want

Age, race and the changing face of the urban core

John Clark Residential Market Trends National Feb. 20 2019
A RENX article a couple of weeks back about the value of Canadian central business district office markets to high-tech companies got me thinking about the demographics of who is now flocking to live and work downtown. The aforementioned article

Attention Small Town Canada: Get in on the CRE boom

John Clark Commercial Government National Jan. 25 2019
Small Town Canada should take note: 2019 promises to be another boom year for commercial real estate in Canada, industrial in particular. Consider this in the context of the federal government’s renewed commitment in December to get its act together

Should cannabis ‘farming’ be assessed as industry or agriculture?

John Clark Commercial Cannabis National Jan. 14 2019
A reader of this column who works as a property assessment analyst posted an interesting question to me recently: As commercial cultivation of cannabis commences across Canada in repurposed facilities zoned for industrial use, what is the impact on property valuation and

‘Tis the season to check your assessment notices

John Clark Commercial Taxes National Dec. 17 2018
I always say taxation is the price of freedom. By the same token, no single property owner should pay more than their fair share. Why am I reaffirming these points in December? We may be only half-way through the current

Carbon and real estate: Looking for some beachfront property?

John Clark Commercial Resilience Nov. 29 2018
What impact will a price on carbon have on real estate? It’s an important question, but it only reflects part of the story. We must also consider the broader issue that carbon pricing is meant to address because that will

It’s not 1918 anymore: Adaptability key to survival

John Clark Commercial Market Trends National Nov. 15 2018
If the 100th anniversary of the First World War armistice should teach us anything, it’s that change is constant and even the most momentous of events don’t set the agenda for long. Just look at what’s happened over the past

Who is really doing the homebuying in our mad markets?

John Clark Residential Market Trends National Oct. 30 2018
The residential real estate markets in Toronto and Vancouver can only be described as surreal. The homebuyers just keep coming, regardless of price. We’ve had the debate in recent years about whether inflationary pressures have been sparked by foreign buyers

Is NAFTA 2.0 a boon to rural and small-town economies?

John Clark Commercial Government National Oct. 9 2018
Now that we have had time to detox from the NAFTA 2.0 political spin over Thanksgiving, it’s time to consider what it really means for real estate. (Disclosure: I just can’t bring myself to call this new deal by its

Industry 4.0 is really all about real estate

John Clark Commercial Market Trends National Sep. 27 2018
It was refreshing to see politicians at all levels and of all leanings park the partisanship and come together after a series of tornadoes struck the Ottawa-Gatineau region. If only it didn’t take the immediacy of a natural disaster to

Want more from city hall? Then pay up

John Clark Residential Utilities National Sep. 12 2018
It’s that time of year when many of us follow the ups and downs of gas prices following the summer driving season. Maybe you’re the sort to rush out of your way to the gas station that’s a few cents

Assessment appeals: Big property owners aren’t the bad guys

John Clark Commercial Taxes National Sep. 4 2018
I’ve been watching this story unfold through the media for a couple of weeks now and feel compelled to weigh in, given the whining tone that has emerged and the unbalanced perception it creates. It all started with word that

Do we take the wrong approach to working smarter?

John Clark Commercial Human Resources National Aug. 21 2018
We live in an increasingly connected world. High-speed Internet can be had throughout much of rural Canada. It’s the convergence forward-thinkers dreamed about 20 years ago, where the Web will empower us to better communicate, collaborate and generally get stuff

Canada’s labour problem: We need action, not excuses

John Clark Commercial Labour National Aug. 6 2018
Thanks to that bellicose fellow down south, we have ourselves a trade war. This is bound to have an impact on employment across various sectors of the Canadian economy. But policymakers shouldn’t let this furore mask the fact that we

There is no fear in Ford Nation

John Clark Commercial Taxes Ontario Jul. 19 2018
The two or three people out there who didn’t think Doug Ford’s Ontario would be markedly different than that of Kathleen Wynne certainly had their eyes opened during last week’s brief Throne Speech. Lower electricity bills. Lower personal and business

Interesting times call for investor diligence, not inaction

John Clark Commercial Strategy National Jun. 28 2018
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity …” I can’t begin

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