Colliers Talks: KingSett's Jon Love doesn't shy away from CRE's biggest challenges

Colliers Talks

The Canadian commercial property market is facing political, social and economic challenges. For Jon Love, the founder and CEO of KingSett Capital, there is no use sitting around complaining about the problems without also thinking about the solutions and generating action.

Scott Addison, Partner, Colliers Strategy & Consulting Group, speaks with Jon Love for this episode of Colliers Talks. In it, they cover challenges in the arenas of urban placemaking, return to office, project gridlock, and political inertia — as well as some of the fixes.

Apart from being the founder and CEO of KingSett Capital, a Canadian private equity real estate investment business that creates and co-invests in real estate investment solutions to deliver sustainable premium risk weighted returns, Jon also serves on its Board of Directors and is a member of the Business Council of Canada and YPO. Jon was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018.

A few topics Jon and Scott delve into:

• Leadership in good times is challenging enough, but times of adversity require a different approach to communication and utmost transparency and authenticity. Leaders need to lean in, and drive solutions instead of focusing only on the problems.

• Canada has some helpful tailwinds, including record population growth due to strong immigration. These newcomers will need more of everything: places to live, work, shop and recreate. That creates a constructive backdrop for the national CRE picture.

• Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are facing restrictive land use guidelines, which limit the development of new homes and commercial space in these cities. With strong population driving demand, there is plenty of opportunity for the development community. To achieve the next level, much more help is needed from city planners and all levels of government to support the production of new supply.

• Hybrid work won’t doom the office market. Companies want their people back in a collaborative environment to promote connection, creativity, culture, and productivity.

• Governments and planners should focus their efforts on fast-tracking permissions, alleviating development and housing taxes, and prioritizing major public works projects.

These are challenges and conversations that Jon Love doesn’t shy away from. Dig into these topics and more by listening to this episode of Colliers Talks.