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Clubhouse Could Change The Commercial Real Estate Game – Forbes

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Have you heard about Clubhouse?

It’s the newest, hottest social media site out there. And everyone is talking about it this month.

The New York Times

NYT
wrote about it on February 15. So did the U.K.’s Guardian

UG
. Bloomberg covered it on February 16. And Rolling Stone tackled the topic on February 17.

But since PCMag beat them to it by two weeks, running a full-length story about it on February 2… let’s run with its description.

“This invite-only, audio-based iPhone app is like listening in on someone else’s phone call legally,” long-time tech writer Eric Griffith begins. “Here’s what you need to know about Clubhouse, including how Elon Musk figures into its recent surge.”

He continues with this:

“Here’s the gist: Imagine you have an app on your phone that lets you listen in on other people’s live conversations. But not in a creepy way. These people want to be heard. They may even be famous, or at least interesting or knowledgeable (no guarantee, however). And you may be given the opportunity join the chat.

“Think of it as an audio-chat social network. Or as PCMag’s Jordan Minor says in our review, ‘What if Twitter was a podcast you lived inside of?’”

Intrigued? If you’re not, you should reconsider, especially if you’re into business networking or amping up your profitability potential.

I joined only a few weeks ago, and boy, but am I impressed so far! It’s paid off in droves already, connecting me with some exceptional entrepreneurs. Like Beth Azor.

Let me tell you a bit about her. Who knows, you might even find yourself looking her up on LinkedIn before you finish this article…

Welcome to Clubhouse. Step This Way for Space Tank…

What can I say about Beth Azor? A lot, but let’s start out with how she owns six shopping centers in South Florida.

And before you feel bad for her being in that line of work in this day and age, don’t. This woman not only means business; she knows how to do business with the best of them regardless.

In fact, her other line of work – teaching shopping centers how to fill vacancies – is doing better than ever.

While she’ll work with big-name brands and big-name retail real estate owners, she’s the first to admit that she’s “a big mom-and-pop promotor.” Understanding the value of and for the little guy, it makes sense how she got into the only-so-well-known Clubhouse app late last year.

Beth just isn’t afraid to take a chance when the odds look in her favor.

Once she was on, she found herself in “room” after “room,” having conversations and making connections… until the day in 2021 she found herself in a Shark Tank group. By that, we’re talking about something actually affiliated with the show considering how two sharks were hosting it:

·        Barbara Corcoran

·        Daymond John.

They were allowing people to pitch to them, asking hard-hitting questions just as they would on the show. It was a fascinating platform for them to be on, it worked really well, and it gave Beth an idea.

What if she created her own room for retailers to pitch themselves to commercial real estate landlords?

That’s how Space Tank began, and it’s already had two successful runs, giving businesses the chance to convince big-name – like Simon Property Group

SPG
(SPG) and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers

SKT
(SKT), to name just two – and little-name landlords alike to give them a 90-day store space.

For free.

What a concept, right?

Who Needs Penthouse Access With These Clubhouse Deals?

“What’s the catch?”

That’s the question Beth has heard multiple times now as she promotes this Space Tank idea of hers.

But there really isn’t one. If chosen, businesses have to pay their own insurance and utilities, and take the space as-is. That’s it.

Truly. If those makeshift tenants don’t think the opportunity worth their while at the end of the 90 days, they can simply say, “See ya!”

Of course, the retail landlords’ goal is for them to stay and sign a traditional contract. That’s why they’re offering the opportunity in the first place.

Yet there’s no pressure, legal or otherwise, involved. Which is why so many small and medium-sized businesses are hungry to try it out.

As for the commercial real estate side, this concept has the potential to make an enormous impact on struggling shopping centers and even malls.

Beth has already hosted two successful Clubhouse events now with smashing success. At the first, one person got offers from six different landlords to use their space. Meanwhile, the second – which just happened on February 18 – featured up to 74 landlords.

And you’d better believe she’s already thinking about Round No. 3.

Only Profit Potential in Sight

Before you ask, nope. The landlords who took Beth up on this offer weren’t all Florida-based or looking to fill Florida-specific space.

Everyone knows Florida is open for business and has been for a while now. That might make some health officials concerned, but it makes companies and their employees very, very happy overall.

So you might expect a concept like Space Tank to do at least decently well down there.

To be sure, it is. But Beth assured me that this is a nationwide event, with people participating across the map.

Moreover, while I can’t guarantee this was true about the second call… there wasn’t a single mention of Covid-19 or the pandemic during the first event. It was business as usual – only in an absolutely innovative way.

Want to get in on the next round of innovation? It’s scheduled for March 4 at 7:30 EST, and you can connect with Beth on LinkedIn to get the details.

But you might want to get preparing now, and not just for your perfect pitch. There’s a few other things you need to know about Clubhouse…

Like how, in addition to it being an iPhone-only app for now, you also need an invite. It is a club after all.

Plus, if you do know someone who can send you an invite, you should also have an Instagram or Twitter account. Because you don’t get to automatically speak in someone else’s room. And there’s no instant messaging included.

Instead, you get profile space, where you can list your Instagram and/or Twitter links. And people can reach out to you that way.

In my opinion and experience so far, that little bit of hassle is well worth it though. I’m a big believer already.

There are plenty of real estate opportunities to be opened up on Clubhouse, as I’m finding out every other day. And, like Beth Azor, I most definitely intend to walk through the right ones wherever I can.

I own shares in SPG and SKT.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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B.C. voters face atmospheric river with heavy rain, high winds on election day

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VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.

Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.

The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.

Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.

More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.

Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.

An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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No shortage when it comes to B.C. housing policies, as Eby, Rustad offer clear choice

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British Columbia voters face no shortage of policies when it comes to tackling the province’s housing woes in the run-up to Saturday’s election, with a clear choice for the next government’s approach.

David Eby’s New Democrats say the housing market on its own will not deliver the homes people need, while B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad saysgovernment is part of the problem and B.C. needs to “unleash” the potential of the private sector.

But Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, said the “punchline” was that neither would have a hand in regulating interest rates, the “giant X-factor” in housing affordability.

“The one policy that controls it all just happens to be a policy that the province, whoever wins, has absolutely no control over,” said Yan, who made a name for himself scrutinizing B.C.’s chronic affordability problems.

Some metrics have shown those problems easing, with Eby pointing to what he said was a seven per cent drop in rent prices in Vancouver.

But Statistics Canada says 2021 census data shows that 25.5 per cent of B.C. households were paying at least 30 per cent of their income on shelter costs, the worst for any province or territory.

Yan said government had “access to a few levers” aimed at boosting housing affordability, and Eby has been pulling several.

Yet a host of other factors are at play, rates in particular, Yan said.

“This is what makes housing so frustrating, right? It takes time. It takes decades through which solutions and policies play out,” Yan said.

Rustad, meanwhile, is running on a “deregulation” platform.

He has pledged to scrap key NDP housing initiatives, including the speculation and vacancy tax, restrictions on short-term rentals,and legislation aimed at boosting small-scale density in single-family neighbourhoods.

Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, meanwhile, says “commodification” of housing by large investors is a major factor driving up costs, and her party would prioritize people most vulnerable in the housing market.

Yan said it was too soon to fully assess the impact of the NDP government’s housing measures, but there was a risk housing challenges could get worse if certain safeguards were removed, such as policies that preserve existing rental homes.

If interest rates were to drop, spurring a surge of redevelopment, Yan said the new homes with higher rents could wipe the older, cheaper units off the map.

“There is this element of change and redevelopment that needs to occur as a city grows, yet the loss of that stock is part of really, the ongoing challenges,” Yan said.

Given the external forces buffeting the housing market, Yan said the question before voters this month was more about “narrative” than numbers.

“Who do you believe will deliver a better tomorrow?”

Yan said the market has limits, and governments play an important role in providing safeguards for those most vulnerable.

The market “won’t by itself deal with their housing needs,” Yan said, especially given what he described as B.C.’s “30-year deficit of non-market housing.”

IS HOUSING THE ‘GOVERNMENT’S JOB’?

Craig Jones, associate director of the Housing Research Collaborative at the University of British Columbia, echoed Yan, saying people are in “housing distress” and in urgent need of help in the form of social or non-market housing.

“The amount of housing that it’s going to take through straight-up supply to arrive at affordability, it’s more than the system can actually produce,” he said.

Among the three leaders, Yan said it was Furstenau who had focused on the role of the “financialization” of housing, or large investors using housing for profit.

“It really squeezes renters,” he said of the trend. “It captures those units that would ordinarily become affordable and moves (them) into an investment product.”

The Greens’ platform includes a pledge to advocate for federal legislation banning the sale of residential units toreal estate investment trusts, known as REITs.

The party has also proposed a two per cent tax on homes valued at $3 million or higher, while committing $1.5 billion to build 26,000 non-market units each year.

Eby’s NDP government has enacted a suite of policies aimed at speeding up the development and availability of middle-income housing and affordable rentals.

They include the Rental Protection Fund, which Jones described as a “cutting-edge” policy. The $500-million fund enables non-profit organizations to purchase and manage existing rental buildings with the goal of preserving their affordability.

Another flagship NDP housing initiative, dubbed BC Builds, uses $2 billion in government financingto offer low-interest loans for the development of rental buildings on low-cost, underutilized land. Under the program, operators must offer at least 20 per cent of their units at 20 per cent below the market value.

Ravi Kahlon, the NDP candidate for Delta North who serves as Eby’s housing minister,said BC Builds was designed to navigate “huge headwinds” in housing development, including high interest rates, global inflation and the cost of land.

Boosting supply is one piece of the larger housing puzzle, Kahlon said in an interview before the start of the election campaign.

“We also need governments to invest and … come up with innovative programs to be able to get more affordability than the market can deliver,” he said.

The NDP is also pledging to help more middle-class, first-time buyers into the housing market with a plan to finance 40 per cent of the price on certain projects, with the money repayable as a loan and carrying an interest rate of 1.5 per cent. The government’s contribution would have to be repaid upon resale, plus 40 per cent of any increase in value.

The Canadian Press reached out several times requesting a housing-focused interview with Rustad or another Conservative representative, but received no followup.

At a press conference officially launching the Conservatives’ campaign, Rustad said Eby “seems to think that (housing) is government’s job.”

A key element of the Conservatives’ housing plans is a provincial tax exemption dubbed the “Rustad Rebate.” It would start in 2026 with residents able to deduct up to $1,500 per month for rent and mortgage costs, increasing to $3,000 in 2029.

Rustad also wants Ottawa to reintroduce a 1970s federal program that offered tax incentives to spur multi-unit residential building construction.

“It’s critical to bring that back and get the rental stock that we need built,” Rustad said of the so-called MURB program during the recent televised leaders’ debate.

Rustad also wants to axe B.C.’s speculation and vacancy tax, which Eby says has added 20,000 units to the long-term rental market, and repeal rules restricting short-term rentals on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo to an operator’s principal residence or one secondary suite.

“(First) of all it was foreigners, and then it was speculators, and then it was vacant properties, and then it was Airbnbs, instead of pointing at the real problem, which is government, and government is getting in the way,” Rustad said during the televised leaders’ debate.

Rustad has also promised to speed up approvals for rezoning and development applications, and to step in if a city fails to meet the six-month target.

Eby’s approach to clearing zoning and regulatory hurdles includes legislation passed last fall that requires municipalities with more than 5,000 residents to allow small-scale, multi-unit housing on lots previously zoned for single family homes.

The New Democrats have also recently announced a series of free, standardized building designs and a plan to fast-track prefabricated homes in the province.

A statement from B.C.’s Housing Ministry said more than 90 per cent of 188 local governments had adopted the New Democrats’ small-scale, multi-unit housing legislation as of last month, while 21 had received extensions allowing more time.

Rustad has pledged to repeal that law too, describing Eby’s approach as “authoritarian.”

The Greens are meanwhile pledging to spend $650 million in annual infrastructure funding for communities, increase subsidies for elderly renters, and bring in vacancy control measures to prevent landlords from drastically raising rents for new tenants.

Yan likened the Oct. 19 election to a “referendum about the course that David Eby has set” for housing, with Rustad “offering a completely different direction.”

Regardless of which party and leader emerges victorious, Yan said B.C.’s next government will be working against the clock, as well as cost pressures.

Yan said failing to deliver affordable homes for everyone, particularly people living on B.C. streets and young, working families, came at a cost to the whole province.

“It diminishes us as a society, but then also as an economy.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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