Registration Questions

Call: 202-684-2034
Email: eventregistration@bisnow.com

Request Speaker Information

Speaker Topics

Tell us a Little More

Speakers and Panels

Creative Office

Creating Productive Environments for the Modern Tenant

Aly Damji

Aly Damji

Managing Partner, Real Estate

Forum Asset Management

Tom Burns

Tom Burns

COO

Allied Properties REIT

Rachel Walters

Rachel Walters

Sr. Market Development Manager

Join

Joe Pettipas

Joe Pettipas

Global Director of the Interior Design Group

IBI Group

Noam Hazan

Noam Hazan

Creative Director

SDI Design

Aly Damji

Managing Partner, Real Estate

Forum Asset Management

Aly leads the real estate investment business at Forum.

He brings exceptional experience as a real estate investor, operator, developer, and institutional asset manager of value added and opportunistic real estate investments. Throughout his career, Aly has executed on principal investments valued over $3 billion, arranged debt financings of over $500 million, and secured over 300 leases that resulted in net operating income of over $40 million.

Tom Burns

COO

Allied Properties REIT

Tom is our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He was formerly Senior Vice President, Retail at DTZ Barnicke, as well as a member of DTZ's Global Management Committee. During his 30 year career, Tom has distinguished himself in the areas of commercial leasing, operations and development. He is a Business Administration graduate of Algonquin College specializing in Real Estate.

Joe Pettipas

Global Director of the Interior Design Group

IBI Group

As the Global Director of the Interior Design Group for IBI Group, Joe leads a team of

enthusiastic and talented design professionals that ensure that all clients around the globe receive the attentive service and design excellence that are IBI hallmarks.

With over three decades of experience in the design industry, understanding the challenges facing IBI’s corporate, institutional, hospitality, retail and healthcare clients today. Joe’s international experience in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and across South and North America gives him an appreciation for the importance of brand, community and smart solutions, and how they must be synthesized into the built environment to achieve successful outcomes. Joe has been a featured speaker at industry events such as Buildex Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, ICSC Riordan School of Retail, the Sleep Conference in Europe, Hotel Association of Canada, Professional gatherings in the Middle East, numerous North American universities

and colleges, NeoCon, IIDEX NeoCon Canada, and he has been published in numerous trade, industry and public magazines and newspapers. Current and recently completed works include the Samsung Solution Center in Washington, Capital One Corporate Office in Toronto, Dentons LLP Vancouver, FMC LLP Vancouver, Vida

Spas, Imperial Oil Calgary campus, Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, the Shangri-la Hotel, Doha and the Kelowna Cardiac Hospital in British Columbia

Joe also strongly believes that we must all pay it forward. He has given time to the design industry; sitting as Chair of the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), President of ARIDO (three terms), President Elect of IFI, and he has also chaired several committees and organizations throughout the years. Joe has been the fortunate winner of numerous design excellence awards and have been recognized for volunteer activities; having received several citations and fellowship honors.

Noam Hazan

Creative Director

SDI Design

Noam is the Creative Director at SDI Design, an award winning, boutique design firm.

Noam received his architectural license in the UK, and after gaining significant experience, established his own boutique architecture and design firm in 2014 before merging his practice with SDI in March 2018. Under Noam’s direction, SDI partook in the interior Design Show, Design TO, and has their projects regularly featured on publications like Office Snapshots, Interior Designers of Canadian, Tech Vibes and Dezeen. SDI has recently been recognized as one of the Most Innovated Workplaces and nominated as a finalist for the Best Workplaces award by Elevate Tech Fest.

In 2015, Noam also founded an acclaimed coworking space in Toronto which has given him a deep knowledge and first-hand experience in the technicalities of running an office as well as building a successful workplace culture. He also has a small startup called investTO, focused on offering investment opportunities to millennials which are generally not open to the public.

State of Office

Development, Construction, and Finance

Ted Willcocks

Ted Willcocks

Global Head of Asset Management, Real Estate

Manulife

Glenn Way

Glenn Way

SVP

GWL Realty Advisors

Jamie Grossman

Jamie Grossman

Managing Principal

Cresa

Corrine Dorazio

Corrine Dorazio

VP, Leasing

Dream Office REIT

Stuart Smith

Stuart Smith

Special Projects Division Business Manager

Turner Construction Company

Beverly Horii
Moderator

Beverly Horii

Managing Director

Interior Architects

Ted Willcocks

Global Head of Asset Management, Real Estate

Manulife

Ted Willcocks leads the development and implementation of the real estate strategy, overseeing portfolio management, asset management and development functions for Manulife’s real estate portfolio in Canada, the United States and Asia.

As a key member of the Manulife/John Hancock real estate leadership team, Ted drives investment performance for the overall portfolio and supports the strategy to expand the external private asset management business. He has an extensive background in real estate asset management and investments and brings over 20 years of industry experience to his current role and currently oversees Manulife’s Canadian Real Estate Funds platform.

Prior to joining Manulife in 2002, Ted held progressively senior positions at Brookfield Properties and CBRE. He is currently a member of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). A former US Executive Committee Board member of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, he is currently an active member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).

Glenn Way

SVP

GWL Realty Advisors

Glenn is responsible for the leadership, performance and strategic direction of GWL Realty Advisors’ commercial assets in Canada. He leads a team of over 400 individuals responsible for an $8B national portfolio of office and industrial assets.

Glenn has over 20 years of real estate industry experience and has held leadership positions in both leasing and asset management at GWL Realty Advisors. Glenn currently is on the University of Guelph Real Estate Program Advisory Board and is a co-founder of Swing for the Cure, a local charitable initiative.

Jamie Grossman

Managing Principal

Cresa

As Managing Principal of the Toronto Cresa office, Jamie has grown the company to become one of Canada’s largest occupier-focused commercial real estate firms. Under Jamie’s leadership, Cresa’s Toronto office has grown significantly in terms of clients, advisors and services, including strategy, transaction management, lease audit, interior design, and project management for office, industrial, medical and retail occupiers.

In addition to providing leadership and strategic direction as a director of Cresa Global, Jamie works alongside his team to service clients, many with whom have been clients for decades. The key to his success has been to understand his client’s objectives and culture, in order to translate space into a strategic asset for business success.

Corrine Dorazio

VP, Leasing

Dream Office REIT

Corrine Dorazio, Vice President, Leasing, Dream Office REIT, has over 15 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry managing office and retail portfolios (for both existing and design build development), acting as ownership and on behalf of multiple ownership partners, being responsible for all aspects of leasing performance.

As the Vice President, Leasing for Dream, Corrine is responsible for the marketing and leasing strategy related to all office and retail properties across the country (over 40 buildings and 4 development projects in the aggregate of 6.5 million sf). Corrine provides management oversight of the leasing team and all lease transactions nationally. In addition to her work at Dream, Corrine is an active participant in the industry with various associations, SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office Realtors), and NAIOP (National Association for Industrial and Office Parks).

Stuart Smith

Special Projects Division Business Manager

Turner Construction Company

Stuart Smith is the General Manager of the Turner Toronto head office. With over 20 years of AEC industry experience, he has worked with numerous project teams, owners, consultants, and clients. Stuart provides executive-level leadership and management on projects of various market segments, including commercial buildings, institutional facilities, data centres and industrial spaces. He is a strong communicator and a problem solver who supervises risk evaluation, contract negotiations and pricing decisions. Stuart’s career with Turner began in 2013 as the Business Development Manager. He became the Special Projects Division Business Manager in 2016 and General Manager in 2019. During this time, he has collaborated with various departments to ensure safety, ethical and compliance requirements are met on every project.

Beverly Horii

Moderator

Interior Architects

Beverly Horii manages IA Interior Architects' Toronto office, leading the effort to expand the firm’s presence in Canada, allowing the firm to better serve new and existing clients. Her 28 years of design leadership, commitment to client service, and focus on client relationships span a range of project types, including technology, civic organizations, educational, corporate, and financial institutions.

Beverly has a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from University of Waterloo. Beverly has directed workplace strategy, design, and change management services for corporations nationally, including those for Scotiabank, CIBC, Autodesk, and Torys. She has also studied and practices Feng Shui to augment the application of wellness to the workplace.

Summary

  1. Toronto currently has one of the strongest office markets in North America, with availability at a record low of 1.9% and unemployment at an all time low. What economic factors are helping to drive this office boom and is it sustainable?

  2. According to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, rental rates for Class A office went up by 16.7% in 2018. Will such high rental rates force smaller companies to look outside of Toronto for rent relief?

  3. With almost 500,000 sf of office space coming online in 2019, you would think rents would dip but, almost all of the new office space is pre-leased. When will tenants finally see some rent relief?

  4. Many attribute Toronto’s office boom to the influx of tech companies. What amenities do these tech companies actually care about?

  5. What new office trends and designs are here to stay, and which will be forgotten about by next year?

1. Toronto currently has one of the strongest office markets in North America, with availability at a record low of 1.9% and unemployment at an all time low.  What economic factors are helping to drive this office boom and is it sustainable?

2. According to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, rental rates for Class A office went up by 16.7% in 2018. Will such high rental rates force smaller companies to look outside of Toronto for rent relief? 

3. With almost 500,000 sf of office space coming online in 2019, you would think rents would dip but, almost all of the new office space is pre-leased. When will tenants finally see some rent relief?

4. Many attribute Toronto’s office boom to the influx of tech companies. What amenities do these tech companies actually care about?

5. What new office trends and designs are here to stay, and which will be forgotten about by next year?  

Venue

Omni King Edwards Hotel
37 King Street East
Toronto, Ontario M5C 1E9

Ballroom: Vanity Ballroom


Parking fees: $48 plus HST

Agenda

Time Activity
11:30 AM
12:30 PM
Coffee, Breakfast, & Networking!
12:30 PM
1:15 PM
Creative Office

Creating Productive Environments for the Modern Tenant

1:15 PM
2:00 PM
State of Office

Development, Construction, and Finance

2:00 PM
2:30 PM
More Networking!