THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
Developing Leaders

DL Program Overview
The Chapter’s Developing Leaders (DL) program is a powerful career booster for commercial real estate professionals 35 years of age or younger. For an extremely low membership fee, NAIOP connects you in business and learning environments with industry colleagues in the Greater Toronto Area and with over 20,000 NAIOP members across North America!
Developing Leader members enjoy the full membership experience, plus DL-specific programs. Many of the events and programs listed here are FREE! Follow our Events section and Education section for details.
• NAIOP Breakfast Market Presentations
• DL-specific Lunch & Learn Events
• Opportunity to network in business and social environments with senior and intermediate level professionals from all sectors of the industry
• Commercial Real Estate Studies of Toronto (CREST) certificate program
• Leadership Workshops Series professional development
• Opportunity to participate in the annual Mentorship Program
• Opportunity to participate in the annual Development Challenge
• A chance to be recognized at the REX Gala Awards with the Developing Leader Award
• Opportunity to be recognized in the DL Newsletter for your accomplishments (see the latest issue in this website section)
If you are interested in finding out more about Developing Leaders or becoming more involved, please contact anyone on the NAIOP Greater Toronto Chapter Developing Leaders Committee (below on this page), or an administration office.
NAIOP Corporate Membership Team
Greater Toronto Chapter Staff

Development Challenge Awards, Oct. 29
Congratulations to First Place team, Revival Developments! Read the full article to see the judging results from the virtual awards event held October 29th, 2020. During the summer, professionals 35 years of age or under from all industry disciplines, as well as university students, formed small diverse teams to create comprehensive proposals for a future Downtown Toronto development. Mimicking a real-life experience, the teams worked with the constraints inherent with the subject development site.
Congratulations to all three Finalist Teams that competed during the live judging event on October 29th. It was an outstanding display of CRE skills and creativity by talented young professionals and the judges had a difficult time selecting a winning development proposal! View the Virtual Event Recording. Also, congrats and thank you to the other nine teams that competed during the summer though they did not become finalists.
FIRST PLACE: Revival Developments
(Clockwise in the photo above left) Alejandro Fuentes, Crown Property Management; Jaron Kaller, Dream Unlimited; Justin Leon, Montez Corporation; Matt Urbain, Crown Property Management; Camille Maranan, Rotman School of Business; Dale Nerland, Dream Unlimited
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
SECOND PLACE: DSMF Developments
James Daniel, RioCan REIT; Karina Semochkina, Ernst & Young; Nebojsa Milutinovic, Turner Fleischer Architects; Calvin Fung, Turner Fleischer Architects
THIRD PLACE: JACRST Developments
Jessica Armeni, Canderel; Steven Treger, Canderel; Adam Gold, Canderel; Caterina Cuda, Turner Fleischer Architects; Regina Li, B&H Architects; Tausha Adair, Walker Nott Dragicevic Associates Ltd.
Thank you, Awards Event Judges
The judges scored the finalist teams’ proposals based on objective criteria provided at the outset of the competition plus the depth and quality of the presentations.
(Left to right) Kathy Black, Vice President, Development, Fiera Real Estate; Lindsay Brand, Chief Investment Officer, Dream Unlimited; Andrew Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer, CentreCourt Developments; Jared Menkes, EVP, High-Rise Residential Division, Menkes Developments Ltd.
Competition Subject Site: The Esplanade Assembly
Over the course of seven acquisitions, owner Allied REIT has assembled a contiguous parcel of land of nearly 2 acres. Allied REIT partnered with NAIOP Greater Toronto to offer 35-49 Front Street East and 54-70 The Esplanade, Toronto as the subject site for the 2020 Development Challenge. The Esplanade Assembly represents an irreplaceable development site of scale and character in the heart of downtown.
NAIOP Greater Toronto believes this annual Development Challenge promotes and encourages its overall mission established by and for the members. The competition allows rising stars in commercial real estate to demonstrate their talents and skills to senior industry members through written and live oral presentations. By expanding Developing Leaders’ and students’ skill sets and networks we help ensure a strong future for our industry.

Development Challenge past winners
The annual competition allows rising stars in commercial real estate to demonstrate their talents and skills to senior industry members through written and live oral presentations. By expanding Developing Leaders’ and students’ skill sets and networks we help ensure a strong future for our industry. Read this full article to view past first place teams and their award-winning development proposals.
2019 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM: Nikhil Paul, Teva Pharmaceuticals; Soroush Asgarinia, Smith and Anderson; Victor Chan, BGIS; Tony Ju, City of Toronto; Nedal Machou, Hariri Pontarini Architects; Jinny Tran, Oxford Properties Group
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
2018 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM: Umehani Kanga, Schulich / York U; Jordan Trinder, Schulich / York U; Ehsan Naimpour, Architecture / U of T; Alannah Bird, Schulich / York U; Pedram Karimi, Architecture / U of T and Bao Nguyen, Schulich / York U.
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
2017 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM: Tim Zhu, HH Angus; Chong Zhai, BlackRock; Jimmy Wong, 20 Vic Management; Stefano Possamai, HH Angus; Dhruv Soni, HH Angus and Nikhil Dewan, HH Angus
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
2016 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM: Lisa Wu, GWL Realty Advisors; Catherine Truong, GWL Realty Advisors; Jason Ko, Avison Young; Benjamin Lemire, GWL Realty Advisors; Queenie Wong, Zeidler Partnership Architects; Daniel Fama, GWL Realty Advisors
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
2015 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM: Steven Dejonckheere, Dream Unlimited; Justin Robitaille, Dream Unlimited; Mathieu Fleury, Dream Unlimited; Anh Minh Ngo, Dream Unlimited; and Robert Fiorino (B+H Architects)
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
2014 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM from Cushman & Wakefield: Katya Shabanova, Maria Tran, Marc Delena, Jaimy Hunt and Brandon Aitken
Click the image to view the Winning Team’s Presentation
2013 Development Challenge Winners
TEAM: Kelly Armstrong; Michael Hainey, Brookfield Financial; Scott Jackson; Andrew Wright, CBRE Limited and Julius Tang, Turnkii

Mentorship – smoothing the path to knowledge
NAIOP Greater Toronto Chapter’s annual Mentorship Program provides Developing Leader members (mentees) with valuable opportunities for personal and professional growth through one-on-one topic-based learning sessions with leaders in the commercial real estate community. Mentees may select and meet with multiple mentors from a wide variety of CRE sectors to broadening their industry knowledge and connections.
Student mentoring
In our Student Connections program, Developing Leader members of NAIOP mentor university students in the Greater Toronto Area. The DL mentors welcome this opportunity to share their knowledge with students who are pursuing careers in commercial real estate. The students will benefit greatly from the experience and insights offered by the mentors. View the website to read more.

Follow DLs’ moves and accomplishments
Watch this section and see the full article as we update it regularly with recent news from NAIOP Greater Toronto Chapter Developing Leaders. Follow the accomplishments and career paths of young leaders in the GTA commercial real estate industry: moves, promotions, deal making and more. Membership with NAIOP helps position Developing Leaders for exciting achievements. NAIOP DL members please submit your good news at any time to the Editor, Megan Pfrimmer, megan@slateam.com (include a portrait photo).
DLs ON THE MOVE
Amy McLandress was promoted to Associate Director, Urban Properties Investments at KingSett Capital.
Mahtab Pezhman was promoted to Project Manager at Harhay Developments.
Ailbhe Tobin was promoted to Associate, Asset Management at Slate Asset Management L.P.
Patrick Sadler was promoted to Associate, Asset Management at Slate Asset Management L.P.
Zohaib Rafi was promoted to Director, Asset Management at Slate Asset Management L.P.
Hannah Baillie joined Slate Asset Management L.P. as Analyst, Asset Management.
Monica Kazmierczak joined Slate Asset Management L.P. as Associate, Asset Management.
DEAL SPOTLIGHT
In this section, the NAIOP Developing Leaders Committee features a recent significant real estate deal in which NAIOP Developing Leaders have had the opportunity to contribute.
This quarter, Northview Apartment REIT announced that it’s unitholders have approved the proposed plan of arrangement pursuant to which Northview will be acquired by affiliates of Starlight Group and KingSett Capital. NAIOP DLs contributed to the deal: Federico Vaccaro and Gabriel Weitz at Starlight Group and Michael Lee at KingSett Capital.
OTHER DL DEALMAKERS
Joel Goulding of Cushman & Wakefield recently sold 340 Gerrard Street, a 12,500 square foot brick and beam office property in Cabbagetown to a non-profit end user for $5.75MM and 57 Sylvan Avenue, an education / daycare property in Dufferin Grove to a Montessori school for $4.5MM.
Tim Kennedy of Lowland Properties Group Inc. recently closed on two deals in the Waterloo region, comprised of the acquisition of 607 Kumpf Drive, a 114,000 SF single-tenant industrial building and 151 Frederick Street, a 25,000 SF office building on 0.52 acres.
REAL ESTATE EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENTS, OCTOBER 1, 2020
NAIOP Greater Toronto’s Developing Leader REX Award is given annually to one or more young professionals 35 years of age or under who have distinguished themselves in their professions and show great promise as future industry leaders. Congratulations to the 2020 Developing Leader Award recipients, left to right below. More about the REX Awards
Katie Fong, Vice President, Asset Management, Slate; Aleks Karamarkovic, Vice President, Corporate Development, Graywood Developments; Lynton Lewis, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP)

An interview with Mitch Gillin
January 2021 – In this issue of the NAIOP DL Newsletter, Shubham Bansal from the NAIOP Student Mentorship Program sat down with Mitch Gillin, Vice President, Asset Management at Hullmark to discuss his experiences in the real estate industry, trends coming out of COVID-19, his advice for those entering the industry in the current environment and many other exciting topics …
About the Interviewer:
Shubham Bansal is a 4th year HBA student at Ivey Business School, who immigrated to Canada in 2017 to pursue his undergraduate studies. He has completed several work terms in real estate investments and property management including at Sunray Group and Campus Living Centres and aspires to pursue a full-time career in this industry after graduation.
How have you been spending your downtime during lockdown?
Trying to stay active, we are fortunate to have a gym in our office and prior to COVID we did a boot camp every Friday. Through COVID, I rented a spin bike from Ride Cycle Club, a tenant in our portfolio and have participated in the online classes. Other than that, I have taken on some home improvement projects and finally, after a long week, it’s nice to unwind with a bit of red wine!
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What did the Hullmark holiday party look like this year?
We did a virtual escape room through Casa Loma. It had several different puzzles, and we broke out into teams to solve them. Though my team didn’t win, it was a fun digital event that brought everyone together.
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What are you most looking forward to in 2021?
On the personal side, my wife is pregnant with our first child and due in February. This has also driven some of the home improvement projects in terms of getting things ready for the new member of the family.
On the professional side and maybe also personally, I think there is going to be a lot of opportunities created due to the rapid change we have been experiencing over the last nine months or so. It could be new trends in real estate, technology, or even just in the way we live our day to day lives.
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Can you tell us about what it was like starting your real estate career in 2009, at the tail end of the global financial crisis? What drew you to real estate?
I started in 2009 in the Commercial Real Estate Credit Group at TD Bank, where we did construction and development loans for clients across the GTA. Being Canadian-focused, we were very fortunate because Canada held up well compared to the US. When I started at the tail end of the crisis, there was a heightened focus on risk. It was really relationship-focused lending, the bank wasn’t necessarily looking to take on many new clients. The longstanding nature of those relationships stuck with me throughout my career and is one of the most important of lessons I learned from being in that business. What followed though was a big bull run in the Toronto real estate market and what I think is important to keep in mind during these challenging times, is that they are typically followed by a period of opportunity and growth. When times are good, you think they’ll never end and when times are bad you think they’ll never end, but they do.
Answering your second part of the question, my grandfather was an architect, and my father was in the real estate business. So, a lot of it was probably osmosis! But during my time at school, I was drawn to geography classes and finance classes, which might be a weird mix, but the physicality of geography and theoretical aspect of finance stuck with me. And as I was growing up, I really enjoyed traveling and exploring new places. Thus, real estate seemed like an ideal marriage of my interests, and a good excuse to pursue what I am passionate about.
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You have spent almost equal time in banking and development. What was it like transitioning from service provider to principal? Can you tell us more about your current role?
In banking, I started in commercial lending for construction and development, as I mentioned, and from there, I transitioned to TD Securities Investment Banking doing a combination of investment banking and property brokerage.
On the IB team, I was involved in a wide variety of projects, from equity issuances for an apartment investor in Ireland to single family rentals as an asset class. What I took away was the ability to quickly learn, gain a high degree of familiarity and understand the key trends in a new market.
That said, when I joined Hullmark, it became apparent to me that I lacked an in-depth understanding of real estate from a functional basis, and that’s what I had the opportunity to learn and develop here.
Another key difference is that on the banking-side, you are in the advice business, but you don’t have to do it, but on the principal side, you have to do it. Making those large-scale investment decisions requires conviction and an implementation plan to execute it and I didn’t fully appreciate the difference.
At Hullmark, I oversee the asset management functions for our business which includes leasing, capital investments, financing, and as well as something we call placemaking. Placemaking is how we activate the spaces beyond the primary tenancies and create a program in the clusters we invest in, which is a part of Hullmark’s investment strategy. It involves investing in communities to build a scale that cannot be achieved by investing in individual properties.
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In just over 5 years, you have gone from Associate to Vice President, Asset Management at Hullmark. What are some of the key factors that have contributed to your success? Would you have done anything differently looking back?
I believe it is extremely important to have a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, and a desire to understand the business and how it works. Something that was irreplaceable in my personal growth was the mentorship I received at both firms. I have also been fortunate at Hullmark, as the business has grown quite rapidly in the last five years, which has allowed me to gain a variety and depth of experience.
Looking back in time, I think I would have taken a bit more risk. When you’re young in your career, there are certain opportunities where you could put even a small amount of money at risk in an idea where you have some conviction. Over the long run, those kinds of small investments, whether in real estate or otherwise, could pay off in material ways. So just moving up that risk spectrum is something that looking back I would have done.
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What is the most interesting project that you have worked on?
In 2015, Hullmark entered into a joint venture with OCAD University to purchase 230 & 240 Richmond Street West, a 120,000 sq.ft. office building downtown, and we secured WeWork as the joint anchor tenant. It was a fantastic brick and beam building with great physical attributes that we took fully back to base and rebuilt into a modern office. Despite various structural challenges, the final product was very impressive and was the first WeWork that opened in Toronto.
Recently, OCAD expressed a willingness to dispose of its 50% interest, which was successfully marketed with RBC Capital Markets and brought in BentallGreenOak. So over the past five years, the space has been optimized for OCAD as a user, been activated by a new economy tenant in WeWork, has had two different institutional partners. It really has been through quite an extensive five-year life cycle.
In addition to that, we recently completed 80 Atlantic, a 100,000 sq. ft. heavy timber office development in Liberty Village. We are thrilled to welcome Universal Music, Spaces, and Jackman as tenants to our building. For me, this project defines everything I love about real estate. It’s got architecture, amazing users, great physical characteristics, and it is in a unique area of the city that’s undergoing a lot of change.
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What do you think are some of the long-term implications of the pandemic on Hullmark’s strategy?
It’s a question mark for sure but some of the things I’m thinking about on the office side are whether there will be changes in the type of services occupiers are looking for, particularly a desire for shorter term, more flexible space to complement their traditional office footprint. I am not sure if people will be back in offices full-time like pre-COVID but I am very confident that they will want to go into spaces other than their homes, and that well-located spaces are going to outperform in the long run. At Hullmark, we have been a big proponent of co-working and flex spaces; we have WeWork, Spaces, Regus, and IQ Office Suites as tenants and I’m optimistic about the value that business model will provide to office users in addition to the traditional office space occupiers.
I remain confident in our thesis to invest in communities where people live, work, and play, like King West. They have been resilient to the impacts throughout the pandemic, primarily because people are there 24/7.
Lastly, we’re seeing an evolution in the food space and last mile with ghost kitchens, where one can distribute products without a traditional storefront. That’s definitely coming to the urban environment and it will be interesting to see the logistical impacts on our portfolio.
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Do you have any advice for new graduates looking for a position in the current environment?
You need to stick with the industry or job that interests you and continue to connect with people outside of the interview process. Make meaningful connections to learn more and assess where you want to be.
Be patient, you’re not always going to get it on the first shot. When you stick with something, you’re going to see results and you’ll learn a lot about yourself through putting yourself out there.
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The job market is extremely competitive, now more than ever. In your opinion, how much will the first job out of school define one’s career?
I don’t think that the first job is a make-or-break moment. I think what makes or breaks someone’s career is that individual’s attitude and their relationship with peers in the industry. It is very important to be open to different experiences and if you find a role with good people, that can have a big impact. Ultimately, it depends on the individual and how they are going to use that opportunity.

Developing Leaders Committee
Click full article to get to know NAIOP Greater Toronto’s hard-working Developing Leaders planning committee. This dedicated group of volunteers endeavours to bring DL members an exciting variety of Lunch & Learn and networking events. We encourage you to regularly visit the Events Section of this website to stay informed about learning and networking opportunities.
Committee
Emily Long (Chair), Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd
Duncan Smith (Vice Chair), The Daniels Corporation
Georgia Brook, Slate Asset Management
Andrew Dawdy, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd
Marc Delena, JLL
Monica Di Zio, Crown Property Management
Julianne Gu, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Monica Kazmierczak, Slate Asset Management
Tim Kennedy, Lowland Properties Group Inc.
Kai Tai Li, CBRE
Sean Menkes, Menkes Developments
Megan Pfrimmer, Slate Asset Management
Duncan Smith, The Daniels Corporation
SUB-COMMITTEE: DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE PROGRAM
Kai Tai Li (Co-Chair), CBRE
Monica Kazmierczak (Co-Chair), Slate Asset Management
Georgia Brook, Slate Asset Management
Marc Delena, JLL
SUB-COMMITTEE: MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Monica Di Zio (Chair), Crown Property Management
Georgia Brook, Slate Asset Management
Julianne Gu, McCarthy Tétrault
Sean Menkes, Menkes Developments
Duncan Smith, The Daniels Corporation
SUB-COMMITTEE: STUDENT CONNECTIONS MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Sean Menkes (Chair), Menkes Developments
Andrew Dawdy, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd
Julianne Gu, McCarthy Tétrault
SUB-COMMITTEE: DL NEWS
Marc Delena (Chair), JLL
Monica Kazmierczak, Slate Asset Management
Emily Long, Crestpoint Real Estate Investment Ltd
Megan Pfrimmer, Slate Asset Management
SUB-COMMITTEE: DL SOCIAL EVENTS
Duncan Smith (Chair), The Daniels Corporation
Marc Delena, JLL
Kai Tai Li, CBRE
Megan Pfrimmer, Slate Asset Management
SUB-COMMITTEE: LUNCH & LEARNS
Andrew Dawdy (Chair), Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd
Georgia Brook, Slate Asset Management
Tim Kennedy, Lowland Properties Group Inc.