INSIGHTS + PERSPECTIVES

BEFORE WE CALL GOVERNMENT PLAN TO BUY EMPTY CONDOS A BAILOUT, LET'S LOOK AT THE MATH

Ottawa and B.C. want to buy 2,200 empty condos and turn them into rent-to-own homes. It could be a bailout — or one of the biggest affordable-housing moves in our history. We won’t know until we see the details.

THE POWER OF WORKING ACROSS THE TABLE

Why projects take longer, cost more, and lose trust—and what it takes to change that.

“There’s a fundamental ‘working across the table’ that needs to happen at the policy and approval levels to ensure development respects the public interest while still enabling projects to move forward.”
—Theo Finseth

THE SIGNAL ABOVE THE NOISE

Introducing Placemark Newsroom: Canada’s housing crisis compels us to join an urgent conversation. The gap between what’s being built and what Canadians can afford continues to grow. It’s time for the private and public sectors to rise above the noise and work together on a better future.

BALANCING THE WOBBLY STOOL: LIVING SUSTAINABLY WITHIN OUR MEANS

Preparing for the launch of the Placemark Newsroom has stimulated a number of thoughtful conversations around the office. You can read the results in pieces such as the Signal Above the Noise and Delivering on the Possibilities of Place. Then there’s this honest re- appraisal of a word we’ve all come to wonder about, one that remains critical to our practice. These are notes from the conversation that took place with CEO Paul Fenske and Partner Theo Finseth.

THE POSSIBILITIES OF PLACE

How Placemark moves beyond typical requirements to focus on how a site can be transformed into a place of experience, remarkable and memorable.