What are the SPRE 101 Videos?
As important social infrastructure like affordable housing and community spaces become increasingly difficult to build across Canada, we need greater capacity in the sector to make more social purpose real estate projects possible. Our SPRE 101 Video series seeks to address the reality that mission-driven organizations often lack the expertise and experience necessary to expand their services through development. By explaining key SPRE concepts – including concept visioning, planning approvals, business and financial modelling, and site acquisition – this series provides organizations with the introductory knowledge needed to approach a new SPRE project.
Whether you’re new to Social Purpose Real Estate, or someone already familiar with the topic and hoping to learn more, our new SPRE 101 video series is for you. The first video in this series defines the term social purpose real estate, and how all three sectors (public, private, nonprofit) approach it on their own and come together to make creative mixed-use projects possible.
The second video in the SPRE 101 series, Planning for Success: Municipal and Community Approval, introduces the urban planning processes undertaken to get a project to the construction phase, so you can better understand the task at hand. Urban planning is steeped in rules and restrictions that make what can be built across our cities highly regulated, but building your project is possible!
One of the most challenging parts of Social Purpose Real Estate is acquiring space, land, or a building to develop your mission-driven project. In the third SPRE 101 video, Routes to Acquisition: Securing the Right Location, we review the key variables you’ll want to keep in mind when looking to acquire space and examine methods used by leaders in the sector.
In the fourth SPRE 101 video, Vision to Reality: Concept Development & Design, we explore the importance of developing a strong concept to set the foundation for a social purpose real estate project. Having a refined and well-articulated concept is valuable when reaching out to consultants and designers who will support your project through pre-development and into the construction phase. It will also be a critical tool to use in your fundraising efforts.
SPRE projects require a business model that ensures the project is financially viable. In the fifth SPRE 101 video, Business Modeling: Understanding Costs and Revenues, we summarize how to start determining whether there is enough revenue generated by a new project to pay for the construction costs and cover the long-term operations and maintenance of the facility. What are the main inputs and how can a project’s concept and layout impact the cost?
The sixth and final SPRE 101 video, Funding Your Project: Accessing and Leveraging Financing, covers the various funding sources accessible to SPRE projects generally as well as options you may pursue to close your funding gap.
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