Social Purpose Real Estate Webinars
In addition to our Training Modules, Organizational Readiness and Accelerator programs, our team is pleased to present an ongoing series of webinars on social purpose real estate topics that complement our program curriculum.
Our ongoing webinar series includes conversations with leaders from the sector, on various common challenges and opportunities prevalent in Social Purpose Real Estate work. What is Social Purpose Real Estate? How can Boards develop the capacity to take on a project? How can organizations acquire space? How can meaningful partnerships lead to greater success with this work? Check out some of our recordings below, and sign up for our newsletter for update on upcoming webinars.
CP Planning Roadmap Connect Webinar Series
This ten-part free webinar series will be hosted by the Infrastructure Institute as part of the Roadmap Connect program. CP Planning and Infrastructure Institute have released the first instalment in fall 2023. These webinars are designed to enhance the knowledge and capacity of non-profit organizations, empowering them to become partner-ready to pursue real estate development projects. The series will focus on preparing non-profit boards to plan, propose, and partner to build or operate housing , and provide an overview of real estate financial literacy.
Download our PDF of key takeaways and resources here.
Moderator:
Cheryll Case, Founder and Executive Director of CP Planning
Panelists:
Joanna Rodrigues, Director – Leadership Programs, CivicAction
Diane Walter, Executive Director, Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services
In this webinar, speakers will discuss how to build board buy-in for affordable housing development. This includes ensuring board support can be sustained throughout the lifecycle of ideation to construction, and that the development is clearly connected with meeting the needs of their community members. This session will explore how boards can develop and sustain this buy-in and, and how to ensure that staff on the ground and community members are appropriately engaged. Attendees will gain insight from non-profit leaders and experts on managing diverse boards to better build board capacity and collaboration.
About Roadmap Connect
The Roadmap Connect program builds on the Infrastructure Institute’s Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) mentorship programs and CP Planning’s Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism to provide targeted support to facilitate non-profits led by racialized people to successfully pursue and implement affordable housing development programs.
Moderator:
Cheryll Case, Founder and Executive Director of CP Planning
Guest:
Tristina Sinopoli, Principal Real Estate Development, SHS ConsultingTn
This session will identify how to engage with organizations and systems that can provide funding for pre-development phase (i.e. the planning phase) and implementation phases of development, review the costs associated to each phase of development, and the art of ‘capital stacking’, proformas, and financial planning in pursuit of developing affordable housing with sustainable maintenance and operations. Attendees will gain a better understanding of key places and basic financing and funding needs for affordable housing in Ontario today.
About Roadmap Connect
The Roadmap Connect program builds on the Infrastructure Institute’s Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) mentorship programs and CP Planning’s Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism to provide targeted support to facilitate non-profits led by racialized people to successfully pursue and implement affordable housing development programs.
Moderator:
Cheryll Case, Founder and Executive Director of CP Planning
Guest:
Salima Rawji, CEO and President, York University Development Corporation (YUDC)n
Michael Brooks, CEO, REALPAC
It’s crucial to get more real estate experts involved in serving on boards of organizations led by racialized leaders. This increased participation significantly strengthens their efforts in championing affordable housing projects. Participants will gain insights into the expectations and benefits of the board role. They will also learn how to leverage their board involvement and related activities to contribute to their personal growth and enhance their career trajectory.
About Roadmap Connect
The Roadmap Connect program builds on the Infrastructure Institute’s Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) mentorship programs and CP Planning’s Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism to provide targeted support to facilitate non-profits led by racialized people to successfully pursue and implement affordable housing development programs.
Moderator:
Alix Aylen, Program Lead, Infrastructure Institute
Guest Speakers:
Tim Welch (Tim Welch Consulting), Tristina Sinopoli (SHS Consulting), Greg Gilbert (Fitzrovia)
It’s crucial to get more real estate experts involved in serving on boards of organizations led by racialized leaders. This increased participation significantly strengthens their efforts in championing affordable housing projects. Participants will gain insights into the expectations and benefits of the board role. They will also learn how to leverage their board involvement and related activities to contribute to their personal growth and enhance their career trajectory.
About Roadmap Connect
The Roadmap Connect program builds on the Infrastructure Institute’s Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) mentorship programs and CP Planning’s Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism to provide targeted support to facilitate non-profits led by racialized people to successfully pursue and implement affordable housing development programs.
Moderator:
Alix Aylen, Program Lead, Infrastructure Institute
Guest Speakers:
Amina Yassin-Omar (Learning Enrichment Foundation) & Mwarigha (Woodgreen)
In this webinar, speakers introduced a discussion on how to recruit, retain and build capacity on a board to take on ambitious long-term projects. The discussion provided an overview of how to build capacity as a nonprofit organization doing this work, when partnerships might be necessary, and how to navigate ongoing conversations about developing and maintaining capacity in the development of affordable housing.
About Roadmap Connect
The Roadmap Connect program builds on the Infrastructure Institute’s Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) mentorship programs and CP Planning’s Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism to provide targeted support to facilitate non-profits led by racialized people to successfully pursue and implement affordable housing development programs.
Moderator:
Alix Aylen, Program Lead, Infrastructure Institute
What are the creative finance tools available within racialized communities to address the financial gaps to fund all phases of new affordable housing supply? How do these tools operate, what resources do they provide, and how can they be accessed?
This session aims to shed light on innovative financial approaches that non-profits can employ to bolster project viability, strategize more effectively for capital campaigns, and generate revenue while fostering social impact, ensuring long-term project and organizational sustainability. Participants will learn about the above programs and how they can leverage these resources to fuel both their capital campaigns and mission. They will also explore what are the elements of a capital fundraising campaign and how they can leverage different tools for project viability and long-term organizational financial sustainability.
About Roadmap Connect
The Roadmap Connect program builds on the Infrastructure Institute’s Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) mentorship programs and CP Planning’s Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism to provide targeted support to facilitate non-profits led by racialized people to successfully pursue and implement affordable housing development programs.
2023 SPRE Spring Webinar Series
This four-part webinar series in partnership with United Way Greater Toronto features conversations with leaders from the sector, on various common challenges and opportunities prevalent in Social Purpose Real Estate work. United Way partners with the Infrastructure Institute at the School of Cities (UofT) to support an array of activities to build opportunities for SPRE.
Download our PDF of key takeaways and resources here.
Panelists: Kendra Fry, Yinnon Geva, Erika Hennebury
SPRE de-centers profit as the primary driver of a development project
Our panelists agree that while capital helps to achieve the social mission of SPRE projects, these projects are unique because profit does not function as their main purpose. SPRE creatively reframes what real estate development can look like by “fulfilling a social mission alongside profit,” in Kendra’s
words. For Erika, emphasizing culture in our planning processes has the potential to facilitate development without displacement. Grassroots, community-led spaces hold positive impacts on local economic development but can also create and maintain a sense of place and community cohesion,
which is often lost through traditional real estate development.
A lack of funding sources and financial experience are the biggest obstacles to developing SPRE
When it comes to creating a pro forma or accessing funding sources, many non-profits simply do not know where to begin. Network building, mentorship, and training programs can all help in boosting the social sector’s capacity to build SPRE. However, even as the social sector gains knowledge of financing,
there is simply not enough funding available for SPRE projects. Innovation is required to develop new methods of funding SPRE and improve the institutional knowledge of builders outside of the private sector. Perhaps most importantly, Yinnon explains that greater ambition at the political level is
necessary to streamline knowledge, quicken the pace of SPRE projects and, ultimately, provide more financial resources to socially driven projects.
Partnerships are both a challenge and an opportunity
SPRE “exists at the intersection of very different actors and mindsets,” according to Yinnon. Where the worlds of social development and real estate speak entirely different languages, SPRE helps to create a shared language. Our panelists emphasized pros and cons of partnering with both the private sector,
which brings capital and development capacity, as well as the non-profit sector, where stronger value alignment may lead to more sustainable long-term partnerships. In either case, Kendra states that SPRE leads to “the encountering of the other” by encouraging people to interact through co-creation. While a sense of inclusion can be found through co-design, writing formal agreements around governance structures, maintenance, and the shared use of the space is also integral to ensuring sustained, mutually beneficial partnerships.
Resources:
ArtsBuild Ontario
Akin Collective
Urban Arts Toronto
Community & Cultural Spaces Trust
Toronto Arts Council
221A Vancouver
Clarks Centre for the Arts Scarborough
Case studies
Trinity Centres Foundation
Ontario Nonprofit Housing Association
Panelists: Tracy McManus, Joanna Rodrigues, Manny Wong
Know where the finish line is, but create shorter-term milestones along the way
One of the most common challenges to developing a new SPRE project is making the decision to take on a new risk of this magnitude. Panelists shared that it has been helpful to think of a project like a marathon – it’s a long process, with a clear finish line, but there are markers along the way. It’s important to play out different scenarios early on in the process, and celebrate the progress made along the way, before shovels are in the ground.
Alignment isn’t a one-time thing – it needs to happen at every stage
Manny and Tracy from the Christie Refugee Welcome Centre share that alignment isn’t a one-time goal, rather, it needs to be an ongoing conversation. In order to be successful with addressing and mitigating risk, difficult conversations need to be had at every phase of the process, and alignment needs to be achieved at each milestone. This will support organizations with staying on track with a project and feeling more confident with their ability to make decisions regarding taking on risk and determining capacity to move forward at each phase. Another component of this is having well-defined roles associated with a project, which will support more efficient, effective and transparent decision-making processes.
Direct experience, board diversity and a strong risk management process are key to success
Joanna notes that it’s common for boards to build capacity by focusing on recruiting new members with accounting and legal expertise. While important, Joanna notes that designations alone don’t translate into understanding the specifics of risk management associated with a specific project. Additionally, it’s important to build the capacity of a board by building on the diversity of experiences – of individual board members as well as their professional experiences. It has been found that more diverse boards make better decisions, a finding that is foundational to the development of CivicAction’s BoardShift program.
In addition, it’s imperative that an organization considering a major project has a strong risk management process and plan in place. This will help your organization to identify what the appetite and capacity for risk might be at each phase. Even without a major project, it’s important to revisit this plan yearly, and every time a new major project is taken on. Boards with a “growth mind-set” will understand that risks provide opportunity, but you’ll need to continue to review and evaluate the risks as they progress.
Resources:
EPIC Leadership
BoardShift
Panelists: Nathan Domenie, Richard Marsella, Nat Pace
Be vocal about your space needs. Transparent dialogue is essential
The acquisition and development of new and existing community spaces needs to happen in collaboration with community, respecting the complexities of community interests. No two projects will be the same, whether space is being acquired through a partnership with a municipality, private donor, or in collaboration with a diverse group of community members, transparent dialogue regarding the intended uses of the site is needed to secure a space that will meet its social purpose. Additionally, having a well-articulated vision for a new space will strengthen calls for support in acquiring a space – whether that be soliciting donations, discussing options with a local Councilor, or in collaboration with a private developer.
Major donations and acquisitions are currently making sustainable access to community space possible, but there are barriers and challenges
Whether it’s major donations of capital or land, all panelists in this discussion shared the significance that major donations have had on the development of sustainable community land trusts and community spaces across Canada. For the Community Music Schools of Toronto, a recent major donation by an anonymous donor has enabled them to start planning a new development project and leverage this support to attract new investors and fill the funding gap. For community land trusts, the transfer of land from either public or private donors has supported the development of many of the land trusts that have been successful in acquiring, maintaining and operating projects. Both Richard and Nat express that community foundations and major philanthropic donations are currently the force behind the acquisition of space for community ownership & use.
Collaboration and resource-sharing is needed
New Social Purpose Real Estate projects require major resources, internal capacity and commitment from all members of an organization. There are advantages for organizations that are able to acquire and develop a space intended for their sole use, however, this level of capacity and access to resources is unachievable for many organizations. In addition to increasing resources and capital to acquire a space of their own, increasing opportunities for collaboration and resource-sharing amongst organizations has the potential to make a significant impact in creating greater access to space for social purpose. Nathan shared that this is an approach currently being explored by the City of Calgary, serving as the facilitator – and Nat shared that this would be of benefit for community land trusts as well.
Resources:
Article: Analysing MURA
Upper Hammonds Community Land Trust
Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts – Newsletter
Community & Cultural Spaces Trust
Panelists: Dean Fortin, Bob Goulais, Matti Siemiatycki
The collaborative advantage achieved through partnerships will require each partner to sacrifice some of their individual goals
By working together, ideally each partner in a SPRE project can achieve more than they could alone, with both the financial viability and overall social benefit of a project being optimized through their collaboration. However, this collaborative advantage also requires tradeoffs on behalf of the partners to achieve a desired shared outcome. Often people are very aware of their own dreams and quick to express them, but Dean notes that the key to success is in also recognizing what potential partners want from the relationship and seeing how your organization’s goals can be reshaped to accommodate this.
Partnerships with First Nations as constitutional rights-holders
Bob reminds us that every part of Canada is traditional territory and while title to all land here has been historically held by Indigenous people, these communities only have access to just 2% of this land today. As such, First Nations must be regarded as constitutional rights holders and not grouped into the category of a general community stakeholder. The duty to consult with First Nations should be treated as a bare minimum by those seeking to build partnerships with Indigenous people, with efforts that extend far beyond what is constitutionally mandated. For SPRE to align with reconciliation, partnerships must seek to return equity back to Indigenous people, treating every partnership as unique.
While formal contracts and agreements are essential, don’t forget the value of informal idea sharing and relationship building
Understanding partner compatibility, building trust, and establishing functional methods for working together takes time and SPRE projects last for decades, so you are not only building a project but a relationship. For Matti, your arrangements should ultimately be strong enough so that conflict can be resolved through conversation rather than litigation, but if someone is regularly pointing to a contract this could be a sign that a partnership is fragile. A non-contractual, informal agreement such as a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) can be a healthy way to get used to working together and demonstrate value-alignment prior to writing a comprehensive contract.
Resources:
Anishnawbe Health Toronto (aht.ca)
New Victoria Fire Department Headquarters Officially Opens | Victoria
Home – Na Me Res
2022 Webinars
Social purpose real estate training modules.
Guest Speaker: Kira Gerwing, Sacha Investments Ltd.
Organizations that wish to pursue a real estate project must self-evaluate and consider if they are prepared to move forward. How does the vision for the real estate project advance the mission for their organization? This session will focus on evaluating the existing capacities within the organization, deep dive into the financial state, review decision-making and communication processes, and the competencies, time and resources that will be critical to success.
Guest Speakers: Jeanhy Shim, Crosswalk Communities and Mukhtar Latif, Pomegranate Housing Consultancy
To attract investors and unlock capital, organizations must think like the private sector. It’s important to speak the language, stay true to what you wish to achieve, and share your project in a way that makes sense to potential funders and building partners. Your project must be pitched as an attractive, alternative investment option, with a strong understanding of underwriting and risk assessment to answer the tough questions.
Speakers: Matti Siemiatycki, Sara Wasim, Alix Aylen and Cecelia Pye, Infrastructure Institute
The Infrastructure Institute will guide attendees through two case study examples of social purpose real estate. Organizations will be given several scenarios, enter breakout rooms to discuss their solutions/approaches, and re-convene as a larger group to share out. Matti Siemiatycki will lead the groups, turning up the tension at each stage.
Guest Speaker: Mwarigha MS, WoodGreen, Vice President Housing and Homelessness Services
To become a non-profit developer of affordable housing project(s), organizations must have an intentional strategic focus & nurture the necessary organizational culture to – create the right mission-driven model(s) of development, partnership and capacity scale to produce a viable development business plan, and for completing a new building for low-income and high need clients. This session will highlight the key components of affordable housing development for new builds – unlocking land, design and approvals, financing & financing tools, and overall project & partnership management. This module will walk through a completed development model to illustrate the key project elements & stages with an emphasis on lessons learnt by WoodGreen as non-profit developer.
Guest Speakers: Ryan Collins-Swartz, Tapestry Community Capital; Rudy Ruttimann and Jane Doe, SKETCH Working Arts
An overview of the real estate finance stacking and funding process for non-profits, including community and social service organizations and organizations interested in affordable housing. The session will be led by Tapestry Community Capital, co-presenting with SKETCH Working Arts, providing a live case study on Project Home – their successful campaign that purchased their space.
Guest Speakers: Maz Mortazavi, TAS Design Build and Terry Cooke, Hamilton Community Foundation
Explores the multifaceted benefits of creative mixed-use partnerships and will include successful/unsuccessful case studies, a walk-through of the key processes in forming a partnership, and other self-evaluation tools. Mazyar Mortazavi and Terry Cooke will discuss the value of social purpose real estate, the process to integrating key social services into real estate projects, and becoming partner-ready to work with real estate developers.
2021 Webinars
Social purpose real estate training modules.
The first session of SPRE training explores the multifaceted benefits of creative mixed-use partnerships and will include successful/unsuccessful case studies, a walk-through of the key processes in forming a partnership, and other self-evaluation tools.
The School of Cities at U of T and Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) Toronto are leading a series of training modules to support non-profits and community/social service providers. The training modules are designed to enhance the knowledge and capacity of organizations, empowering them to become partner-ready to pursue real estate development. This module is designed to walk through the project stages with an emphasis on key milestones as well as review the appropriate financing & funding tools and limitations.
The School of Cities at U of T and Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) Toronto are leading a series of training modules to support non-profits and community/social service providers. The training modules are designed to enhance the knowledge and capacity of organizations, empowering them to become partner-ready to pursue real estate development. This module highlights best practices and partnership arrangements that support the long-term success of the project. This may include incorporating green building elements, flexibility in design, setting up various revenue streams, and consideration for different types of ownership arrangements.
The School of Cities at U of T and Social Purpose Real Estate (SPRE) Toronto are leading a series of training modules to support non-profits and community/social service providers. The training modules are designed to enhance the knowledge and capacity of organizations, empowering them to become partner-ready to pursue real estate development. This module provides an overview of the real estate development process for non-profits, including community/social service organizations and organizations interested in affordable housing. These modules are designed to walk through the project stages with emphasis on key milestones as well as review the appropriate financing & funding tools and limitations.