Left to Right: Matthew Van Bakel (Planning), Samantha Kerry, Nathan Lee, and Alan Mak.
On January 27th and 28th of 2023, Ted Rogers Real Estate Association held the 9th annual Expand Your Empire Development Conference. This is Canada’s largest real estate development conference and competition.
The case competition consists of three competitive rounds, where teams had to pitch to industry experts. The case prompt, provided by CreateTO, included the design and development of two acres in downtown Toronto, with this year's focus on prop-tech and sustainability.
The School of Planning would like to send out a huge congratulations to Alan Mak (Accounting and Finance), Matthew Van Bakel (Planning), Nathan Lee (Civil Engineering), and Samantha Kerry (Architectural Engineering), who won the First Place Grand Prize of $10,000 and the Most Feasible Design award of $1,250 in the competition!
The team won with their design of a two-tower, mixed-use arts district. This was created “with a focus on opportunities for residents to demonstrate their artistic capabilities and develop unity through art, movement, and design.” (Matthew Van Bakel, Student, School of Planning). Within this development included a fine arts workshop, performing arts center, post-production studio, and a rooftop restaurant (with views of Lake Ontario). They also included 17% affordable units and 10 times the park space required for the build, linking three nearby green areas and placing a coffee shop with an outdoor patio within the park. The team was also the only one to successfully provide a need indication for emergency services on site.
The School of Planning and the School of Accounting and Finance are proud to have sponsored these students and helped them achieve their championship!
Below are some of the team’s development photos.
