2024 REALPAC / Toronto Metropolitan University Research Symposium

As Director of Innovation and Sustainability at Kindred Works, Geoff Turnbull champions an evidence-based, holistic approach to creating beautiful, sustainable, and high-performing development projects.

Geoff came to Kindred Works with a broad background in architecture, business, film, computation, and real estate development, including serving as director of KPMB LAB, the sustainability-focused research group at leading Canadian architecture firm KPMB Architects. A licensed architect (OAA) who holds the LEED AP and CPHD designations, he earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance from Dalhousie University and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Toronto.

Haya EL-Merheby, Sustainability Analyst, LaSalle

Haya El-Merheby is a Sustainability Analyst on LaSalle’s Americas Sustainability Team. She focuses on data collection, quality, and reporting, working closely with properties. Haya manages key initiatives such as energy audits, green building certifications, and the roll-out of EV charging stations.

She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies, majoring in Environment, Resources, and Sustainability. During her studies, she completed a year-long internship with the JLL PDS Energy and Sustainability consulting team, gaining experience in net zero carbon studies, GHG accounting projects, green building certifications, climate risk assessments, and sustainability strategy setting.

For her senior year thesis at the University of Waterloo, she researched the stakeholder barriers of adopting various policy and regulatory mechanisms to reduce flooding and fire climate risk for single-family homes across Canada.

 

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Jonathan Graham, Manager of Building Performance, Kindred Works

As Manager of Building Performance at Kindred Works, Jonathan’s role is to define building performance targets and ensure their fulfillment from design to operations.

Inspired by Kindred Works’ environmental impact goals, Jonathan is passionate about working with measured data to find opportunities to minimize energy consumption while continuously validating the achievement of current performance goals.

In his current role, Jonathan draws on extensive experience in architecture, engineering, and building sciences consultancy as well as sustainability analysis. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Toronto as well as a master’s in building science from Toronto Metropolitan University.

 

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Meet Shah, Doctoral Candidate at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University

Meet is a fourth-year Doctoral Candidate at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Brock University and a Masters of Science in Management from Toronto Metropolitan University. Meet’s research focuses on housing supply, urban economics, fixed-income securities and climate risk.

 

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Michael Le Coche, Director, Research & Predictive Analytics, Fiera Real Estate

Michael Le Coche joined Fiera Real Estate in 2012 and has 17 years of experience in the investment industry.

As Director, Research and Predictive Analytics, he is primarily responsible for leading and implementing the firm’s research program by providing top-down investment and economic research to support the executive team with respect to strategic investment-related decisions. Michael provides critical insight and support to the portfolio strategies and analytics program by identifying sources of market risk and return in the firm’s various mandates and creating robust strategies to mitigate risk.

He launched his career in 2007 through financial advisor roles at leading Canadian financial institutions. His duties included creating lending and investment solutions for high net worth clients.

 

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Scott Figler, Director of Research, Canada, JLL

Scott Figler is the National Research Director for JLL in Canada. In this role he works with a variety of business lines and brokerage teams across all Canadian markets, providing analytics and thought leadership to drive value for our clients.

Scott leads a team of analysts, demographers, and data scientists that is committed to building Canada’s premier real estate research platform. His personal work infuses demographics, economic analysis, and high-frequency data into the commercial real estate arena to drive business development, client decision making, and brand awareness.

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Susan Thompson, Associate Director, Research, Colliers Canada

Susan is a well-recognized industry voice on the commercial real estate market, with 26 years of experience as an analyst and commentator. She is frequently sought out by media, industry associations, and educators for her data-driven insights on office, industrial, and investment markets, as well as her thought leadership on urban revitalization and the future of CRE. Drawing on her experience across brokerage, data and government, Susan is a skilled storyteller who helps clients make more informed decisions to accelerate their success.

 

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Dr. Walter D’Lima, Assistant Professor, Hollo School of Real Estate at Florida International University

Dr. Walter D’Lima is an Assistant Professor in the Hollo School of Real Estate at Florida International University. Previously, Dr. D’Lima has taught at Old Dominion University and The University of Notre Dame. He earned his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. D’Lima’s research interests include commercial real estate, information asymmetry, transaction costs, institutional investment, housing and urban economics. A common theme that typically reflects through his work is the study of frictions in markets.

 

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Zongyuan Li, Lecturer in Financial Economics and Technology at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics