Toronto Multifamily and Condo Summit

Alex has designed and developed a wide range of innovative projects – commercial, residential and mixed use – over the past forty years. As partner in charge of Windmill’s Toronto office, he is currently directing a diverse range of sustainable infill projects underway in urban Toronto and Guelph. As Director of Development with Context Development from 1996 to 2006, he directed residential and mixed-use projects in Toronto including District Lofts, Ideal Condominium, Mozo, Radio City, Home and Spire, as well as three adaptive re-use projects: Kensington Market Lofts, Tip Top Lofts and The Loretto. Between 1985 and 1995 with General Leaseholds Limited, he developed and managed commercial projects, office and retail, throughout Ontario. Prior to becoming a developer, Alex practiced architecture in Toronto, Vancouver, Alberta and Jerusalem. Alex has served as an advisor to many community organizations and non-profits including the Centre for Social Innovation, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Artscape and Toronto District School Board (TDSB) as well as private land owners and development companies. He has served on the board of the OAA’s Committee for the Sustainable Built Environment and the Kehilla Residential Program for Affordable Housing and is currently on the Board of the Annex Residents Association.

Len Abelman has worked as an architect in South Africa, Israel and Canada. His International experience brings lateral and creative insights to all phases of the design process. From large- scale master planning and urban design projects, through to the design of individual buildings and detailing, he brings all-round skills to the project team in resolving complex requirements. Len is inspired by the role of the architect in creating built environments for future occupants: the cities around us, offices we work in and houses we live in, and their impact as backgrounds to our daily lives. Len strives to design practical solutions balancing the needs of clients, budgets and city regulations to improve the surrounding urban fabric. His visions have been incorporated into numerous WZMH mixed use and residential master plans and projects. Len holds two architectural degrees from a South African University and is licensed with the Ontario Association of Architects and Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He has written extensively about architecture and has been published in numerous magazines and web journals. Len joined WZMH in 2005 and has served as a Principal since 2014.

Farrah is a Principal at Grant Thornton with over 13 years of finance, accounting and advisory experience in the real estate sector. Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Farrah gained industry experience from both a large institutional owner, manager and developer, Oxford Properties and private equity fund experience from Forgestone Capital where she was responsible for the accounting and finance functions for a significant portfolio of commercial real estate assets across Canada. She is active in the commercial real estate community as Treasurer and Board Member for NAIOP Greater Toronto and President-Elect for Toronto CREW. Farrah is passionate about fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace both at Grant Thornton, where she sits on the Diversity & Inclusion Executive committee and within the industry where she is a member of REALpac’s Diversity & Inclusion committee.

Jordan is a Co-Founder and Partner of North Drive. North Drive specializes in contextually responsive developments in Toronto’s classic neighbourhoods with active condominium projects in Summerhill, Forest Hill, Yorkville, the Annex and the Kingsway. Jordan is involved in all aspects of acquisitions, finance, entitlements, marketing & sales and guides the firm’s growth and strategic initiatives. Prior to North Drive, Jordan worked in acquisitions for a leading Canadian investment management & private equity company. Jordan is a graduate of the London School of Economics where he was awarded the Ormsby Prize for his dissertation on land economics.

Laurie leads one of Toronto’s largest private redevelopment sites, a 60‐acre industrial brownfield which will be transformed into a transit-supportive community with over four million square feet of office, retail, community recreation, and residential in a range of forms. Centered on new rapid transit and directly connected to Toronto’s ravine system and downtown, Laurie is overseeing every aspect of this transformation on behalf of three respected developers, Diamond Corp., Context and Lifetime. Prior to joining Diamond Corp, Laurie was Development Director for Toronto Community Housing, North America’s second largest public housing provider. She guided a team of development professionals in the revitalization of outdated housing projects. The result of this work will be nearly 2,000 units of new and refurbished low‐income housing, 6,000 units of market housing and over a billion dollars in local economic activity. In her 15 year career, Laurie was a Senior Associate with Urban Strategies Inc., an integrated planning and urban design firm. Laurie managed master plans for Waterfront Toronto’s 55‐acre East Bayfront Precinct; growth management plans for Toronto’s urbanizing suburbs; and, the revitalization of a 200‐year old Victorian asylum in London UK. Laurie began her career as a community facilitator for complex planning projects. ​ Laurie served as Communications Co‐chair for the Toronto District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). In 2014, she was appointed to ULI Toronto’s Women's Leadership Initiative Championship Team and won the global Women’s Leadership Scholarship in 2013. As an advocate of strong urban design, Laurie was a Chair of the Toronto Community Housing Design Review Panel, and was a member of the Downsview Park Design Review Panel. In 2016, Laurie was named to the Urban Land Institute’s "40 Under 40", which represents the best young land-use professionals from around the globe, as selected by members of ULI.

Andrew Joyner leads Tricon Residential’s Canadian multi-family rental business. In this role, he designs and implements strategy, sources investment opportunities and oversees teams responsible for business plan execution, including development, construction and ongoing asset management. In addition, Mr. Joyner manages senior relationships with joint venture partners. Prior to joining Tricon in 2016, Mr. Joyner worked at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in Toronto, where he focused on real estate transactions across a number of asset classes throughout North America. Prior to that, he worked at Hines in London, UK, where he was responsible for property acquisitions and investment management of core, core-plus and opportunistic real estate strategies throughout Western Europe. In addition, Mr. Joyner previously worked at Goldman Sachs in New York in the investment banking division. Mr. Joyner has a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Queen’s University, from which he graduated with distinction, and is a CFA Charterholder. Mr. Joyner is a member of the Multi-Family Council of the Urban Land Institute.

David is a real estate, building products and finance professional with over 25 years’ experience. He is CPA-Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator and holds a Chartered Financial Analysts designation. He is well versed in all areas of real estate and business acquisitions/divestitures, debt and equity finance and joint venture structures. At Altus Group he provides clients a range of services including feasibility and strategic analysis, acquisition and investment due diligence, debt and equity financing assistance, deal structuring and joint venture sourcing. He has private and public company experience in both Canada and the USA