Ryan McAskile recently made the leap into syndicating private equity full time in commercial real estate. We discuss all of the ups and downs associated with year one including:
- The use of blind pools versus funding specific deals.
- Raising equity without a track record.
- First deal without a track record.
- Picking his geography and why it changed over time.
- How his strategy changed in the first 6 months.
- Finding off-market deals.
- Using TREB, Geowarehouse and RealNet to track deals.
- Optimisation of his financing strategy to balance risk and yield, as well as shifting needs for different mortgage products over time.
Both of our news item are focused on remarkably low vacancy rates. The first is Toronto office vacancy rates being the lowest in North America and the second is a quadrant of Regina that has a sub-1% retail vacancy rate.
A little bit about our guest….
Career Highlights
Ryan began his career as a junior sales trainee with J.J. Barnicke Limited (which later became DTZ Canada and then Cushman & Wakefield Canada) in October 2002 working with owners and occupiers as a member of the firm’s downtown office leasing group. Over the years his practice expanded to include a corporate services program advising organizations across their property portfolios. His clients included a national human resources firm, a global office product company, a global oil and gas supplier, one of Canada’s leading technology startups as well as leading financial institutions, to name a few.
Senior Management
In September 2012, Ryan accepted the position of Senior Vice President & Manager of the firm’s GTA West operations located in their Mississauga office. For over three years he led a team of over 20 salespeople along with a support team of research, marketing and administrative professionals. In addition to his work with the GTA West team, Ryan took a keen interest in building the firm’s capabilities and resources across Canada by leading the design and implementation of the firm’s CRM system and website, negotiation of a national-level agreement for research data, committee chair and host of the firm’s 2014 National Sales Conference, and member of various internal company committees and advisory councils. For his work, Ryan was recognized by his peers as the first and only recipient of the DTZ National Leadership Award in 2014.
Ryan has continually gravitated towards positions of leadership in everything he has done, from captaining sports teams to being high school student council president to achieving Senior Management status at his previous firm. He prides himself on having a strong work ethic, positive outlook and commitment to building lasting relationships based on honesty and integrity.
Community & Industry Involvement
Ryan is the current Chair of the NAIOP Toronto REX Awards Gala and serves on the board of NAIOP Toronto (the 2nd largest NAIOP Chapter in North America with over 1,000 members). He has also led numerous fundraising events and charitable initiatives for Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC) and the Arthritis Research Foundation.
Personal
Ryan lives in Toronto with his wife, Kristen, daughter, Peyton and golden retriever, Quinn. He plays hockey year round and pays homage regularly to his Alabama heritage by slow cooking various types of meats served with his signature homemade bbq sauce.
To get in contact with Ryan McAskile:
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