Mike Czestochoski, Executive Vice President of CBRE, joins Aaron and Adam in this episode. He specializes in land, and has been buying and selling it for the last thirty-six years. Mike is here to discuss what to expect from GTA land in the near term and beyond.
With such a long career, COVID-19 is certainly not the first market crash that Mike has witnessed. He highlights reasons to be optimistic about commercial real estate and talks about the kinds of deals he is seeing happen right now.
Topics covered include:
- Dips in rent due to the pandemic and if this will impact land prices.
- Foreign investment in Toronto.
- Who is getting the biggest returns on their proformas.
- CBRE’s success in the first quarter of 2020.
- Large, institutional clients currently looking for property.
- The change in client profile since Mike began his career.
- What it was like selling the Dunlap Observatory in Toronto.
- The largest transaction that Mike has worked on.
- Ontario’s slow process and how it impacts developers.
- Taking politics out of planning for the greater good.
- COVID-19 compared to other hard times Mike has seen in his career.
- What the real estate market looked like in the early 90s.
- Why Mike would choose to invest in industrial land above all else.
- Activity that Mike plans to see in the next six to twelve months.
- How deals are getting financed.
More about our guest…..
Mike Czestochowski is recognized as a leading specialist in the disposition of development land within the Greater Toronto Area and Greater Golden Horseshoe Area. He is the founding member of CBRE’s Land Services Group with over 30 years of real estate experience. Mike has been consistently ranked as one of the Top 10 Sales Professionals for CBRE’s Toronto North Office since 1995. He is one of CBRE’s Top 10 Canadian Sales Professionals and was ranked #1 in Land Sales across Canada in 2017. He is an industry leader with substantial experience in advisory and transaction services with unsurpassed market knowledge, strong client focus, and commitment to integrity.
Mike has also been involved with many high-profile transactions, including government mandates and clients from publicly traded and Fortune 500 companies. Mike volunteers as the Chair of the Fundraising Committee and is the Director of the Foundation Board for the Markham Stouffville Hospital.
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