From the Ottawa Real Estate Forum, the guys are joined today by Shawn Hamilton. He is the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the CBRE Ottawa office. He first got into real estate when his mother’s broker hired him to be an errand runner and he has since risen through the ranks of the largest brokerage in the world. His knowledge of Ottawa is deep and his insights are sharp.
Topics covered include:
- Choosing a private sector tenant versus a public sector tenant.
- The growth and decline of Nortel in the 90s.
- Ottawa shedding its boring image.
- The bid for Amazon HQ2.
- Getting drafted to work for J.J. Barnicke.
- Building to accommodate the needs of tech companies.
- The shift of the landlord’s mindset in Ottawa.
- Constraints on growing industrial areas in and around Ottawa.
- Rental prices going up for industrial tenants.
- Using storage lockers as a business.
- Families moving to Ottawa because it is more affordable.
- Shawn’s opinion on the future of affordability in Ottawa.
- The role of Gatineau in relation to the Ottawa market.
- Increasing construction costs.
- Running out of space in Ottawa and what this means for growth.
- The gamble of commercial real estate investments.
- Ottawa’s ability to turn out talent.
This episode of Commercial Real Estate Podcast powered by First National was recorded live at the Ottawa Real Estate Forum as part of our Forum Series.
For more commercial real estate content, visit the First National Commercial Resource Centre.
More about our guest:
Shawn Hamilton has been involved in Ottawa’s commercial real estate industry since 1992 and joined CBRE in June of 2004.
At the beginning of his career, Shawn was a researcher at a National Brokerage firm tracking Ottawa’s office leasing market and providing statistical interpretations outlining the changes in the office leasing market.
Following his tenure in research, Shawn was involved with the growth and expansion of the high technology community in Ottawa, assisting with numerous build-to-suit projects and various leasing expansions in the millions of square feet.
In addition to his work during the late 1990’s and 2000’s Shawn has been involved with several high-profile crown corporations assisting them with their downtown office leasing requirements. Most recently Shawn and CBRE Limited have been working with the Canadian Federal Government assisting them with various leasing requirements across the city.
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