Leaders in real estate and development converged on Vancouver in April for the Urban Land Institute’s Spring Meeting, and among their ranks was ULI Toronto veteran Derek Goring, who had the privilege of attending on the invitation of ULI National as one of 38 Emerging Leaders.

Derek is currently Senior Vice President of Land Development with Infrastructure Ontario (IO), where he is tasked with adding value to province’s real estate portfolio, and formulates innovative deal structures to engage the private sector with public projects. Derek is also an energetic member of ULI Toronto’s Advisory Board, serving as a Co-Chair of the Membership Committee.

Emerging Leaders are ULI members in the middle stages of their careers that are influential in the development community. Derek cites his experience and approach to the job as the major factors that equipped him to represent ULI Toronto at the Emerging Leaders roundtable in Vancouver. He joined Waterfront Toronto in its early stages, and was able to contribute significantly to the growth and direction of the agency. Derek had the latitude to try new ideas and approaches, and learn from the experience. He credits his colleagues at Waterfront with encouraging this approach to his work, saying that it has always been important to him to “not be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get involved in all aspects of the work.” This hands-on approach has served Derek well with the ULI Advisory Board. “You have to put a lot in to it, but you get a lot out in return,” he says.

For Derek, the highlight of the Spring Meeting was the Emerging Leaders’ Round Table. The diversity of participation, with individuals from across the continent engaged in all aspects of development and across markets, made for lively discussion and an open sharing of thoughts and experiences. This was also a great forum for building a professional network, as participants actively and openly addressed major questions facing the industry. The topics of the day included public-private partnerships (P3) and how they can be employed, particularly for transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. Trends in the industry concerning the impact of demographics and technology on real estate were also featured in discussion.

The Spring Meeting broke from other, more-traditional conference formats by organizing participants into Product Councils, which are small discussion-based group sessions with specific topics. Given his experience and current project interests at IO, Derek was with the TOD Product Council. He preferred this format over listening to a panel discussion — with participants able to speak directly with each other on the topic of the day, Derek found that he learned more as participants “don’t just sugar coat, but challenge each other and debate the issues.” With IO currently working with Metrolinx on TOD in the GTA, Derek found some valuable take-away points, notably that implementing successful TOD cannot rely on one model. Instead, context is key, and the first step towards realizing this type of project is to understand the local circumstances, cultural and political factors, and sensitivities. In some jurisdictions, transit is essential to the real estate market, while for participants working in other areas, they often struggled to secure community and political support for transit-centered projects.

By engaging directly with industry peers at the Product Council, Derek found that Infrastructure Ontario is quite unique among public development agencies, especially when it comes to the use and structuring of public-private partnerships. A major challenge for many P3s is public and private sectors who don’t speak the same language. Derek surprised many of his fellow attendees by describing how IO, a public sector agency, is mostly staffed by individuals with extensive private sector experience. This provides him and his team a significant advantage as they understand how the private sector thinks, and their motivations. IO can craft projects which allow the private sector to respond in a manner which suites them, which achieves more aggressive bidding on RFPs, thereby maximizing value for taxpayers.

Attending the Spring Meeting affirmed for Derek the value of ULI and the Emerging Leaders group to the development industry. With such a geographically diverse group, many participants aren’t in direct competition with each other, enabling greater openness. Derek found the Emerging Leaders a valuable initiative which addresses those in the middle stages of their careers, a cohort often not captured by other industry groups.

What will be the lasting take-away for Derek from his experience in Vancouver? “Recognizing the positive relationship between transit investment and the amenity it helps create,” he says. “In addition to reducing congestion, transit-oriented development creates a better environment for people to live and work in.”