112 / Middle housing university / with Alkarim Devani

<p><strong>Alkarim Devani</strong> — developer and founder of <a href="https://www.mddl.co" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">mddl </a>— is in good traffic this week for a conversation on how Canada&#39;s housing realities compare/contrast with that of the U.S., and how we can better prepare developers to address our continental crisis. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Timeline:</strong></p><p>00:00 Alkarim Devani is in good traffic.</p><p>02:47 Canada&#39;s housing crisis.</p><p>04:36 Cities not sharing solutions with each other.</p><p>05:14 The competitive silence in real estate development.</p><p>05:51 Al&#39;s background as a developer in Calgary.</p><p>06:43 The Plus 15 downtown system and its failures.</p><p>07:31 Downtown office conversions and retrofitting.</p><p>08:23 Starting infill development with his brother.</p><p>09:14 From luxury duplexes to more attainable housing.</p><p>10:16 Realizing the market sucks and social impact matters.</p><p>11:33 Founding Roundsquare to bring families back.</p><p>12:43 The first fourplex proposal that no one had done.</p><p>13:39 Meeting resistance and finding city support.</p><p>16:54 Why missing middle isn&#39;t happening at scale.</p><p>25:31 The regulatory framework problem.</p><p>28:27 How to make economics work for missing middle.</p><p>31:15 Building at the right price point.</p><p>34:12 The slow-growth lesson from setbacks.</p><p>37:00 Sometimes you don&#39;t get the outcome you want.</p><p>40:15 Iterative change and incremental progress.</p><p>43:03 Solving for community impact.</p><p>46:33 A 350-square-foot cafe.</p><p>49:21 Revenue-sharing lease structures.</p><p>52:24 Building a heated vestibule for winter survival.</p><p>55:12 Doubling revenue per square foot through design.</p><p>56:01 The General Block and Village Ice Cream.</p><p>58:04 Why the right tenant anchor matters.</p><p>59:35 University District and the 99-year lease model.</p><p>1:01:23 Inglewood and Calgary&#39;s coffee culture.</p><p>1:03:02 The commute question and river path biking.</p><p>1:05:26 Wrapping up.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Links:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.mddl.co" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>mddl.</strong></a></p><p><a href="https://www.mddl.co/mddl-u" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>mddl U.</strong></a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mddl.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>Mddl, on Instagram.</strong></a></p>