Find out how Mizrahi Developments prioritizes personalized design and resilience in the face of market challenges
Mizrahi Developments CEO Sam Mizrahi
Canada’s residential condominium market is in an undeniable downturn, with some even calling it a recession. For a market that’s coming off decades of steady growth in both price and supply, it’s hard to stomach years with nearly nine times fewer new sales than at the peak.
For industry leaders like Sam Mizrahi, CEO of Mizrahi Developments, these conditions would seem to require a major shift in strategy. But Mizrahi insists that, while there is always a need to be attentive to market shifts, the best way through any downturn is to stay focused on your core values.
“If you try to change who you are, you lose more than a few month’s worth of profits. You lose the foundation of your company and what ultimately creates the most value.”
Mizrahi built his brand around luxury. When he created Mizrahi Developments in 2008 to develop downtown residential projects in Toronto, he was coming off years of success with developing high-quality custom home developments in tony neighborhoods like Forest Hill, Lytton Park, and Richmond Hill.
“Our original concept for Mizrahi Developments was to transfer the expectations for quality and luxury from the suburbs to downtown,” says Mizrahi. “We haven’t changed that principle, and I would argue it’s even more important to separate yourself from the volume of cookie-cutter condos flooding the market right now.”
There are hundreds of new towers in development in Toronto’s downtown, despite the clear downturn. The lull has even hit the top of the market, with high-priced luxury homes sitting idle and presumably depreciating by the week.
For luxury developers, it’s challenging to provide the same level of craftsmanship for their pipeline projects. But Mizrahi believes that his focus on timelessness will allow him to weather the bad times.
“Real estate is a resilient industry,” says Mizrahi. “We’ll stay focused on our craft through any lulls, which includes the craft of building strong relationships with our communities and providing best-in-class service for our buyers.”
Condominiums in Canada’s major cities like Toronto and Vancouver are a central pillar of the housing market. While they have and will continue to attract professionals and families who plan on building roots there, by their very nature they attract hands-off investors who intend to rent and/or flip the units. This impersonal aspect leads to a sort of rot at the core of a housing market that is historically expensive, with the average condo price in Toronto at C$707,917 (US$509,215).
Mizrahi believes in building the personal into his business and his developments. “When you design units with the buyer in mind, you will survive any conditions. We work closely with individual buyers on customizing units and making sure they feel their needs and their personalities, their tastes, reflected in the design. It takes fortitude to keep these principles in tact in markets like this, but we’ve seen in the past that when we do, we’re rewarded.”
In recession-adjacent conditions, this kind of commitment to craft is commendable and will hopefully serve as a successful example of staying true to the values that define you.
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