A lifetime achievement award could be a signal to slow down, but Ugo Bizzarri doesn’t appear to be quite ready to retire just yet.
The longtime developer, who received the Rental Housing Canada Lifetime Achievement Award this month, recently handed over the reins of Hazelview Investments to two co-CEOs but remains chairman of the company he co-founded in 1999, which has grown to $11.2 billion in assets and 34,000 rental units in six provinces and 21 cities in Canada.
The Financial Post spoke with Bizzarri about his beginnings, his nearly 30 years of experience in the Canadian real estate world and what he believes are the most important issues in today’s real estate market.
How did you get your start in the industry?
I graduated from the University of Western Ontario and got a job with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. You kind of fit in with me in the real estate industry. I started my career in real estate and really liked it, so I just stayed.
How did you get into apartments?
At Teachers’ I really wanted to invest in apartments, but that wasn’t possible at the time. Investing in apartments was a very long-term and very stable form of investment. I wanted to do something of my own, so in 1999 we founded Timbercreek Asset Management (whose equity business was later renamed Hazelview) with money from family and friends.
What else drew you to the rental sector?
One of the most important things for Canada is housing needs. I think rental plays a big role in this and has been ignored for years. As I traveled the world, I knew how important the rental market is to other countries and I thought Canada was underdeveloped in rentals. I felt there was a real opportunity: the trend was that the number of homeowners would go down and rents would go up, and renting would be a much more sustainable way to create housing.
Why do you think this country has historically favored home ownership?
I think that’s kind of the immigrant mentality of how Canada was built. Many immigrants came from Europe and other countries and wanted to own their own homes and build houses.
Do you think we will reach a point where people are just renters for life?
There is clearly a trend towards people selling their homes rather than renting them out; They want more flexibility, more travel and the ability to travel south in the winter. I think this is the first time this has happened. Sometimes people sell their homes in Rosedale and Forest Hill and rent them out. I do think it’s changing. Being a tenant is no longer the cliche of 50 years ago: people today are happy to rent long-term.
We haven’t built so many rental buildings in decades. Is it too much?
I don’t think it’s a big deal. That’s a lot compared to zero. But when you take condos and rentals into account, we are underserved. For many, many years people were building condos instead of rentals, and now there’s a transition to building more rentals because the condo market is very, very quiet today.
What do you think has hindered rental supply in the past?
Prior to 1985/1986, the majority of supply in Canada consisted of rental buildings. There was rent control that brought everything to a standstill. Strict rent controls stopped the construction of rental apartments and people moved to building condos because they didn’t want to risk being caught in a rent controlled market. Then, in 2001, when the Ontario government changed its policy to lifting vacancy control (which allows landlords to set market rents when a tenant moves out), it began to boost rents again.
Are you a tenant? Were you a tenant?
I am not a tenant. All three of my children are. Look, it’s a flexibility. When I was younger I was a renter. My experience as a renter growing up in the 1990s was that it was very, very, very difficult to find an apartment. You couldn’t find anything. Rents were much cheaper, but that was almost impossible. It took us eight months to find a place. They want people to have a choice.
What does this award mean to you?
I received the award because of the team we have and that means a lot to me. Many people have been with me for a long time; It’s pretty nice to see that.
What does your future look like? Will you continue working?
I think you may have spoken to my wife. I like what I do. I just made a transition to have two great co-CEOs of the company and work a little differently. If you love what you do and the people you are with, I believe you should never stop working. It’s a different mentality these days.
— This interview has been edited for clarity and length