Dream Unlimited Corporation is a Canadian real estate development company that is developing the Waterfront Toronto property on Lake Ontario. It manages $15 billion of real estate assets.
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| TSX: DRM | |
| Industry | Real estate development |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | P. Jane Gavan, President, Asset Management; Ana Bailão Former Head of Affordable Housing & Public Affairs (Jan to March 2023) |
| Total assets | $15b (2021[1]) |
Number of employees | 551 (2022)[2] |
| Website | dream |
History
editDream Unlimited was founded in 1994.[3]
In 2021, Dream Unlimited had $15 billion of assets under management, $9 billion of which are fee earning.[4] It owned 11.2 million square feet of commercial rentable real estate, including 26,018 residential rental units.[4]
By 2021, it has completed construction of $38 billion of commercial real estate and renewable energy infrastructure.[4]
In January 2022, the company launched the Dream Community Foundation, not-for-profit organization.[5]
In January 2023, Toronto's former deputy mayor Ana Bailão joined Dream Unlimited as the head of affordable housing and public affairs.[6] Bailão resigned from her role in March 2023, as she announced her campaign to be the next mayor of Toronto.[7]
In April 2023, tenants of the company's residential tower block on 33 King Street, Toronto protested after the Dream Unlimited sought permission from the Landlord and Tenant Board to implement rent increases higher than the board's normal maximum.[8]
Projects
editIn 2019, Dream Unlimited proposed three designs to the City of Toronto to develop a downtown Toronto multi-storey property at 49 Ontario Street.[9]
In December 2022, Dream Unlimited was approved by Waterfront Toronto to develop 12 acres of lakeside Toronto that Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs abandoned plans to develop in 2020.[10] Dream Unlimited will develop the land with Great Gulf Group, both companies will operate as Quayside Impact Limited Partnership.[11][12] The project plans to incorporate 800 affordable residences.[13]
Along with Diamond Corporation, FRAM + Slokker, and the Kilmer Group, Dream Unlimited are developing a 72 acre housing development in Mississauga known as Brightwater Community.[14]
Controversy
edit2023-2024 Rent Strikes
editIn June 2023, over 200 tenants in 33 King Street, one of the company's residential building, joined a collective action to withhold rent as a form of protest (see rent strike), citing abnormal rent increases and maintenance issues. They were joined by tenants of their neighboring building, 22 John Street, which also belongs to Dream Unlimited. On July 15, they marched from the buildings to the offices of both Local MPP, Michael Ford's office and the then-Federal Housing Minister, Ahmed Hussen's office.[15]
Four months into the first rent strike, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow made an attempt to mediate negotiations in September 2023. Despite an invitation extended to Dream Unlimited, no representatives of the real estate company showed up at the meeting.[16]
The rent strikes continued into 2024. As of January 2024, there were 76 active L1 applications for 33 King Street filed by the company to the Landlord and Tenant Board. Michael Cooper, CEO of Dream, denied the existence of such case, "There's no such thing as a rent strike".[17]
Use of algorithmic price-setting software
editIn September 2024, The Breach reported that properties under management by Dream Unlimited were using YieldStar, an algorithmic software tool developed by RealPage, which facilitates the sharing of real-time information about rental pricing and occupancy rates by landlords and is alleged by the US Justice Department to harm renters by decreasing competition, to set rental prices for apartments.[18]
References
edit- ^ "Dream Unlimited Corp - 2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Jermyn, Diane (December 9, 2022). "Greater Toronto's Top Employers 2023 lead the way in workplace innovation". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "Dream CA - We believe in building better communities". dream.ca. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Dream Unlimited Corp - 2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "Dream Announces the Creation of the Dream Community Foundation". financialpost. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Kassam, Zakiya (January 9, 2023). "Ana Bailão Joins Dream Unlimited as Head of Affordable Housing and Public Affairs". STOREYS. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Hanrahan, Laura (March 17, 2023). "Bailão Announces Run For Toronto Mayor, Resigns From Dream". STOREYS. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ^ Harrison, Lane (June 1, 2023). "These Toronto tenants are sick of above-guideline rent increases. Now, they're taking action". CBC. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ^ Landau, Jack (November 2022). "Massive rental towers and new park to completely transform a Toronto street". www.blogto.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "Deal OK'd to develop Toronto land once slated for Sidewalk Labs". torontosun. December 12, 2022. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Bessai, Matias (December 16, 2022). "Waterfront Toronto Finalizes Quayside Agreement with Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ McLean, Steve (May 2, 2022). "Dream, Great Gulf update Quayside on Toronto waterfront". renx.ca. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Tsekouras, Phil (February 16, 2022). "Two developers picked to build Quayside neighbourhood on Toronto's waterfront". CP24. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Bessai, Matias (January 9, 2023). "Catching Up With Brightwater: Initial Phases Rising, Bridge House Up Next | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "More than 300 tenants at two Toronto apartment buildings are on a rent strike". CP24. July 16, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ "Toronto tenants call out controversial landlord amid four-month-long rent strike". www.blogto.com. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ "TVO Today | Current Affairs Journalism, Documentaries and Podcasts". www.tvo.org. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ "Canadian mega landlord using AI 'pricing scheme' as it massively hikes rents". The Breach. September 4, 2024. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.