The latest episode of the Livabl Launch podcast features an exciting conversation with Matt Young, president and CEO of Republic Developments.
Matt founded Republic in 2019 after fourteen years of working in the real estate development industry. He’s been responsible for growing some of Canada’s largest development firms, but today he oversees all things Republic.
Republic’s motto is “ambitious ideas, over delivered,” and Matt’s dedication to creating ambitious spaces in the GTA shines through in his work.
Here are some highlights from the episode:
On designing his latest project:
“Our approach to pricing the building is one of value. […] I think people have lost track of why an investment is a good investment and how a home might be a good home. Especially in the frenzy of the market, a year or year and a half ago, builders were generally building cookie cutter type product, which is okay. But they may not appeal to everybody, or to end users or to people who maybe have a little more sophistication. So, what we’ve done is try to design the building that’s going to appeal to people who really want to live there. We’re offering products and features that in some cases no other building is offering.”
“We’re going to make the investments. They cost a lot more, but we’re going to make the investment to do it because we think people are going to appreciate it when they actually move into the building. These are things that the average investor on day one doesn’t even think about. But when you actually move into the building you’re going to start to see all those little details that we’ve kind of painstakingly put our energy into.”
On starting Republic:
“I think Republic was a long time coming. I mean, when I started in the business I always had this entrepreneurial spirit and thought I would one day start my own company. I got a lot of great experience working for other developers. I started my career at Lifetime developments in 2009. And spent three years there, and I learned a ton from them. And then I joined Capitol developments in 2012. And spent eight years working with them and learning a ton there and getting a lot of a lot of time, I was given a lot of autonomy, I’d say to work there. And so that’s really where my career grew a lot, my reputation. And at some point, it just, I just kind of thought to myself, if I’m ever going to take the leap, now’s the time to take the leap.”
On his passion for cycling:
“I think we should be investing more in cycling infrastructure in the city and trying to do more. Because driving around the city, frankly, sucks. I like to drive but driving in the city is the bane of my existence. Too many cars are on the road and we’re not using enough of the other infrastructures, whether it’s cycling or public transit. And that’s the reason why our city is so gridlocked. So, if we can promote more people to get on bikes, I think that’s an obvious solution to help minimize that.”
On marketing new projects:
“We’ve had a lot of local people from the neighbourhood reach out wanting to buy [in Scarborough]. I’ve said this before, I think when you’re changing a neighbourhood, hopefully for the better, but it’s still disrupting the people who live there. So, I’ve had people who live there reach out and say, ‘We should have a chance to buy in this building, like, it shouldn’t be pre-sold in two weeks and sold out, and then we never get a chance.’ So, you know, we’re working on trying to find a way to give them a chance to buy in the building. But for the most part I think it’s going to be a very typical strategy and working with the brokers who have really taken care of us and been loyal to us over the years.”
To learn more about Livabl Launch with Matthew Slutsky, visit the full podcast webpage.
