RE:Message boards = Collective hype and misintrepretationI have been wrong too. I think a lot of REITs place too much emphasis on increasing NAV, increasing FFO/unit, and running their NCIB because these are the things the average person invested in these REITs cares about at least most of the time. And most of the time they would be right to care about these things. It's not glamorous to say FFO and NAV declined this quarter because an office building was sold and debt was paid down however it is probably what should be done in this very uncertain economic environment.
Toronto is one of the fastest growing cities in North America. Toronto is one of the fastest growing cities for tech employment. New condo developments like Forma can sell for $2000 per square foot while the Dream Office Toronto properties trade on the TSX for the equivalent of under $400 per square foot. Many of the Dream Office buildings have smaller floor plates which would make them ideal for future office to residential conversion.
I'm sure most politicians are looking with horror at what is happening to San Francisco. Absolutely no good comes from having 30% office vacancy. It causes property values to decline, property taxes to decline, downtown businesses to go bankrupt, it makes the area less safe when there are less people around, etc. It would make much more sense to convert unwanted office space into much needed residential housing and hopefully Toronto will come around to seeing that.