Urban
Toronto is a city full of office towers and sky-scraping condominiums, with more going up on what seems like a daily basis. More and more of us ride elevators to our offices and homes every day because walking up all of those stairs would be a gruelling exercise. If you worked on a high floor at King and Bay, could you imagine taking all of those stairs to your office floor? Or how about to the top floor instead? In multiple towers?! Well, that's just what these people did on Wednesday.
Members of the Brookfield team posing at the top of the First Canadian Place, image by Aleksandra Cirjak
30 teams of 5 people each, representing the top Real Estate and Development companies in Canada, came together on October 29th for the Real Estate Climb For United Way. In five of Toronto's skyscrapers located around the Bay and King intersection, the teams climbed up the numerous flights of stairs to reach the top floor of each for the fundraiser.
This year marked the second annual Real Estate Climb, with teams raising $73,000 for the private-sector supporter of social services. The money raised goes towards over 200 community agencies that the United Way looks after - ESL programs, settlement services, mentoring and educational supports for young people, etc.
Members of the Devencore team walking up the stairs at the First Canadian Place, image by Aleksandra Cirjak
The five towers were the Commerce Court West Tower where participants climbed 50 of the 57 floors, First Canadian Place where they climbed 71 of the 72 floors, TD Canada Trust Tower at Brookfield Place where they climber 45 of the 53 floors, the TD Bank Tower at the Toronto-Dominion Centre where they climbed 54 of the 56 floors, and the Scotia Plaza tower where they climbed 54 of the 68 floors. The Scotia Plaza tower climb was done as a relay.
The teams that participated were: Altus Group Limited, Avison Young Commercial Real Estate, Beauleigh Retail Consulting, Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Limited Partnership, BMO Financial Group, Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Brookfield Properties Ltd., Brookfield Residential Property Services, Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, Cannon Services, CB Richard Ellis Limited, CBRE Limited Global Corporate Services, Colliers International, Connect Resource, Cresa Toronto, Cushman&Wakefield Ltd., Devencore Realties Corp. Canada Ltd., DTZ, Dream, Ellis Don, Govan Brown Inc., Great-West Life, Canada Life and London Life, Halsall Associates Ltd., Manulife Financial, Monarch Corporation, Oxford Properties Group, PCL Constructors Canada Inc., RioCan Management Inc., Scotia Capital, Slate Properties.
Group shots of the Real Estate teams
Group shots of the Real Estate teams
The Real Estate Climb for United Way was not a timed event, but two prizes given out to recognize some work on the part of the participants. The Top Fundraiser prize was given to Farid Malek of Dream Unlimited for raising $1,650, and the Top Fundraising Team prize went to Scotia Capital for raising $3,650. By the looks on the teams faces above, everyone enjoyed their climb. Or were those shots from before the climb?
Could a similar event be held where you work or live to support the United Way? If you are wondering how you might be able to contribute, contact the United Way Toronto.