On June 2, 2022 Concert’s Chair, President and CEO, David Podmore, OBC, was inducted into the NAIOP Icons Hall of Fame at the biennial Commercial Real Estate Awards of Excellence gala at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
NAIOP, also known as the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is an industry organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial and mixed-use real estate, with over 20,000 members in North America.
The NAIOP Vancouver Chapter established the NAIOP Icons Hall of Fame by including previously named NAIOP Icons from the past two decades. The NAIOP Icon Award is given to individuals in the commercial real estate development field who have demonstrated great leadership, contributed to the industry and community, and who can be held up as a positive example in the sector and Metro Vancouver as a whole.
Between his multi-decade career in the real estate industry and his numerous philanthropic endeavors, David exemplifies these qualities. David co-founded Concert in 1989 under the mandate to deliver assured rental housing and he has led Concert through a tremendous amount of growth and diversification.
In 2000, to balance the variability of the condominium market, David led Concert’s expansion into commercial property investment with the purchase of a portfolio of properties. Acquisitions across the country followed, most recently in Quebec.
Then, in 2016, he led the creation of the CREC Commercial Fund® LP, offering investors a diversified portfolio of office and industrial real estate across Canada – now valued at nearly $2.5 billion.
Today, the company has an asset value of $8 billion and a portfolio that includes commercial, rental, condominium, seniors’ communities and infrastructure projects.
David has also been active in countless community initiatives, served on numerous industry and philanthropic boards, and has made a tremendous impact on the industry, including his leadership role in raising over $4.2 million for trades training programs across Canada, and over $100 million for redevelopment of the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Burnaby campus.
“I am humbled and extremely proud to be included among this list of industry giants,” says Podmore. “Using my position to help support the sector and improve the lives of those who live and work in our communities – and British Columbia in general – is very meaningful to me.”
The other Icons inducted into the Hall of Fame include Nat Bosa, Dr. Robert H. Lee, Joseph Segal, Keith Beedie, Peeter Wesick, John R. McLernon and Doug Pearce.