Real Estate and Property Awards 2020

40 BUILD Real Estate & Property Awards 2020 Leading Experts in Canadian Brownfield Real Estate Redevelopment 2020 Northern Advancement Capital Inc. is a real estate development firm operating in Northern Ontario that is earning a reputation for its refusal to shy away from a challenge. Striving for sustainable development through re-purposing old and underutilized buildings, President, Jason Naccarato and his team have taken on some exceptional projects, such as an unused prison, and breathed new life into them. We spoke to Jason to find out more about his innovative company. he late Mario Naccarato had a passion for real estate development and the regeneration of vacant and underutilized buildings in Sault Ste. Marie. He passed this knowledge along to his son Jason. Today, as President of Northern Advancement Capital Inc (NAC Inc)., situated in Northern Ontario, Jason is committed to sustainable community economic development, breathing new life into existing distressed assets that would often repel other developers. NAC Inc. focuses on repositioning brownfield sites and vacant buildings into practical assets that can be used to bolster local economies, finding value where others cannot and seeing the history, architecture and positive economics as an opportunity to pass value onto their clients. Jason and his team are experts in identifying technology, renovations, energy efficient solutions and required improvements that will take the asset to a desired level of functionality. Once the company has stakeholder buy-in, NAC Inc. oversees the entire renovation process, utilising cutting edge technology and industry best practices to create a valuable asset. As a team of entrepreneurs that takes an innovative approach to every project, NAC Inc. thinks creatively about how a formerly obsolete property can have value. Not only does this give the team a good challenge and opportunity to think outside the box, it is an environmentally friendly method of development. Reducing the carbon impact of the industry has never been so vital and NAC Inc. has presented a solution that could be instrumental in achieving this around the world. In addition to the economic and environmental benefits of NAC Inc.’s work is the preservation aspects, as many abandoned building’s find their greatest strengths lie in long histories. Conserving buildings such as these contributes to the celebration of a community’s heritage by being visual aids in the telling of a town’s stories, something that is lost when they are knocked down to create land for rebuilding modern houses. This was some of the principal thinking behind NAC Inc.’s recent and perhaps most challenging project to date. The empty prison that stood in Sault Ste. Marie did not attract an enormous customer base, both due to its long list of construction and aesthetic concerns and the stigma surrounding the building’s former purpose. Jason was not to be put off by such discrepancies, buying the building in the autumn of 2019 and setting about making strategic investments into reducing operating costs and increasing accessibility. In addition, the company launched significant PR campaigns to mitigate the stigma and perceptions of the former jail, proving that it was no longer a rundown old prison in need of serious construction reinvigorations, but an exciting opportunity to live in a unique and historical property. The result is a multi-use facility that includes a photography studio, a naturopath, French language school and Naccarato’s own office, as well as some high energy, positive tenants who share NAC Inc.’s fascination with the historical and surprising building. However, the outbreak of Covid-19 has meant that development of the project was forced to slow, as many tenants were forced to stop operating and rent was reduced during the summer so as to support them through this challenging period. However, the businesses are now beginning to return to normal and NAC Inc. hopes the aftereffects of the pandemic and lockdown will be minimal for their tenants. As business for their tenants resumes, so to does it for NAC Inc., who are looking forward to completing their project on the prison at 145 McNabb and move onto their next exciting repositioning project. As sustainability in the real estate development sector becomes more significant, the work of Jason and his team is continually proving more valuable, showing his competitors how development can be done in an organic way that benefits all. Contact: Jason Naccarato Company: Northern Advancement Capital Inc. Web Address: www.nacinc.ca T Sep20069