In this edition of our newsletter we feature
Bianca Gilbert from Colliers International.
Q: What made you go into the field of commercial real estate?
A: Real estate brokerage translates to working with a variety of people and companies across different industries, so the day to day is very dynamic. I also like that it is tangible, and that it has an impact on the communities we live and work in.
Q: What is your primary focus in terms of industry?
A: Industrial Sales & Leasing.
Q: Tell us about your team at Colliers.
A: I work with a variety of people from Colliers, depending on the project. I specialize in the Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Tri-cities areas of Metro Vancouver so typically will partner with another broker who also specializes in these areas. I have worked on a few of projects with Ewen Johnston in particular.
Q: Give us your brief thoughts on the current market.
A: Anyone who’s read a real estate article as of late has probably heard how tight the industrial market is – most recently at about 1.5% vacancy rate. We are also starting to see a bit more pushback from tenants and buyers on rates and market prices. Going into my third year in industrial brokerage, I have only seen vacancy rates decline – real estate is cyclical so…
Q: What is the most frustrating part of your job?
A: Colliers recently hired a new Project Coordinator. She’s fantastic to work with, however…Guess what her name is? Bianca.
Guess where she sits? 10 feet away from me.
Guess who she also works with? Ewen Johnston.
This is hilarious but can get very confusing…”Bianca” isn’t exactly a common name.
Q: Have you always wanted to be in Commercial Real Estate?
A: No. I was originally accepted into the Sauder School of Business for their finance program and took real estate classes to fill my credit course load. I realized I enjoyed my real estate classes so much more than crunching numbers in my finance classes, so made the switch.
Q: What would your chosen profession be if it wasn’t in real estate?
A: I haven’t really thought about this since I started at Colliers right out of university, and don’t have a “Plan B” to brokerage. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pet shop owner. I’m not sure how the pet shop business is fairing out, but I think real estate was the better call.
Q: What is your favourite lunch spot in Vancouver?
A: Anywhere that has tacos. You know you’re close to me if we’ve gone for tacos before.
Q: What are the top three travel destinations on your bucket list?
A: Tough one! Probably Colombia, Brazil, and the Whitsundays in Australia.
Q: What was your very first job and how old were you?
A: I sold t-shirts at the BC Lions games – I was 13 and had just started 8th grade.
Q: Tell us something that might surprise us about you.
A: I own a giant inflatable t-rex costume and have chased my niece and nephew down a public beach in it.
Pictured: Bianca bungee jumping in Whistler
