Brad J. Lamb
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brad J. Lamb is a Canadian
real estate broker Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...
and condominium developer. He had a
reality television show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
named ''Big City Broker'' on the
HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...
Canada network for several years. The show focused on the workings of his real estate brokerage, "Brad J. Lamb Realty Inc." Lamb received media attention in March 2021. Due to a zoning bylaw violation, tenants living in units above an auto-body repair shop were forced to leave their units permanently by the City of Toronto.


Early life

Lamb was born in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, Canada. His father was an
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...
pilot and his mother a registered nurse. In 1967, the family moved to
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, where they settled in the
Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...
neighbourhood. Lamb attended Queen's University, where he obtained a degree in engineering. Lamb purchased his first property in
London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
in 1984. Early on, Lamb noted how much his real estate agent was earning on his property deals. A few years after his graduation, bored with his engineering sales position, he obtained his real estate license.


Real estate career

Lamb went to work for Harry Stinson's real estate company in 1988 and became a specialist in selling condominiums in central
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. He quickly became Stinson's top agent, making $250,000 in his first year. In 1995, he left Stinson to start his own firm, Brad J. Lamb Realty. In 2001, Lamb founded Lamb Development Corporation. It specializes in high style condominium projects, such as Flatiron Lofts, Worklofts, Glas, Parc, King Charlotte, Gotham Ottawa, The Harlowe, Theatre Park and Brant Park. The company has spread beyond Toronto to build and develop structures in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Montreal,
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
and
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
. Despite the boutique-style size, his agency became one of the most prominent sellers of condominiums in Toronto. In 2007, at the height of the property boom, his company's agents sold some 2,000 condos worth over $800 million. When the market slowed in 2008, the firm still moved about $525 million in real estate. According to Lamb's website, his agents have sold over 22,000 condominiums for over $8 billion as of 2016. Lamb is known for his billboards, particularly a 2007 series of ads that depicted a lamb with Lamb's head and the slogan "This Lamb Sells Condos." He has become "a household name in Toronto" and is often featured in the media as a real estate expert. In 2017,
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
accused Lamb of using Shatner's name and caricature likeness in his brochures to sell real estate. In March 2022, Lamb announced his plans for his King Street West building. These plans included a demolition of the current property to make way for a new 17 story tower featuring 714 sq. m of retail space on the ground floor, and two to three bedroom units above, However, city staff recommended the property for a heritage designation.


Controversies


Wellington House

In 2017, Lamb applied to obtain approval at the city level to build a 23-storey building behind two 19-century heritage homes at 422-424 Wellington St. W. in downtown Toronto, a project that was originally marketed as Wellington House. The proposed project required rezoning approval from the City of Toronto, but negotiations for those rule changes broke down, forcing the cancellation of units in the building in 2018. On March 23, 2020, Wellington House partially caught on fire amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Police say that at least one small explosion took place inside the abandoned semi-detached houses. Only two days later, the same building caught fire once again.


Pre-Construction condominiums and cancellations

Besides Wellington House, Lamb cancelled Jasper House condo project in Edmonton in 2017. Early in 2018, Lamb cancelled the James condo at 452 Richmond St. W. due to a re-zoning issue. In 2019, it was announced that Lamb's development of Television City in Hamilton is delayed to 2025. In the same year, another project from Lamb Development Corp. in downtown Toronto was cancelled.


1407-1409 Bloor Street West

In 2021, several tenants were forced by the City of Toronto to evacuate a Lamb-owned property located along Bloor Street West. The reason for their eviction by the City of Toronto was due to the violation of a zoning bylaw. They were living in units only deemed for commercial use. On March 26, after a brief negotiation, Brad Lamb and the tenants came to a collective agreement and shared a statement via their social media channels.


References


External links


Brad J. Lamb Realty official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Brad J. 1961 births Queen's University at Kingston alumni Living people Canadian businesspeople in real estate Real estate agents Real estate and property developers Businesspeople from Vancouver Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian engineers