Hi Reader,

I hope you had a great long weekend.

Over the past couple of years, I've been approached by about a dozen different AI apps that promise to help you figure out whether you should build a multiplex.

Most of them generate a rough pro forma, estimate your returns, and tell you whether the project "works".

Another one landed in my inbox this weekend, and it immediately reminded me of the story of the Space Pen.

The story goes that when NASA was preparing for space missions, engineers spent significant time and money developing a ballpoint pen that could write in zero gravity.

The Russians, meanwhile, simply used a pencil.

Whether every detail of that story is historically accurate isn't really the point. The lesson is that sometimes we become so focused on building a better tool that we forget to ask whether we're solving the right problem.

One of the many things I've learned from working alongside real estate developers for more than 20 years—and interviewing more than 50 industry professionals on my podcast—is that development is incredibly nuanced.

I intentionally call it a journey, not a process.

Because a process implies predictability.

Development is anything but.

It is personal.

It is emotional.

It is unpredictable.

And more often than not, it comes down to one simple question:

What decision can you live with?

In those moments, having a faster calculator doesn't solve your problem.

The difficult part is NOT calculating the numbers.

The difficult part is deciding what those numbers mean FOR YOU.

A spreadsheet—or an AI platform—can't measure whether you'll be comfortable carrying millions of dollars of debt.

It can't tell you how you'll react if approvals are delayed by six months.

It can't tell you whether you'll sleep at night when construction costs increase or financing conditions suddenly change.

Those aren't spreadsheet problems.

They're human decisions.

That's exactly why I designed the Toronto Multiplex Feasibility Workshop.

Yes, we'll build a pro forma.

Yes, we'll discuss financing, construction costs, approvals, and project economics.

But those are only part of the journey.

The goal is not to convince you to do a multiplex project.

The real objective is to help you develop the judgment, confidence, and decision-making framework that allows you to evaluate opportunities more effectively—and decide whether a project is truly right for you.

If you'd like to learn more, here's the link.

Best,

Payam Noursalehi​
President, Solnik Construction Group

330 Highway 7 E, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3P8
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