Real estate veteran Vandenbelt to lead Paradigm Group’s new brokerage

July 31, 2023

Sarah Vandenbelt has joined the Paradigm Commercial Group of Companies as founder and CEO of Paradigm Commercial Real Estate and Brokerage, the firms announced last week.

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A growing Ottawa property management firm has turned to a well-known commercial real estate executive to lead its new brokerage business. Sarah Vandenbelt has joined the Paradigm Commercial Group of Companies as founder and CEO of Paradigm Commercial Real Estate and Brokerage, the firms announced last week. Launched in mid-July, the new company will focus on working with private investors, particularly professionals such as doctors and dentists who are looking to expand their office portfolios, Vandenbelt told OBJ on Monday. The two-person organization will also represent tenants seeking space. After nine years in the business, Vandenbelt is already very familiar with the Paradigm Group’s property management arm, Paradigm Properties, and its CEO, Ashley Hopkins. Vandenbelt and Hopkins have been acquainted for nearly a decade and recently found themselves collaborating on a number of files. “We were already working together, and we saw this ability to have that full-service operation in one shop,” said Vandenbelt, who spent the past five years at Ottawa’s Koble Commercial Real Estate and Brokerage. “It was one of those things where I was considering my options of doing my own thing. All of a sudden, it was the best option on the table for me, so we went all in.” Hopkins said adding brokerage services to Paradigm’s property and construction management capabilities was a logical step as the organization looks to keep expanding its offerings.

Value in joining forces

Paradigm Properties manages 19 commercial buildings across the city, about 70 per cent of them retail spaces. The firm will continue to focus on property management and maintenance, while Vandenbelt and her team will help ensure the buildings are occupied with the right mix of tenants, Hopkins explained. “That is where the value comes in joining forces, I think,” she said. The past few years have been turbulent for the commercial real estate industry as the pandemic sparked an e-commerce explosion and tenants shifted toward a hybrid work model that has driven up office vacancy rates. Meanwhile, steadily rising interest rates have threatened to further dampen investment activity in the sector. Still, both Hopkins and Vandenbelt say they believe the industry has a bright future. “There are a lot of buyers still very active in the market looking for the right assets,” Vandenbelt said. “They’re willing to stomach the seven, eight, nine per cent interest rates because they know in the long term, it’s going to help the growth of their business and interest rates will eventually come down. You have to think long-term with real estate.” Hopkins, whose firm has 10 employees, says she expects the Paradigm Group to continue growing – but at a measured pace. “Ottawa is a huge city,” she said. “There’s lots of opportunities. The intention is not to become a ginormous firm – the intention is to become an impactful firm.”