Howard Szalavetz - Why He Has Never Sold a Building
Howard Szalavetz has never sold a building. Read Howard Szalavetz's full profile: thevaultmtl.com/guests/howard-szalavetz He bought his first one with his father in 1992, an apartment building in Côte-Saint-Luc, and moved in. He says he has kept every building he has bought since. Howard is the president of HS Properties. He trained as a chartered accountant, and he still evaluates every property that comes across his desk himself. His one rule on debt is that no new deal is worth risking what he has already built. In 2017 he bought the Chabanel portfolio from PSP Investments: 2.5 million square feet that, by his account, was about 40% occupied. It was the largest single purchase of his life, and he says it took a couple of years to turn the corner. In this conversation with Cathy Bernard: what he looks for when he walks into a building, why he studies listings he has no plan to buy, what his father taught him about keeping his word, how a business coach helped him hand over work he used to do himself, and why he would not lay anyone off when COVID hit. Recorded in Montreal, June 2026. It was his first podcast. The Vault MTL is hosted by Cathy Bernard. thevaultmtl.com
