Media & Interviews

January 21, 2023 - TEDx Talk Surrey

How Housing For Everyone Creates Thriving Communities For All

May 22, 2023 - Journal of Commerce

Affordable 13-Storey tower in vancouver built by women for women

Metro Vancouver's housing crisis has had a significant impact on women, especially single mothers and senior women. As Soroptimist of Vancouver board president and redevelopment chair Carla Busnardo points out, "Almost two-thirds of minimum wage earners in B.C. are women. High rents mean that safe and adequate housing is out of reach for many women, especially women parenting alone. The lack of housing options places women at greater risk of returning to or staying in an abusive situation. The housing crisis also makes women vulnerable to exploitation."

April 13, 2023 - WLRD CTY: The Liveable City

From Mico-Housing to Multi-family: What Does Housing 2.0 Look Like?

December 13, 2022 - On The Coast with Gloria Macarenko

Women are being put first in a new affordable housing development in Vancouver

A unique affordable housing project is in the works in the Cambie corridor. An all-female team is leading the development, and all of the lease-holders in the 135-unit complex will be women. The team lead is Carla Guerrera, founder and CEO of Purpose Driven Development. She'll be giving a TEDx talk about affordable housing solutions next month in Surrey, and we're pleased to welcome her to On The Coast.

October 3, 2021 - The Vancouver Sun

Affordable Vancouver housing development for women, by women

The concept for the 13-story, 135-unit housing project at 546 West 13th Ave. in Vancouver will break ground in more ways than one when construction gets underway next August. Designed to address women’s housing needs, the social housing project is a partnership between the non-profit organization Soroptimist International, and Vancouver-based developer Purpose Driven Development, providing affordable housing to women of various ages — working women, heads of women-led families and seniors.

September 1, 2021 - The Georgia Straight

All-women development team advances social-housing project near Vancouver City Hall

The City of Vancouver has approved a rezoning application for a social-housing development for and by women. The developer says it’s the “first of its kind in Canada and possibly even North America”. “What is especially unique about this project is that it is being delivered by an all-women team,” Carla Guerrera told the Straight in a phone interview.

August 23, 2021 - Journal of Commerce

Vancouver developer advocates for 'purpose-driven' projects

Building ethically doesn’t mean sacrificing success, it’s actually the key to it. That’s the lesson Carla Guererra learned after 20 years working with public and private groups developing more than $1 billion in large, complex projects.

Summer 2021 - Plan Canada

Innovative, Intergenerational housing empowers women

A housing development in the heart of Vancouver is set to fill this gap with a new model of “Housing For Women, By Women.” This innovative, intergenerational development goes beyond housing to foster a community of support and empowerment for women across different stages of life.

June 21, 2021 - CTV News

CTV Clip - Housing for Women by Women

June 19, 2021 - News 1130

Housing for Women by Women

It's an affordable housing project being called innovative and creative.
News1130's Renee Bernard tells us about a proposed apartment project in Vancouver whose developer, designers and tenants will be women. Click below to learn more.

June 19, 2021 - News 1130

Proposed Vancouver rental project designed, delivered, and for women

A developer and a non-profit have been working together to propose a 13-storey apartment building for Vancouver’s VGH neighbourhood which promises to be a first for Western Canada. If approved, it will be the first west of Toronto developed, designed and delivered by women – with a further bonus, in that all 135 units at 546 West 13th Ave. will be available at below market rents.

Spring 2021 - Planning West Magazine, Planning Institute of British Columbia

Songhees housing for Wellbeing: Innovative, Community-driven first nations housing

Songhees Housing for Wellbeing is an innovative, community-driven development project that focuses on the culture, health and wellbeing of the Songhees Nation, now and for the future. This project is a plan for multi-unit housing on an urban site that both respects the community’s values and will meet the needs of Nation members at every stage of life for current and future generations.

May 11, 2021 - Vancity

“When you help a woman, you help her whole family”

Soroptimist International Vancouver reimagines affordable housing for women with Vancity’s help. Our Kira Gerwing and Soroptimist’s Carla Busnardo explain.

March 22, 2021 - Real Estate Magazine

Vancouver project developed by women for women

And now for something completely different – the first development project in Western Canada that’s being developed, designed and delivered by a team of women for women, says Purpose Driven Development founder and CEO Carla Guerrera.

March 8, 2021 - Real Estate News Exchange

Carla Guerrera’s purpose driven: doing development differently

Carla Guerrera founded her Vancouver-based firm Purpose Driven Development in 2016 so she could do developments differently.

“I knew there was a way that was more creative, more collaborative and that really created more benefits for everyone, rather than just being bottom-line focused,” says Guerrera.

February 19, 2021 - The Globe and Mail

Soroptimist Club prioritizes a housing development by women, for women

They’re calling it the first development in Canada to be built by women, for women. While the Soroptimists were used to operating under the radar, they have finally decided it’s time to raise their profile, not just for the sake of the development, but for keeping the club alive.

February 3, 2021 - Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Innovative housing development seeks to empower women

COVID-19-induced lockdown measures have disproportionately affected women’s employment, but an accomplished female developer and an organization dedicated to women’s empowerment are endeavouring to change that with a first-of-its-kind project.

August 10, 2020 - Spacing Vancouver

Transform underutilized lands, Revitalize our cities, recover our economy

It’s time for the new normal. But what exactly is the new normal? For the city building sector, it could be using a confluence of unprecedented new opportunities to drive economic recovery while transforming communities across the province into inclusive, affordable, climate-positive places for generations to come. And it all starts with the redevelopment of underutilized brownfield lands to revitalize our cities.

June 25, 2020 - The Province

Carla Guerrera: transforming former industrial sites into vibrant new neighbourhoods an opportunity to boost economic recovery

OPINION: We have more than 6,000 registered brownfield sites in B.C. with active potential for redevelopment sitting derelict and underutilized. Many cities have successfully redeveloped large, former industrial lands in prime locations with strong economic impacts.

March 20, 2019 - Vancouver is Awesome

BIV talks: Better Living Through Planning

“Development, as you know, is full of tangles and knots that need to be untangled,” she said. “What I’ve learned in all of my work to date is that when you run across those complexities or those constraints, you can actually find the project’s most creative opportunity.”

December 14, 2018 - Mission City Record

Mission waterfront a priority for council

Mayor: ‘We still see our waterfront as a phenomenal opportunity for the entire community’. Mission’s waterfront was the main focus of Mayor Pam Alexis’ Christmas speech. The mayor was speaking at the annual Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce Christmas lunch on Thursday afternoon at the Best Western. She told the crowd the waterfront is alway high on the list of council priorities.

June 20, 2018 - Medium.com

6 Women Changing the Real Estate Industry

Recognizing some of real estate’s most exemplary women. When it comes to real estate, the split between male and female realtors might appear fairly equal in residential brokerages — but the majority of real estate leaders, managers, and developers remain largely male, and largely white. In New York, for example, the majority of women in leadership positions at development firms are typically the daughters of New York real estate moguls.

March 23, 2016 - CREW Vancouver

Commercial Real Estate Women “Member Spotlight Carla Guerrera”

Carla Guerrera is a leader in urban infill and redevelopment with a record of leading award- winning brownfield redevelopment and waterfront revitalization projects in Canada’s top markets. Carla has led the planning and development of over $600million in real estate development in her role at Waterfront Toronto, and Wesgroup…

November 19, 2015 - Monocle

Would a city planned or managed by a woman look different to any other?

In celebration of the women out there breaking glass ceilings, here is just a short list of some of the incredible women in real estate who are changing the face of the industry.

December 2, 2014 - Business in Vancouver

Business in Vancouver, “Development, as you know, is full of tangles and knots that need to be untangled.”

Growing up in Belleville, Ontario, Carla Guerrera spent her first nine years living in a farmhouse on the outskirts of town, far from friends, parks and stores – the antithesis of a pedestrian-friendly community. But then she moved into town with her family, and her eyes were opened to what a community could be…

November 6, 2014 - The Province

In Depth with Ian Austin — Top 40 Under 40 land use professional explains the keys to a desirable neighbourhood

Host Ian Austin chats with Carla Guerrera, a Vancouver land use professional, who was just named one of the top 40 under 40 by the 32,000 member Urban Land Institute. Guerrara makes the case that well planned communities are far more than just buildings – they’re parks, walkways, schools and community centres – all the things that make a neighbourhood desirable.

October 23, 2014 - Vancouver Sun

North Vancouver woman named one of world’s best young urban planners

North Vancouver urban planner Carla Guerrera was recognized this week as one the world’s top 40 urban planners by the Urban Land Institute at its fall meeting in New York.

Awards