James Beach

As Broccolini’s development manager, James Beach is part of the team that secures land assets, recruits tenants, prepares lease packages, hires architects and engineers, and even helps conceive of a building’s design. He’s played a critical role in seeing many Broccolini buildings—such as the Export Development Canada office tower—come out of the ground in Ottawa’s downtown core, and he’s passionate about providing vital input into such projects. “There’s a lot of creative thinking and problem solving that goes into pre-construction work,” he says. “A project’s physical elements are its most obvious manifestation, but that’s only part of the whole story told by a building.” Although James has a deep appreciation for the hands-on work and deep thinking that goes into a building’s assembly, his true love lies in meeting the challenges that occur before the first shovel ever hits the ground. “This kind of work is all about being mindful of even the smallest detail,” he says. “From making sense of lease agreements that are loaded with legal jargon to developing site plans that account for building and tenant requirements, our team has to be completely focused on details to ensure a project is possible and profitable.” At Broccolini, James has found a career where he’s given the freedom to learn about and understand such complex and nuanced concepts, and where he can pursue his passion for contributing to the development of Ottawa’s skyline.