Simultaneous Interpretation in All Sessions!
Most PowerPoint Presentations will be Available!
 

OPENING PRESENTATION

MONTREAL LEASING MARKET : OVERVIEW ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION KEY TRENDS AND TRANSACTIONS IN OFFICE, RETAIL AND INDUSTRIAL REAL ESTATE

An overview discussion on office, retail and industrial leasing activity in the Montreal market. What are the major trends? What were some of the most significant transactions? How would you describe deal flow, velocity, and pace in today’s market? How much new space is anticipated over the next 12 months? What are the anticipated absorption rates? What are the profiles of the tenants that are looking for space? What are the resulting implications for leasing activity in 2008 and beyond? How much of an emphasis is there now on greener and more environmentally enhanced buildings?

Moderator:
Andrew Cross, Publisher, ESpace Magazine

Industrial Market
Paul-Éric Poitras, Managing Partner, Montreal Office, NAI Commercial

Office Market
Bruce Cowper, Senior Vice President,
   Avison Young (Québec) Inc.

Retail Market
Yves Maurais, Senior Partner,
   Intercom Services Immobiliers
 

MORNING REFRESHMENTS

CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Select AA1 or AA2)                     

Session AA1
Major Office Leasing Market Trends and Issues in a Tightening Market

With downtown vacancy rates dropping, there is a sense that we are now in a landlord’s market. The session will open with a very brief overview of the comparative office leasing trends in the downtown cores, suburbs and other sub-markets in Montreal. How much unoccupied space is there currently on the market? What is happening to net rents? What are projected long term rent trends? What will likely happen in the remainder of 2008? How can tenants find cost certainty and flexibility under the current market conditions? Is there a changing mindset among tenants? Are they starting to view space and real estate as a strategic attribute rather than a cost? To what extent are tenants pushing the demand for greener building environments? Are there really higher costs and, if so, can they be justified? Can the quality of facilities contribute to retaining and recruiting key employees? Do greener buildings enhance occupant productivity and lower operating costs? What implications do green buildings have on leases? What attributes are meeting the corporate culture and needs of these users? How important is LEED?

Moderator:
Sandy McNair, President, Altus Insite

Panel:
Laurent Benarrous, Senior Vice President,
   Tenant Retention Group, Jones Lang LaSalle
Paul Fischlin, Vice President, Client Services,
    Arcturus Realty Corporation
Pascale Roy, Senior Director, Asset Management,
    Quebec & Atlantic Provinces, GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
Michael Stones, Director, Real Estate Management,
    Oxford Properties Group Inc.

Session AA2
Net Rent, Lease Audits, CAM and Operating Cost Charge-Backs: Five Issues on the Edge

This session will examine the often-thorny issue of operating cost charge backs in a net lease and where the difficulties lie with this practice. Operating costs and charge-backs are one of the most negotiated issues in lease negotiations, and sometimes they are the most misunderstood. What exactly is an operating cost and what is not? Do tenants understand them? What are the courts saying notwithstanding what the lease says? How transparent are landlords? How transparent do they need to be? Is there a challenge in allocating costs in a mixed-use building? If CAM costs are reduced, how are these savings passed on to tenants? If a tenant asks for full audit rights, can they exercise such a right? How frequently are landlords of office and retail space being audited by their tenants? What are their experiences and policies with respect to lease audits? What is the language of a good and a bad audit clause, including how to settle audits, the timing and the process? Is there an appropriate administrative fee that landlords can charge? Do gross leases have an appeal to tenants and/or landlords? If so, why are they not commonly used? How would a gross rent be calculated?

Panel:
Jo-Anne Durand, Partner, De Grandpré Chait LLP
Caroline Redler, Vice President & General Counsel,
   Westcliff Management Ltd.
Joelle Sebag, General Counsel, Canderel Management Inc.
 

Session BB1
Leasehold Improvement and Construction Costs in Today’s Market: Current Issues and Management Challenges

This session will examine how a construction schedule really works and what the implications are for the tenant, the landlord and the leasing transaction. The goal will be to provide strategic advice on how to effectively manage a buildout or leasehold improvement (from the perspective of a landlord or a tenant) in today’s market. Discussion will also cover such issues as: being ready on time; managing construction costs given the uncertainty in labour, materials and construction costs, and delivery dates and penalties. What are the main elements of tenant space and landlord space? What are their respective work obligations? How important are measurement clauses in a lease with respect to tenant build-outs? What alternatives do owners and tenants have in light of these issues?

Panel:
Chuck Scott,
   Managing Director, Client Solutions,

   Cushman & Wakefield LePage
Nabil Naccache, Vice President, Operations, Landmark Properties Inc.
Georges Hauspy, Partner, Moureaux Hauspy+Associés designers
Tony Renda, President, Construction Tony Renda Inc.
 

Session BB2
Industrial Real Estate Leasing Trends in Montreal

An examination of the most common trends in leasing industrial property in the greater Montreal market. What are the major differences in leasing space for warehousing and logistics vs. manufacturing and other processing purposes? Have the standards for industrial leases of environmental compliance increased along with the need for exit reports? To what extent have the increasing costs of construction and the rising price of industrial land affected build-to-suit activity? What impact have these trends had on lease rates? Have industrial leases changed to any major extent over the past few years? What are your biggest challenges with tenants today?

Moderator:
Robert Mercier, President, DTZ Barnicke (Quebec) Ltd.

Panel:
Joe Iadeluca, Regional Director, Quebec Equity, GE Real Estate
Thierry Lessoil, Managing Director & Assistant Vice President,
   Real Estate, Sun Life Financial
Carol Massoud, Director, Leasing & Property Management,
   ING Real Estate Canada

CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Select CC1 or CC2)

Session CC1
Drafting Key Clauses in Leases: Damage and Destruction, Termination, Demolition and Restoration Obligations, Environmental Liabilities

This session will examine a number of key clauses within a lease that encounter considerable discussion and debate between landlords, tenants, brokers and lawyers during a lease transaction.

Damage and destruction provisions of a lease were often overlooked or lightly negotiated. However, as a result of many natural and man-made forces over the past five years in North America, prudent landlords and tenants are reassessing their master lease and policies in an effort to avoid some of the potential quagmires. This session will examine many aspects of these issues from all perspectives. For example, what does “not tenantable” mean? Can you invoke that if you merely cannot get access? What if there is mould damage as a result of a storm? What if there is damage from contamination? What if there is a blackout? Who bears the risk? Is it insurable?

Termination clauses will be examined. How do you break them if you are a landlord; if you are a tenant? How can termination be applied for default? Many tenants are not aware of their final obligations at the end of the term of their lease.

Final discussion will examine some of these issues and responsibilities including: demolition and restoration obligations; moving out problems; redundant wiring and who must remove it; asbestos abatement, toxic mould, potential pandemics and other environmental and health risk issues. How are leases being drafted with these issues and clauses in mind?

Moderator:
Christian Guay, Real Estate Broker,
    Immobilière Nationale Inc.

Panel:
Stéphanie Beauregard, Director, Legal Affairs,
   Landmark Properties Inc.
René Gauthier, Senior Partner,
   Gascon & Associés, LLP
Laurent Roy, Partner, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP

Session CC2
New Developments and Challenges in Retail Leasing

Change is a constant in retail development. The panel will discuss the implications of some of the latest trends in retail real estate on leases and the relationships between landlords and the tenants. What new types of retail properties are being created in this market? What are the leasing issues in mixed-use buildings and lifestyle centres? Are there new concepts creating a new set of problems or are they mitigating some of the old ones? What impact is consolidation having on retail leasing in both the landlord and tenant sectors? Why are there so many issues pertaining to exclusive use clauses? Are they poorly drafted or is it a function of market trends as retailers change their product offerings and reposition themselves? The issue of retrofitting former anchor space into smaller uses will also be discussed since the pool of available major tenants is shrinking. How do you sub-divide it? How does it impact the CRU tenants? What happens now with exclusivity? What impact do clauses in the master lease have re: subleasing? Is there a possibility that you may need rezoning? If so, what would be involved with that process? What are the rights of the head tenant vs. the subtenants? To what extent are tenants pushing the demand for greener retail environments? Are there really higher costs and, if so, can they be justified? What are some examples of retail projects and developments with greener attributes?

Moderator:
Danielle Lavoie, Director, Property Management,
  Arcturus Realty Corporation

Panel :
Steven Chaimberg, Partner, Lapointe Rosenstein LLP

Julie Martineau, Senior Director, Leasing, Quebec & Atlantic Provinces,
   SmartCentres
Julie Mc Lean, Director, Real Estate Development, Boston Pizza
 

A panel of experts will participate in an engaging discussion on lease negotiations in today’s market. Two of the speakers will represent the landlords’ perspective while the other two panelists will represent the tenants’ interests. What are some of the typical discussion points that are easily resolvable in lease negotiation and what are the arguments used to reach the middle ground?  How do landlords perceive themselves? How do tenants perceive themselves? What value could lawyers and brokers bring to the landlord, to the tenant and to the overall process in a tight market? How long should it take to finalize a deal in today’s Montreal market? How should a landlord deal with a bully tenant who just can’t be satisfied? How should a tenant deal with a bully landlord that won’t compromise? How do you plan for step-downs on the landlords’ side while making your case for changes on the tenants’ side?

Moderator:
Fredric Carsley, Partner, De Grandpré Chait LLP

Panel:
Louis-Martin Dubé, Partner,
   Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Earl Cohen, Partner, McMillan Binch Mendelsohn LLP
Pierre Houle, Senior Vice President, Colliers International
Glenn Munro, Managing Partner, Eastern Canada,
   North American Development Group
Michael Stones, Director, Real Estate Management,
    Oxford Properties Group Inc.

Simultaneous Interpretation in All Sessions!
Most PowerPoint Presentations will be Available!