CONFERENCE FORMAT OFFERS YOU BETTER QUALITY CHOICES
THREE MAJOR THEME AREAS WITH FOUR SESSIONS EACH

The program for RealLeasing 2009 has been uniquely designed to offer the greatest possible value and flexibility to asset managers, leasing executives, corporate real estate directors, inhouse legal counsel, lawyers in private practice, commercial real estate brokers and others.

A wide range of the most significant leasing trends, issues, challenges, and strategies were identified and then grouped into three theme areas with each one offering four sessions.

You have a choice of attending all the sessions in a particular stream or selecting up to four various topics in two or more theme areas to makeup your itinerary for the day.
 

Take advantage of this opportunity to participate in informal discussions on the dynamics of key legal issues, market trends, and transaction activity. Tap into the minds of experts, gain insight into proven strategies, and share experiences with your peers. Participants will have the opportunity to join one of the following small discussion groups that will be held concurrently. Tables and leaders are identified at the end of this program. Please scroll to the bottom of this page to view topics

SESSION A1
NEGOTIATING INDUSTRIAL OFFERS TO LEASE IN A TENANTS’ MARKET

The session will open with a brief overview of the demand side of the industrial market: logistics and warehousing vs. heavy uses. What are the trends in the current industrial leasing market? What are the top five sticking points that are emerging in industrial deals today and how are they being addressed and resolved? What type of space is becoming obsolete and what is not? How are industrial tenant requirements changing, and what recent landlord initiatives are addressing this demand? How are landlords dealing with the challenge of securing financing for single tenant buildings in this credit market environment? How have values of B and C buildings been impacted over the past year?

Moderator:
Scott Addison, Executive Managing Director,
   Industrial & Investment Practice Groups, Colliers International

Panel:
Lisa Borsook, Managing Partner, WeirFoulds LLP
Rob Lauer, Vice President, Leasing, Bentall LP
Jordan Slatt, President, LDC Logistics Development Corporation
Paul Vander Schaaf, Vice President, Asset Management,
   ING Real Estate Canada LLP
 

SESSION C1
CURRENT TRENDS IN WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY AND TENANT GREEN MANDATES: IMPLICATIONS FOR LANDLORDS AND TENANTS

Tenants are strongly focused on having workplaces that are conducive for optimum productivity and help attract and retain valuable employees.

This session will explore some of the latest trends on how space planners, interior designers, architects and manufacturers are able to extract maximum value from today’s workplace. The new LEED Gold buildings are open for business and RBC and TELUS are moving into state-of-the-art premises. How do these new buildings provide a better workplace advantage and how have their space designs changed as a result? What are the implications of these approaches ultimately on the space requirements of organizations? How are they affecting tenant construction requirements? What are other issues and priorities for corporations as they strive for work environments that offer higher productivity? Corporate tenants are still very strongly focused on green workspace and buildings, but in most cases want to know what can be done without impacting their rent levels. Among smaller tenants, a greener building is not as important as what is the amount of their gross rent and how much flexibility is the landlord able to offer. What are some examples of greener workplaces that did not result in higher gross rents?

Moderator:
Doug Hitchcox, Vice President, Office Leasing Division,
     Sustainability Practice Group, Cushman & Wakefield Ltd.

Panel:
Barry Brennand, Director,  Workplace Solutions,
   Steelcase Canada Limited
Caroline Hughes, Strategic, Partner, figure3
Dermot Sweeny, Principal,
   Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co Architects Inc.
Daryl Watts, Global Director, Leasing, RBC Financial

 

SESSION A2
WHERE ARE THE DOWNTOWN AND SUBURBAN OFFICE MARKETS HEADING IN THE NEXT TWELVE MONTHS?



How is the office market performing across the eight submarkets that comprise the 416 and 905 regions? What are the key trends in each of these target areas? Is there much of a disconnect between tenants and landlords in this market? Where are prevailing rents at this time and where are they anticipated to be heading over the next twelve months? How is demand being affected by the approximately 2.5 million sq.ft. coming on stream in 2011? How will older buildings compete with new ones? Where is the velocity in today’s office market? Will there be a catch-up at some point due to the current softness? What will be the strategies to fill any large spaces? How are Class B and C buildings faring in comparison to higher quality buildings? How do landlords address the challenge of dealing with a tenant who is only in the market once every five or ten years? What business incentives are available from the City of Toronto, Mississauga and other municipalities to assist landlords in attracting tenants to buildings in these communities? Do they make a difference in deal flow?

Moderator:
Sandy McNair, President, Altus InSite

Panel:
John Knechtel, Senior Director, Leasing,
   The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited
Paul Morse, Senior Managing Director & National Practice Director,
     Office Leasing, Cushman & Wakefield Ltd.
Scott Moyes, Vice President, Office Leasing, Orlando Corporation
John Peets, Vice President, Office Leasing, Oxford Properties Group Inc.

 

SESSION B2
AN UPDATE ON THE WIDE RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IMPACTING COMMERCIAL LEASING AND BUILDING OWNERS

Environmental issues have increasingly emerged as extremely important and critical issues that can affect a lease negotiation, the structure and wording of leases, and the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords going forward. This session will update you on current and emerging regulations and issues, and how owners and tenants need to deal with these items within the leasing process. Discussion will focus on a range of items including: submetering, LEED CI, Ontario Energy Board, Green Energy Act initiatives and other issues related to energy efficient and greener buildings; asbestos abatement, toxic mould, potential pandemics and other health and environmental risk issues; the environmental impacts of tenants leaving a building. What other new environmental issues should be addressed in today’s leases? What kind of environmental insurance and strategies can owners and tenants use? How should insurance clauses be drafted to cover off these risks? How can landlords and tenants protect themselves from future regulatory change once a lease is executed?

Moderator:
Marc McAree, Partner,
   Certified Environmental Law Specialist,
   Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP

Panel:
Aaron Atcheson, Partner, Miller Thomson LLP
Sharon Ferrari, Risk Specialist, Scott’s REIT
Vico Paloschi, Vice President, Environmental Due Diligence &
     Remediation, Pinchin Environmental Ltd.
Carl Spensieri, Environmental Underwriter, XL Insurance Company Limited

 

SESSION C2
LEASING REAL ESTATE IN A SOFTENING MARKET: BLEND & EXTEND AND OTHER STRATEGIES

As vacancy rates in office, industrial and retail markets increase, what leasing strategies and hurdle rates are landlords considering in these market conditions? How are they marketing their vacant and soon-to-be vacant space? Are landlords keen to “extend and blend” and to renew tenant leases for as long as possible while tenants are seeking much shorter terms? What impact does this strategy have on net asset value? How do you get a deal done in this market? Do short term leases save money or do they not? Are there any particular creative ways to complete a successful transaction? What are the typical discussion points that should be easily resolvable in lease negotiation and what are the arguments used to reach the middle ground? How long should it take to finalize a deal? What are the practices and expectations of U.S. organizations in doing deals for their Canadian operations? When the differences are very significant between their approach and Canadian practices, how do you resolve these issues?

Moderator:
Craig Tresham, Principal & Senior Vice President,
     Avison Young Commercial Real Estate

Panel:
Catherine McKenna, Vice President, National Retail Leasing,
     Arcturus Realty Corporation
Nick Stryland, Director, Leasing, Orlando Corporation
Glenn Way, Vice President, Asset Management,
     GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
David Wood, Vice President, Asset Management & Leasing,
     Brookfield Properties Corporation

 

SESSION A3
KEY LEASING TRENDS AND ISSUES IN TODAY’S RETAIL MARKET

This session will focus on some of the major trends and issues in the current retail real estate leasing from both the landlords’ and the tenants’ perspectives. The discussion will open with a brief examination of consumer spending trends in this economy. What impact is consolidation in both the landlord as well as the tenant sector having on retail leasing? Given the blurring of retail lines between food and drugs, how are some landlords responding to this trend, e.g. wrestling with exclusive use clauses? Co-tenancy is becoming an increasing issue in retail. What are some of the special rights that tenants could bargain for with co-tenancy? Retail is also creeping into other uses. What the implications for leasing and the leases under these circumstances? Specialty leasing is also growing e.g. sign revenue, locker revenue. What are the implications of this trend?

Moderator:
John Crombie, Senior Managing Director, Toronto Suburban Operations
     & National Retail Director, Cushman & Wakefield Ltd.

Panel:
Mervyn Allen, Legal Counsel, Metro Ontario Inc.
Jeri Brodie, Partner,
   Orange National Retail Group Inc.
Glenn Featherstone, Vice President,
   Retail Leasing, Morguard Investments Limited
William Rowlands, Partner, Lang Michener LLP

 

SESSION B3
LANDLORD & TENANT RIGHTS AND OTHER LEASING ISSUES THAT YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF IN TODAY’S MARKET

With the downturn in the economy, the focus has shifted for lawyers and owners to more defense rather than offense. This panel will discuss the key differences and latest practices in rights of expansion, rights of contraction, early termination, rights of first refusal, rights of first offer, co-tenancy clauses, exclusives, renewal options and other real estate leasing tools. What are tenants asking for and why in today’s market? Are landlords ready to give away any special rights in today’s market? What are some sources of common conflict between a landlord and a tenant over special rights and how can they be avoided through the drafting process? How do you ensure that special rights are easy to administer? Both landlords and tenants are trying to build flexibility, and control, into their leasing arrangements. How can competing interests co-exist? How are litigators contending with these clauses where defaults occur? Where does the law of waiver fit in? Learn how these issues are addressed from the perspective of a landlord, a tenant and a litigator in today’s market conditions. Some recent commercial leasing cases on point, and their implications, will be examined.

Moderator:
Natalie Vukovich, Partner, Daoust Vukovich LLP

Panel:
Sharon Addison, Partner, McLean & Kerr LLP
Kenneth Beallor, Counsel, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP
Kelly Wawrychuk, Regional Director, Lease Documentation, Bentall LP
Ellen Williamson, Assistant General Counsel,
     The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited

 

SESSION C3
REPOSITIONING OLDER OFFICE BUILDINGS: WHAT STRATEGIES CAN YOU USE TO COMPETE WITH NEW ONES?

Most new developments in today’s market are being designed with LEED certification or some high performance metric in mind. However, new construction only represents about 1% of the building stock. What are the options for the remaining 99% of buildings with respect to enhancing their energy and environmental performance in general? What steps can owners of existing buildings take to improve the operational efficiencies of their properties and to ensure that their space remains competitive in the market? This session will examine specific asset management, marketing, and capital strategies that you can take to achieve these goals and objectives that can lead to ongoing improvements in your energy, water, and waste efficiency, and your building’s overall environmental management and performance. How do you involve your existing tenants in developing your strategy, getting their input and their buy-in? What are tenants’ expectations in this market with respect to workplace environments in older buildings? What costs are considered to be capital expenditures and which ones fall under operating costs? What are the rights of landlords and tenants in retrofitting or doing major renovations to an existing building? From the other perspective in an older building, what are some of the major issues associated with tenant build-outs and renovations?

Moderator:
Craig Smith, President,
   Ashlar Urban Realty Inc.

Panel:
Wayne Jacobs, Executive Vice President, Allied Properties REIT
Keith Major, Senior Vice President, Property Management, Bentall LP
Les Miller, COO, Crown Property Management Inc.
Chris Tambakis, CEO, North America,
     Adgar Investments & Development Inc.

 

SESSION A4
LEASING TO GOVERNMENT AS A TENANT

What are the more significant requirement and priorities in leasing with governments as compared with private sector practices? In light of the strength of their covenants in this market, what are public sector tenants demanding in the marketplace and how can landlords respond? What is the best way for owners to market space to this sector? What do landlords need to understand about governments evolving requirements and priorities and how to respond to them?

What are some of the most significant negotiating issues that landlords should anticipate public sector tenants to raise?

How does deal flow work in these types of transactions?

Moderator:
Sheldon Disenhouse, Partner, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP

Panel:
Maureen Flanigan, Vice President, Asset Management,
     GWL Realty Advisors Inc.
Hubert Labelle, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Management,
   Ontario Realty Corporation
Tom Muha, Vice President, Smith Company Real Estate Services Inc.

 

3:10 pm

3:15 pm
to
4:15 pm