Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) sold the surplus vacant lands adjacent to its downtown Toronto Broadcast Centre. The purchasers were Ontrea Inc. and the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd. (CFCL), the two principal real estate subsidiaries of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.
CFCL had previously constructed Simcoe Place, an office and related retail complex in the south-eastern corner of the block anchored by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board office tower. With the sale of the surplus lands, related long-term leases of Simcoe Place were amended so that, inter alia, an affiliate of CFCL was granted an option to purchase the land from CBC at the end of the term of its lease.

The combined transactions closed on December 1, 2003, and will allow Simcoe Place to be developed into a mixed-use complex featuring residential, commercial and retail buildings, while giving CBC needed revenue and savings to re-deploy towards operations and programming. The value of the transaction is confidential.

CBC was represented in-house by Pierre Nollet, vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary; and by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team that included Gregory Howard, Jeffrey Lem and Brian Clark (real estate) and Andrew Welsh (corporate). Tax advice was provided in-house by Michael Mooney, senior director, strategic initiatives and resource planning; and by Stephen Ruby and John Zinn of Davies....

...Tax advice to the purchasers was provided by Lois Miles, vice-president, taxation, CFCL; and by David Smith, Q.C., and Neal Armstrong (tax) of Davies.