Our Commercial Real Estate practice, consisting of 35 lawyers in offices in Toronto, Montréal and New York, is highly regarded for its expertise. We have extensive experience in transactions involving the acquisition, disposition, financing, construction and development of significant complex properties and portfolios of properties, very often in jurisdictions across Canada, the United States and in cross-border transactions. We also have extensive experience with the creation of public and private REITs. We have been instrumental in the use of private REITs in the United States as a mechanism for Canadian pension funds to acquire and hold real estate in the United States on a tax efficient basis.
Real estate work in which we have been involved includes:
- Acting for vendors and purchasers on the acquisition and disposition of office buildings, shopping centres, industrial buildings and development properties throughout Canada and the United States;
- Acting for owners and developers in the development, construction, lease-up and operation of significant commercial, public sector and mixed-use projects;
- Acting on sale-leaseback transactions and other similar transactions for significant properties throughout Canada; and
- Acting on the negotiation and drafting of complex real estate contracts, including shared facilities agreements and other easement agreements.
Our Clients
We have acted for:
- Canadian, U.S. and international real estate companies and investment vehicles;
- REITs;
- Crown corporations;
- Pension funds;
- Developers;
- Canadian, U.S. and international financial institutions and insurance companies;
- Investment banks;
- Provinces, municipalities and other public authorities;
- Universities.
Recognition
Several of our lawyers are consistently recognized as leading commercial real estate practitioners in Canada. Our practice has consistently been ranked in the top tier by Expert Guides' The Best of the Best, Lexpert® and Chambers Global, which described the practice as "providing high quality advice on complicated matters".