Commercial Real Estate

Our real estate lawyers are a multidisciplinary team with extensive experience in commercial lease negotiations and drafting for retail, industrial and office leasing.

We regularly act for landlords, REITs, First Nations, developers, lenders, property and asset management companies, tenants and retailers. We can assist you in achieving your objectives in all leasing-related matters, including:

• commercial, industrial and office leasing;
• retail leasing in plazas, stand-alone buildings and shopping centres;
• ground leases;
• landlord and tenant rights;
• guarantees, indemnities and security agreements;
• subleases, estoppel certificates and non-disturbance agreements;
• lease enforcement and termination; and
• renewable energy leasing, including solar and wind energy.

We tailor each commercial leasing transaction to help you maximize your success and accomplish your objectives. 

Members of our condominium development practice group represent several developers and builders and work closely with their consulting teams, surveyors, architects, and property managers at all stages of condominium development, as well as the marketing and sale of units. We assist our clients in:

• land acquisitions and financing
• obtaining re-zoning and municipal approvals
• preparing all condominium disclosure documents and agreements required to market and sell condominium units
• drafting all documentation required for the establishment and maintenance of condominium corporations
• attending to the timely registration of condominium projects, including occupancy and final closings

We provide advice to developers and operators as well as government agencies in connection with all aspects of infrastructure and public projects, including, public private partnerships. We can advise you on:

• municipal, planning and zoning matters
• negotiating and preparing teaming and strategic agreements
• negotiating development, site plan and servicing agreements
• negotiating public and private partnership agreements
• financing and securitization
• preparation of all forms of financing documents and conduit lender forms of security and their enforcement

Our Real Estate lawyers help clients change the skyline.

With years of experience navigating the real estate market in both upswings and downturns, clients trust us to help them establish forward-looking strategies with their development and re-development projects in both urban and suburban areas, including: industrial and office complexes, high profile residential condominium, hotel, and retail projects, land assemblies, shopping centres, and residential subdivisions.

Our Commercial Real Estate group works closely with our Municipal and Planning Law group to ensure you receive the best possible representation throughout the land development process. We can assist you with:

• negotiating development, subdivision and site plan agreements
• structuring and documenting co-owner and joint venture arrangements
• property, hotel and development management agreements and construction management agreements
• drafting and negotiating agreements of purchase and sale and lease documentation
• reviewing and negotiating project loan agreements and financing documentation
• drafting and negotiating reciprocal agreements, shared use agreements and site development agreements
• environmental and regulatory matters

We assist our clients with the acquisition and disposition of commercial, development, office, multi-unit residential, retail, industrial, and residential real estate located throughout Canada. The breadth of our practice ensures that your needs and goals are carefully considered from all perspectives. We can assist you with all real property matters, including:

• purchase and sale transactions
• land assembly and development
• public and private partnerships
• sophisticated due diligence reviews, including the assessment of environmental, leasing, title, land use, and zoning matters
• ownership structures, including joint ventures, co-tenancies and partnerships
• financing
• negotiation and preparation of closing documentation

You have unique and complex needs for your real estate financing that demand experience and efficiency. Our Commercial Real Estate team has a reputation for excellence and we pride ourselves on our ability to propose innovative secured financing solutions for commercial properties to suit your needs. We regularly act on behalf of both lenders and borrowers, including leading financial institutions, investment dealers, real estate investment trusts, private partnerships, and investors.

We will assist you in all aspects of your commercial real estate financing, from the negotiating and drafting of loan agreements and commitment letters, to the preparation of all supporting documentation.
We assist our clients with all types of financings, including:

• acquisition financing
• construction financing
• conventional mortgage lending
• securitizations
• project financing
• restructurings

Our Real Estate litigation group is committed to finding the most favourable, cost effective solutions to real property disputes.

We represent vendors, purchasers, developers, builders, financial institutions, investors, financial brokers, contractors, owners, condominium corporations and board members in a wide variety of disputes, involving, but not limited to:

• enforcement of agreements of purchase and sale and other real estate contracts;
• representation of landlords and tenants with respect to forfeiture and termination of leases and the enforcement of rights and remedies granted by contract and applicable law;
• enforcement under the Condominium Act, 1998;
• condominium declarations, by-laws and rules enforcement;
• mediations/arbitration proceedings;
• secured transactions;
• construction contracts;
• construction defects;
• real estate investment partnerships;
• title insurance;
• specific performance;
• trespass/nuisance claims;
• adverse possession disputes, boundary disputes and access disputes;
• easements and rights of way disputes;
• by-Law and Regulatory infractions; and
• all aspects of land development before Courts and Tribunals.

From litigation involving tenants, landlords, subtenants, licensees, property managers, and related parties, through alternate dispute resolution, our sole objective is to achieve the best possible solution for our clients in the most cost effective manner possible.