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2 Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
Methodology
Legal Media Group was the first to publish international guides to individual lawyers in 1994 and this 2004 Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers contains only individuals nominated by clients and peers as leading advisers in the field. The guides are designed primarily for individuals who require access to pre-eminent practitioners in specific areas of law for the purpose of instruction on an international basis. To ensure the credibility of this publication, Legal Media Group commissioned its research department to carry out an in-depth study of experts in the field of real estate law. The initial stage of the research process involved distributing 3,600 questionnaires to senior practitioners or in-house counsel involved in the practice area in 66 jurisdictions. The questionnaires asked leading figures to nominate those practitioners they considered to be among the most capable for real estate work. The results were analyzed and screened for firm, network and alliance bias.
As a final verification, the list was discussed with a select group of advisers from leading legal centres worldwide, including: Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver, Vienna and Washington DC. At the culmination of this process the researchers had identified 411 specialists in 30 jurisdictions. Once nominated, each individual was invited to enhance their complimentary listing by publishing a professional biography. Those submitting biographies were encouraged to provide information that would be of particular interest to clients. Where professional etiquette permitted, details of notable clients and cases were requested.
The Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers is designed to act as an adjunct to traditional sources of opinion on experts in this field. The guide owes its value to the many individuals who took the time to complete questionnaires and meet our researchers. Their help is much appreciated.
Sean Müller Research manager
Canadian real estate: demand
seems unending
Many of the obvious developments in the Canadian real estate market are due to the unparalleled demand by domestic and international investors for Canadian real estate.
First, the changed focused from real estate operating companies to real estate investment trusts (Reits) has continued. Investors have not been as inclined to acquire shares in, or to encourage the creation of, new public real estate companies. As a result, there are far fewer substantial public real estate companies today than in the past, largely due to the appetite of investors for Reits. The combination of the public listing of Reits and the direct tax advantage they offer to investors has spurred the creation of additional Reits, some by way of IPOs and others by way of conversion from operating companies. In fact, large portfolios of real estate have been marketed and sold en bloc with the specific intent of allowing purchasers to convert their newly acquired portfolios into Reits. This change in focus during the past two years has been tangible – the deal lists have been dominated by Reits.
The demand for Canadian real estate has also led to the increased presence of private equity funds. These funds have traditionally been associated with pension fund vehicles, but the most recent trend has involved creation of private funds that take advantage of the inclination of investors such as endowment funds, high-net-worth individuals and smaller pension funds to participate in real estate investment without owning assets directly. For other investors, participation in private equity funds avoids the capital market risks of Reits and allows diversification within the real estate asset class. Another readily identifiable trend is the presence, in significant transactions, of international investors, particularly those from Germany and Israel. In the last two years, investors from these countries have allocated funds to acquiring Canadian real estate and have been remarkably successful in bidding wars over high-profile properties. They have taken advantage of historically low interest rates to leverage their acquisitions to provide a rate of return acceptable to their overseas investors. Pension funds continue to be substantial investors. This is nothing new; however, while it is arguable that pension funds may have initially viewed the increased bidding and prices offered for Canadian real estate from other investors as irrational, that view, if it ever existed, quickly changed and pension funds once again demonstrated their financial clout. The participation of Reits, private equity funds, offshore investors and pension funds in the Canadian real estate market has made the market less parochial and more capital markets driven. As one senior commentator has noted, there appears to be a new pricing paradigm for valuing real estate, which is not as irrational as some might have originally presumed.
The last two years have been the most active for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuance. There have been 16 CMBS transactions for a total of CA $6.38 billion during this period, with 2004 seeing the largest single public issue of CA $580 million. There have also been new entrants into this market. Most important, however, has been the rapid growth in the investor base for Canadian CMBS securities, as demonstrated by the AAA spreads over three back-to-back transactions in the fall of 2004. In a competitive interest rate environment, the principal challenge for the Canadian CMBS industry in 2005 will be the need for increased loan origination. Gordon S Sato (top)
and Danny C Grandilli McCarthy Tétrault LLP Toronto
16 Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
Not too long ago, public private partnerships were seen as an area of investment with explosive potential, especially given the stated intention of federal and provincial governments to reduce debt and limit spending. Public private partnerships have continued to be bruited, but actual progress has been in fits and starts with some being withdrawn or restructured at the whims of local government. While all levels of government pay lip service to the concept, there is currently not an unconditional government commitment to this financing model. Whether the increasingly recognized need to improve and upgrade urban infrastructure will lead to greater demonstrated commitment to public private partnerships remains to be seen. There is a trend evident by the adoption of legislation in certain jurisdictions (most recently Ontario) to encourage investors to reclaim brownfield sites. Infilling throughout urban centres, most often for multiresidential uses, has also been encouraged. Investors, weary of competing for properties, which attracts too many bidders, have begun exploring the opportunities that may exist in creating value by developing brownfield sites and using technological advances to deal with any environmental contamination. Ontario is attempting to assist investors by passing legislation that will aid investors and their lenders in avoiding certain environmental liability associated with owning the sites, although it is arguable whether that has yet been achieved.
A number of significant events have occurred but cannot be characterized yet as evidence of a trend:
• the recent opening immediately north of Toronto of Vaughan Mills Centre, the first enclosed shopping centre in memory;
• the new-found interest of our cultural institutions, particularly in Toronto, in redevelopments with statement architecture and design; there is no evidence yet that commercial developers will follow suit; and
• the federal government’s announcement of preliminary plans to sell and lease back much of its real estate.
Lastly, although it is true that the Canadian market has traditionally followed developments south of the border, there are two domestic factors that may have a significant impact on the Canadian real estate industry:
• the murmurings of Canada’s central bank (and even more so, it seems, the US Federal Reserve chairman) as to further interest rate increases, if turned into reality, will have seismic effects on real estate equity yields; and
• the recent rise in the value of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar, and forecasts as to its continued appreciation, will undoubtedly have a large impact on investment decisions.
Keith E Burrell
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Pacific Centre, Suite 1300, 777 Dunsmuir Street PO Box 10424 Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K2 Canada Tel: (1) 604 643 7939 Fax: (1) 604 643 7900 Email: kburrell@mccarthy.ca Website: www.mccarthy.ca
Keith E Burrell is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Vancouver office and a member of the firm’s Real Property and Planning Group.
Mr Burrell’s commercial real estate practice involves extensive work with public and private real estate developers, both local and offshore, as well as real estate investors, including pension funds and Reits seeking commercial income properties.
He is also experienced in all aspects of real estate development, with a particular emphasis on commercial projects and public-private partnerships. Mr Burrell has extensive experience in preparing and negotiating documentation required for projects structured as partnerships or joint ventures, as well as in ancillary management and other service agreements.
His recent experience includes acting for the selected proponent for the expansion of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre; the purchaser of a landmark office building for in excess of $130 million; the province of British Columbia (represented by BCBC) in the limited tender and sale of two office buildings for $64 million; the purchasers of Semiahmoo Shopping Centre and West Oaks Mall; and an institutional investor acquiring the McMillan Bloedel Building in Vancouver for $76.8 million. Mr Burrell appears in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate
Lawyers 2004 along with McCarthy Tétrault partners Abraham (Bram) Costin, Danny
C Grandilli, Michael D Levinson, Gordon S Sato and Godyne NL Sibay. In fact, in the latest edition of the guide, McCarthy Tétrault remains a step ahead, having received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm – a position the firm has held since 1999.
Mr Burrell also appears in Lexpert’s 2005 Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada and in its 2004 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in Canada) in the area of property development.
He is an active member of the Urban Development Institute and served on the Institute’s board of directors from 1991 to 1993. Mr Burrell is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of British Columbia.
He received his BComm with an urban land economics option in 1977 and his LLB in 1978, both from the University of British Columbia. Mr Burrell was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1979.
20 Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
Canada
Abraham (Bram) Costin
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower Suite 4700, Box 48 Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Canada Tel: (1) 416 601 7762 Fax: (1) 416 868 0673 Email: acostin@mccarthy.ca Website: www.mccarthy.ca
Abraham Costin is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office and the National Practice Group Leader of its Real Property and Planning Group.
Mr Costin’s practice covers a full range of transactions, including leasing, acquisitions, development and financing. He acts for both large and small developers, pension funds, financial institutions and the owners of the SkyDome in Toronto. Mr Costin’s practice also includes insolvency and realization work related to real property. Recently, he was involved in the real estate aspects of several financings of wind energy projects in the western US.
Mr Costin is a frequent guest speaker at national and international conferences, including the International Council of Shopping Centres, Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, Insight, Federated Press and the Institute for International Research dealing with commercial leasing, conveyancing and receivership. He has authored numerous articles and co-authored a chapter in Anger
and Honsberger on Real Property. Mr Costin also sits on the editorial board of Taxation of Real Estate in Canada.
He appears in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
2004 along with McCarthy Tétrault partners Keith E Burrell, Danny C Grandilli,
Michael D Levinson, Gordon S Sato and Godyne NL Sibay. In fact, in the latest edition of the guide, McCarthy Tétrault remains a step ahead, having received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm – a position the firm has held since 1999.
Mr Costin also appears in all editions of Lexpert’s Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in
Canada in the areas of property development and project finance as well as in its 2004 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in
Canada) in the areas of property development, property leasing and project finance. He is also listed in the 2005 edition of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers in the area of real estate law.
Mr Costin received his BSc in 1977 from the University of Guelph and his LLB in 1980 from the University of Toronto. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1982.
Danny C Grandilli
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower Suite 4700, Box 48 Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Canada Tel: (1) 416 601 7597 Fax: (1) 416 868 0673 Email: dgrandil@mccarthy.ca Website: www.mccarthy.ca
Danny C Grandilli is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office and a member of its Real Property and Planning Group.
Mr Grandilli’s practice focuses on many areas of commercial real estate, including retail and commercial leasing, acquisitions, real property components of mergers and acquisitions, sale and leaseback transactions, and financing transactions on behalf of corporate borrowers and financial institutions.
In recent years, he has concentrated a significant portion of his practice in serving the pension fund community and has been engaged by several pension funds, large and small, and pension fund asset managers in acquisitions, dispositions, joint venture arrangements and asset management advice.
Mr Grandilli appears in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate
Lawyers 2004 along with McCarthy Tétrault partners Keith E Burrell, Abraham
(Bram) Costin, Michael D Levinson, Gordon S Sato and Godyne NL Sibay. In fact, in the latest edition of the guide, McCarthy Tétrault remains a step ahead, having received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm – a position the firm has held since 1999.
Mr Grandilli is also listed in the 2005 edition of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading
Lawyers in the area of real estate law.
He is the co-author of Real Estate Practice in Ontario, an authoritative text on real estate practice in Ontario.
Mr Grandilli received his BA in 1984 from the University of Toronto (St Michael’s College) and his LLB in 1987 from Queen’s University. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1989.
28 Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
Canada
Michael D Levinson
McCarthy Tétrault LLP Le Windsor 1170, rue Peel Montréal, QC H3B 4S8 Canada Tel: (1) 514 397 4167 Fax: (1) 514 875 6246 Email: mdlevinson@mccarthy.ca Website: www.mccarthy.caMichael D Levinson is counsel in McCarthy Tétrault’s Montréal office and a member of its Real Property and Planning Group.
Mr Levinson’s practice focuses on commercial law, real estate acquisition, development, financing and leasing, and acquisition of rights-of-way for pipelines. He appears in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
2004 along with McCarthy Tétrault partners Keith E Burrell, Abraham (Bram)
Costin, Danny C Grandilli, Gordon S Sato and Godyne NL Sibay. In fact, in the latest edition of the guide, McCarthy Tétrault remains a step ahead, having received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm – a position the firm has held since 1999.
Mr Levinson also appears in all editions of Lexpert’s Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in Canada) and in its 2004 Guide to
the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada in the area of property development.
He has lectured at conferences sponsored by the American Right-of-Way Association, the International Council of Shopping Centres, the National Banking Law Review and the Canadian Institute. Mr Levinson has also served on the advisory committee for McGill University’s Faculty of Law, Law and You seminar “Changes in Business Practice under the New Civil Code of Québec.” He was also a member of the committee revising the English version of the Code of Québec; president of the Lord Reading Law Society (2001 to 2002); councillor on the council of the Bar of Montréal (1998 to 2000); trustee and vice-chair of the Executive Committee of the Corporation of Bishop’s University as well as corporate secretary to various companies in the Mallinckrodt Group; and director and member of the Executive Committee of the Montréal Association for the Blind.
Mr Levinson received his BA in 1961 from Bishop’s University and his BCL in 1964 from McGill University. He practised as a Québec notary from 1965 to the time he was called to the Québec Bar in 1970.
Gordon S Sato
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower Suite 4700, Box 48 Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Canada Tel: (1) 416 601 7682 Fax: (1) 416 868 0673 Email: gsato@mccarthy.ca Website: www.mccarthy.ca
Gordon S Sato is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office and a member of its Real Property and Planning Group. Since joining the firm in 1979, he has practised extensively in real estate-related transactions.
Mr Sato has acted in the purchase, sale, financing and development covering the full range of real estate, including office developments, hotels, shopping centres and infrastructure. He has extensive experience with respect to private placement (mortgage bond), bank financing and real estate transactions.
Mr Sato appears in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate
Lawyers 2004 along with McCarthy Tétrault partners Keith E Burrell, Abraham
(Bram) Costin, Danny C Grandilli, Michael D Levinson and Godyne NL Sibay. In fact, in the latest edition of the guide, McCarthy Tétrault remains a step ahead, having received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm – a position the firm has held since 1999.
Mr Sato also appears in Legal Media Group’s latest edition of the Best of the Best guide, which covers the area of real estate law, where he is listed as the world’s leading real estate lawyer, having received the highest number of nominations worldwide. He also appears in all editions of Lexpert’s Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada in the area of property development and in its 2004 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in Canada) in the areas of property development, property leasing and project finance. Mr Sato is also listed in the 2005 edition of Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers in the area of real estate law. He received his BA and his LLB from the University of Toronto. Mr Sato was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979.
33
Canada
Godyne N L Sibay
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower Suite 4700, Box 48 Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Canada Tel: (1) 416 601 7748 Fax: (1) 416 868 0673 Email: gsibay@mccarthy.ca Website: www.mccarthy.ca
Godyne N L Sibay is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office and a member of its Real Property and Planning Group.
Ms Sibay’s practice focuses on commercial transactions with a real estate base. Such transactions include the acquisition, development, leasing, financing and disposition of commercial and industrial properties, including hotels and hospitality-related properties, office developments, stadiums, convention centres, hospitals, shopping centres and utility and other power projects; and the negotiation of various agreements, including joint venture agreements, co-tenancy agreements, ground leases, construction agreements and other agreements related to project development. Projects include all aspects of the development and financing of the Air Canada Centre; the expansion of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre; the expansion of St Michael’s Hospital; The National Ballet School expansion; the acquisition, development and financing of the fifth tower of the Toronto Dominion Centre; disposition of The Fairmont Glitter Bay, Barbados; the creation of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc, a hotel management company; the acquisition of several hotels for Delta Hotels Limited and Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust, including Fairmont Le Château Frontenac and The Fairmont Empress; the creation of Enwave District Energy Limited; construction projects for Sephora USA, LLC; disposition of Maple Leaf Gardens, former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs; and several development projects for York University, including the Rexall Centre, home of the Tennis Master Canada Series, and the Schulich Executive Education Centre.
Ms Sibay appears in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate
Lawyers 2004 along with McCarthy Tétrault partners Keith E Burrell, Abraham
(Bram) Costin, Danny C Grandilli, Michael D Levinson and Gordon S Sato. In fact, in the latest edition of the guide, McCarthy Tétrault remains a step ahead, having received more individual nominations than any other Canadian law firm – a position the firm has held since 1999.
Ms Sibay is also featured in Lexpert magazine’s “Canada’s Top 25 Women Lawyers” article (September 2003).
She is a member of several professional and industry organizations, including the Ontario and Canadian Bar Associations, Canadian Association of University Solicitors and Toronto CREW (Toronto Commercial Real Estate Women). Ms Sibay has served as a panellist and speaker at various industry seminars, including the International Council of Shopping Centres conferences.
She received her BSc in 1980 from the University of Toronto and her LLB in 1983 from the University of Ottawa. Ms Sibay was called to the Ontario Bar in 1985.
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