DAY 1 – Monday, May 16, 2011
8:00 Registration Opens Coffee Served
8:50 Opening Remarks from the Co-Chairs
Bill MacAvoy, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefi eld Atlantic
D. Fraser MacFadyen, Partner, Stewart McKelvey
9:00 Taxation of Commercial Real Property in Atlantic Canada: Untangling Mounting Confusion, Avoiding Liability, and Exploring Tax Benefits
R. Daren Baxter, Partner, McInnes Cooper
- Assessing and managing • ongoing repercussions of HST on commercial real property development
- Analyzing the accounting and HST treatment of:
- Commercial transactions involving non-residents
- Vacant land
- Charitable donations and municipal university housing
- Industrial leasing
- Condominiums
- Multi-unit residential properties
- What are the requirements to qualify for HST exemption?
- Applying new changes to S.116 of the Income Tax Act:
- Understanding how filing obligations for real property transactions are impacted
- Dealing with a non-resident party:
- Obtaining clearance certificate for the vendor in a RE transaction
- Top tips for vendors to protect their interests when dealing with a non-resident
- Evaluating how to determine purchase price based on tax rebate implications
- Optimizing benefits of tax-deferred transfers and transfers of real estate to REIT
- Taking advantage of tax benefits from roll-overs, family transfers and GST
10:00 Optimizing Lease Occupancies and Returns by Staying Ahead of Atlantic Canada Commercial Leasing Trends
Pamela MacFarlane, Research Director, Colliers International
- Effectively utilizing Colliers’ quarterly Market Report for your forward-planning:
- Discussing the macro view of current trends in office, industrial and retail submarkets
- Strategically positioning your commercial leasing property in today’s marketplace
- When is it advisable to reconfigure your commercial leasing property?
- Accurately projecting leasing property re-development needs
- Examining the probability and impact of potential new supply to the marketplace
- The who’s, what’s, where’s and when
- Urban vs. suburban: examining the two-market dynamic
- Forecasting the effects of new vacant space
- Innovative strategies to optimize your commercial real property leasing
- Thinking outside-the-box in today’s leasing environment
- Evaluating new tenant needs and retaining existing tenancy
- Overcoming risks and challenges of the current marketplace
- Looking at beneficial terms of lease for landlord vs. tenant
- Tips for negotiating shared facilities agreements
11:00 Networking Refreshment Break
11:15 Navigating Commonly Encountered Municipal Law Challenges to Successfully Advance Commercial Real Property Developments and Planning
Nick Pryce, Project Manager/Senior Planner, GENIVAR INC.
Shane Flanagan, P.Eng., NBLS, CLS, Moncton Branch Manager, GENIVAR INC.
- Expediting approvals for major developments:
- Learning effective strategies for dealing with municipalities
- Managing cumbersome administration processes and securing approvals
- Application of the new municipal By-law #Z-410 for the City of Moncton
- Examining requirements developers need to satisfy to obtain a building permit
- Extracting lessons learned from Halifax
- Analyzing how bonus and penalty clauses can be incorporated into subdivision development processes
- Avoiding rights of way and easements disputes:
- Defining rights of way and easements for subdivisions, consolidations, and new developments
- Properly describing the nature, usage, ownership, and access in legal documentation
- Overcoming challenges and pursuing opportunities with the Halifax Regional Municipality’s new open space provisions
12:15 Networking Luncheon for Delegates and Speakers
1:30 Maximizing Access to Financing and Mortgages in Today’s Lending Landscape to Proceed with Your Real Estate Deal
Christopher Thompson, Senior Manager, Real Estate and Construction Finance, Royal Bank of Canada
Jared Schwartz, Patterson Law
- Top tips for preparing loan applications and securing loan approvals from credit lenders in the current economy
- Recent trends in multiple value ratios borrowers and brokerages need to know
- Exploring innovative methods to secure financing in the current economic climate
- Optimizing your current usage of recourse vs. non recourse lending for commercial real property
- Strategies for gaining access to structured financing
- Identifying mortgage brokers’ legal obligations
- Structuring or restructuring the loan and security to get the deal done
- Analyzing the anatomy of the commitment letter
2:30 Protecting Your Company and Commercial Real Property Investment Through the Proper Utilization of Property, Liability and Title Insurance Coverage
Chris Bavis, BA, CAIB, Director of Marketing, Macdonald ChisholmTrask Insurance
Paul Huestis, BA, CAIB, CIP, CRM, Huestis Commercial Insurance Ltd.
Wayne Lipton, Senior Counsel, Vice President – Commercial Division, Stewart Title Guaranty Company
- Understanding what standard property and liability insurance policies cover
- Determining the proper amount of coverage for your commercial real property
- What are the risk factors?
- What is the nature of usage?
- How do you assess the total insurable value?
- How much liability is enough?
- What about protecting your - rental income stream?
- What information do landlords need to request from tenants?
- Examining common exclusions in insurance policies
- Strategies for effectively negotiating favorable coverage and pricing:
- Knowing the types of coverage available for your commercial real property
- Common pitfalls to avoid when tailoring endorsements
- Effectively reviewing a commercial policy to ensure it fulfills a credit lender’s requirements
- Understanding how title insurance should be used in commercial transactions
- Ascertaining the coverage needed for your title insurance policy
- Best practices for negotiating favorable premiums for your real property
3:30 Networking Refreshment Break
3:45 Effectively Uncovering Title and Non-Title Liens During Due Diligence to Protect Your Interests
G. Keith Allen, Counsel, McInnes Cooper
Due diligence requirements for commercial real estate transactions are becoming increasingly cumbersome, and time and labor intensive. To make matters worse, you can no longer be rest assured that traditional title searches will be sufficient to reveal all potential red flags in a real estate lease, or purchase and sale. At this session, you will learn how to efficiently but thoroughly complete your due diligence obligations for commercial real estate transactions, in order to fully protect your property and legal interests, and reduce potential risks and costs.
- Questions you must ask and documents you must review for leases, purchases and sales:
- During negotiations
- Pre-closing
- At closing
- Revealing what non-title searches a purchaser should always perform to uncover hidden risks
- Understanding the application of CRA super priority liens:
- What are the practical implications of such liens to the real estate transaction?
- Strategies to proceed with a development project despite subtrades’ lien registrations under the Mechanics Lien Act
4:45 Closing Remarks from the Co-Chairs Conference Adjourns
DAY 2 – Tuesday,May 17, 2011
8:30 Registration Opens Coffee Served
8:50 Opening Remarks from the Co-Chairs
Bill MacAvoy, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield Atlantic
D. Fraser MacFadyen, Partner, Stewart McKelvey
9:00 Delving Into New Complexities of Atlantic Canada Condominium Law: Ensuring Compliance for Your Condominium Projects
Patrick I. Cassidy, Partner, Cassidy Nearing Berryman
Condominium developments that were non-existent in Atlantic Canada a mere five years ago continue to pulse strong today, and it is ever-more critical to stay current with the evolving applications of condominium legislations. Whether you are grappling with the practicalities of New Brunswick’s Condominium Property Act, tackling inconsistencies among condominium, real property and land registration legislations in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., or taking advantage of lessons learned by neighboring provinces in Newfoundland, you need to attend this invaluable session. This is your opportunity to strengthen your condominium law knowledge and take advantage of the condo boom!
- Examining logistical applications of the New Brunswick Condominium Property Act:
- Managing the confusion of condominium corporation amalgamations
- Finding solutions for implementing phased in developments
- Meeting new legal obligations for existing condominiums
- Complying with filing obligations for new condominium developments
- Analyzing the interplay between condominium and real property legislations
- Key considerations to keep top of mind
- Applying lessons learned from NS Condominium Act
- Coping with inconsistent provisions in Condominium Act and Land Registration Act in NS
10:00 Properly Conducting Condominium Transactions to Minimize Risks and Liabilities Unique to Atlantic Canada
Erin O’Brien Edmonds Q.C., Partner, Burchell MacDougall
Ian A. Sutherland, Partner, Stewart McKelvey
- Effectively preparing the Agreement of Purchase and Sale unique to condominium transactions
- Analyzing important clauses from the developer’s perspective
- Statutorily prescribed clauses: what you need to incorporate in the agreement
- Examining provisions of the builder’s warranty key to condominium transactions
- Reviewing key clauses with the purchaser
- Tackling voluminous condominium documentation:
- How do you evaluate reserve fund studies?
- What do declarations and bylaws look like?
- Estoppels certificate: what are the key points you need to note?
- How do condominium financial statements diff er from other transactions?
- What about the management agreement?
- Minutes of the board of the condominium corporation?
- Examining critical issues purchasers need to consider, including:
- Underfunded reserve fund
- Contemplated special assessment
- Multi-class condominiums
- Phased developments
- New construction vs. existing building
- Delayed closing date and early occupation
- Successfully closing the deal:
- Drafting thorough seller’s documentation
- Preparing accurate closing adjustments
- What about holdbacks?
11:00 Networking Refreshment Break
11:15 Best Practices for Negotiating and Conducting Complex Commercial Real Estate Transactions
Moderator:
D. Fraser MacFadyen, Partner, Stewart McKelvey
Panelists:
Deanne MacLeod, Partner, Stewart McKelvey
- Structuring a transaction involving acquisition of assets vs. acquisition of a property holding company’s shares
- Looking at legal entity and ownership challenges
- What are the documentation required?
- Critical clauses for protecting the vendors’ and purchasers’ interests
- Key taxation considerations to be weary of
- Mastering real estate joint venture agreements:
- Covering key legal and financial considerations
- Structuring management control for the joint venture
- Meeting of the minds: essential elements to note when drafting the agreement
12:15 Networking Luncheon for Delegates and Speakers
1:30 Commercial Landlord’s Guide to Effectively Managing Commercial Real Estate Leasing in Distress
Ned A. Steinman, Partner, Ogilvy Renault LLP
A tenant becomes in default of payment obligations for the commercial leasing property. The tenant may be insolvent, facing bankruptcy proceedings, in tax arrears, or dealing with mortgage foreclosures. The tenant has valuable assets on site, and has another two years remaining in the lease agreement. What do you do as the commercial landlord or property manager?
Attend this session and key topics include:
- Understanding legal rights and remedies of the landlord, tenant, and third parties
- Dealing with creditors, CRA, and receivers
- Delving into practical implications of debt-inpossession financing
- Learning from recent applications of the Bankruptcy and
- Insolvency Act and the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act
- Critical clauses landlords should incorporate in lease agreement in anticipation of distress situations
- Strategies for adjusting lease clauses in existing lease agreements
2:30 Networking Refreshment Break
2:45 Leveraging Your Position to Maximize Gains for International Commercial Real Property Acquisitions
Speaker To Be Announced
- Analyzing optimal legal and ownership structures when entering the U.S.
- Key U.S. and Canada tax rules to be weary of when:
- Purchasing commercial real property for investment purposes
- Renovating or consolidating the investment property
- Flipping the investment property
- Minimizing U.S. income taxes when disposing the investment property
- Understanding permissible and restricted usages of the investment real property
- Solving residency and visa issues for companies engaged in international acquisitions
3:30 Co-Chair’s Closing Remarks Conference Concludes
Post-Conference Workshops:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Workshop A: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Practical Strategies for Structuring and Managing New Condominium Developments
Patrick I. Cassidy, Partner, Cassidy Nearing Berryman
Condominiums developments continue to reach new heights in Atlantic region given benefits of affordability and carefree maintenance. However, challenges can surface for condominium developers and real estate lawyers when structuring and managing new developments. If you are involved in a new condominium development, do not miss this interactive, in-depth workshop. Learn practical advice on key phases of a new condominium development, including: breaking the ground, delay avoidance, and handling delay claims during development.
- Top 10 considerations when developing a condominium from scratch
- Effectively incorporating infrastructure and public roads into the development
- Managing condominium development financing:
- Determining the optimal financing method for the condominium project
- Key provisions in lending agreements for the condominium
- Looking at the interplay between key agreements, including: lending agreements, project direct agreements, and construction service contracts
- Accurately projecting and designing the condominium development project to avoid delays
- What happens when there is a delay claim?
- Identifying ongoing opportunities for condominium developments in Atlantic Canada
Workshop B: 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Structuring, Negotiating, and Drafting Commercial Lease Agreements to Protect Landlord’s Interest and Retain Valuable Tenants
Bill MacAvoy, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield Atlantic
- Analyzing various types of commercial leases
- Determining the suitable lease agreement to suit your commercial real property
- Addressing taxation and insurance issues unique to commercial leasing
- Structuring optimal joint facility clauses
- Discussing practical, workable tenant retention strategies
- Pitfalls of using precedents when customizing to individual clients
- Key clauses that must be in every lease agreement
Conference Details