Rent increases in Quebec just got a major overhaul for the first time in decades, and this renewal season is the first real test. In this episode, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with Cory Friedman to break down what changed, what stayed the same, and where landlords and operators can get burned if their bookkeeping is not airtight. You will learn how the new framework uses a three year rolling CPI average, how capital expenses can now play a bigger role in allowable increases, and why taxes and insurance only help you when they rise faster than CPI. Cory also explains the real world problem behind the reform, the TAL backlog, and why today's leasing market makes renewals more strategic than ever. If you manage multifamily in Quebec, this is the renewal playbook to stay compliant, protect cash flow, and avoid expensive turnover.

Topics & Timestamps

📌 Why Quebec changed rent increase rules after 40+ years (00:01:55)

🧾 How the old rent increase calculation worked (00:05:31)

📉 The new CPI based approach and why it smooths volatility (00:06:27)

🏗️ CapEx now counts differently and why it matters for older buildings (00:07:21)

🧮 The unit by unit math that makes this harder at scale (00:09:38)

📚 Bookkeeping and unit costing: the hidden advantage in renewal season (00:11:09)

🧾 Taxes and insurance: when they actually increase your allowable rent hike (00:12:41)

📊 Where rent increase trends go from here and what macro forces matter more (00:14:11)

🏢 New construction reality: retention issues, promo hoppers, and vacancy pressure (00:18:48)

🛠️ Ops vs accounting: why renewals break when systems are disconnected (00:24:40)

🚀 Building Compass and scaling a Canadian property management platform (00:24:14)

🔗 Connect with Cory Friedman
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-friedman-cpa-77462b80/?originalSubdomain=ca
🏢 Kompas: https://www.kompaspm.com/

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🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

Montreal's office market is showing nearly a 17–18% vacancy rate. Landlords must offer more concessions, invest heavily in their buildings, and completely rethink their strategy. So how do you stay competitive in 2026?

In this episode, Laurence Binette, Director of Brokerage at AlFID, explains how an integrated real estate group with more than 350 employees manages 32 commercial buildings, 2,000 residential units, and 1,000 student housing rooms while continuing to innovate in a complex market.

We discuss major transactions, asset optimization, free rent concessions worth $100 to $125 per square foot, repositioning Class B buildings, decarbonization initiatives, and even in-house parking management to maximize revenue.

A practical episode for property owners, investors, and commercial real estate professionals who want to understand what is actually working in Montreal today.

Topics & Timestamps

🎙️ Laurence's journey into brokerage (00:01:54)
🏢 Integrated real estate operations (00:03:34)
💰 Record transactions & competitive bidding (00:12:50)
📊 Lease concessions & free rent trends (00:17:38)
🚗 Parking management innovation (00:20:15)
🌱 ESG & decarbonization in refinancing (00:22:59)

🔗 Connect with Laurence Binette
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurence-binette-73658995/?locale=en_US
🏢 ALFID: https://www.alfid.com/#dirigeants-section-anchor

👤 Follow Axel Monsaingeon
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

Is the Montreal office market truly recovering, or is it just a temporary illusion? In this episode of Espace Montreal, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with André Plourde, Executive Vice President and one of the most influential brokers in the Montreal market, to break down 35 years of real estate cycles, crises, and comebacks.

From Cité du Multimédia to Place Ville-Marie and trophy office buildings, André shares a ground-level reading of the market, the mistakes property owners must avoid, the new expectations of tenants, and why some buildings are winning while others are falling behind. An essential episode for anyone who wants to understand where the office market in Montreal is really headed in 2026 and beyond.

Topics & Timestamps

🧑‍💼 Early career and cycles of the Montreal real estate market (00:01:03)
📉 Crises, vacancy, and the resilience of the office market (00:04:07)
🏙️ Cité du Multimédia and post-pandemic challenges (00:08:50)
🏢 Return to the office and new tenant expectations (00:16:10)
✨ Why trophy office buildings are outperforming (00:18:43)
🛎️ Services, employee experience, and asset repositioning (00:22:22)
💰 Rents, vacancy, and the future of office construction (00:24:38)
🔄 Converting Class B buildings into Class A instead of residential (00:27:07)

🔗 Connect with André Plourde
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andr%C3%A9-g-plourde-309378136/?originalSubdomain=ca
🏢 Colliers: https://www.collierscanada.com/en-ca/experts/andre-plourde

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📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

Royalmount is not just "doing fine" it is accelerating. In this episode Axel Monsaingeon sits down with Michael Stroll, Partner at Carbonleo and SVP Leasing, to break down what actually drives a successful mixed use destination in Montreal. They explore how consumer habits are changed, why occupancy momentum matters more than first month headlines, and how the right tenant mix, events, and access strategy can reposition an asset quickly. You will hear the measurable results behind the Royalmount lease up, the expansion logic for phase two retail, why a hotel on site makes sense, and how Class A office demand is being reshaped by commute patterns and lifestyle convenience. If you work in development, leasing, investment, or brokerage, this conversation is a masterclass in building durable demand through placemaking and long term vision.

Topics & Timestamps

🔹 What Carbonleo is and why they build disruptive projects (00:01:49)

🏗️ Quartier DIX30 repositioning: occupancy, tenant mix, and value creation (00:04:03)

🚆 Why residential is the missing piece and how REM access changes everything (00:05:28)

🧠 Master plan thinking: DIX30 vs Royalmount and why cohesion matters (00:07:20)

📈 Royalmount performance story: sales growth, traffic, and lease up from 36% to 90% (00:09:16)

🎉 Events and social strategy: building habit and destination energy (00:12:02)

🛍️ Phase two retail expansion: what is missing and how growth gets planned (00:13:21)

🏨 Hotel opportunity: brand selection, operator strategy, and why the site wins (00:15:23)

🏢 Office demand shift: Class A, deal terms, and the commute advantage vs downtown (00:16:30)

💎 Luxury perception vs reality: why the project is more accessible than people think (00:21:12)

🏘️ Residential rezoning: density, downsizers, and solving a real market gap (00:23:16)

🔗 Connect with Michael Stroll
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-stroll-60701499/?originalSubdomain=ca
🏢 CARBONLEO: https://www.carbonleo.com/executive_team/michael-stroll/?lang=en

👤 Follow Axel Monsaingeon
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

How do you go from being a tax lawyer to building a $1.2 billion commercial real estate portfolio? In this episode of the Espace Montréal Podcast, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with Michel Léonard, President & CEO of BTB REIT, to unpack the real story behind one of Québec's most successful publicly traded real estate investment trusts. Michel shares the risks, doubts, and hard lessons behind launching a REIT before most people even knew what one was — including capital raising, surviving the 2008 financial crisis, navigating COVID, and maintaining discipline in volatile markets.

This conversation is a masterclass in long-term thinking, capital structure, portfolio management, and real-world REIT economics — essential listening for investors, developers, brokers, and anyone serious about commercial real estate.

Topics & Timestamps

👋 Introduction & guest overview (00:01:03)
⚖️ From lawyer to real estate (00:01:49)
🏗️ Launching one of Québec's first REITs (00:06:07)
💰 Raising capital & first acquisitions (00:09:58)
📉 Surviving the 2008 financial crisis (00:14:19)
📊 How REIT distributions really work (00:19:22)
🏢 Building a $1.2B diversified portfolio (00:21:54)
📐 Discipline, cap rates & strategy (00:23:36)
🔄 Selling assets & portfolio focus (00:27:50)
🔮 The future of office, retail & industrial (00:29:39)
👏 Final lessons & closing thoughts (00:32:08)

🔗 Connect with Michel Léonard
💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-l%C3%A9onard-40926532/
🏢 BTB REIT: https://www.btbreit.com/

👤 Follow Axel Monsaingeon
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

Quebec's commercial real estate market has changed fast, and the old "local only" playbook does not hold up anymore. Louis Bergeron, partner at HPDG, joins Axel Monsaingeon to unpack what appraisers are seeing before the headlines: how developers now chase opportunities across the province, why 2024 felt frozen, and what shifted in 2025 to bring buyers and sellers closer together. Louis also shares the real story behind PDG's roots coming out of Desjardins, how the firm grew through acquisitions and mergers, and why a merger has to be "1 + 1 = 3" or it is not worth doing. They dig into PDG's full-service model from valuation and property management to tax appeals, litigation support, and expropriation tied to major projects like the REM and the Blue Line extension. Louis closes with what PDG is building for 2026, including a refreshed brand and a bigger push to share market insights, plus why comparing cap rates is often harder than people think.

Topics & Timestamps

🗺️ The market is not local anymore: developers go wherever opportunity is (00:00:00)

🧬 HPDG's "DNA": staying close to clients from market study to asset management (00:01:13)

🏦 Origin story: Desjardins, the 90s crash, and how HPDG was formed (00:02:06)

📈 Growth strategy: the 2018 merger and expansion through acquisitions (00:04:02)

🏢 How property management started: from crisis cycles to condo management (00:06:25)

🧾 Beyond financing valuations: tax appeal work and investor support A to Z (00:08:18)

⚖️ Litigation support and expropriation: REM and Blue Line context (00:09:35)

🧠 Expropriation valuation is different and the law has changed (00:10:58)

🚀 Entrepreneurship is not linear: expanding services across Quebec (00:11:41)

🤝 Merger mantra: "1 + 1 has to equal 3", and why they ended a merger (00:12:55)

📊 What changed in 2025: market rebound and buyer-seller gap narrowing (00:16:40)

🏙️ Where deals are happening: multi, office, industrial shifting behavior (00:17:30)

🏗️ Office market reality: towers, notable deals, and transactions not announced yet (00:18:38)

🔄 2026 plans: rebrand + sharing more market insights and data (00:20:59)

🍎🍎 Cap rates "apples to apples" problem and confidentiality constraints (00:23:26)

🌐 Best way to contact HPDG: website and LinkedIn (00:24:17)

🔗 Connect with Louis Bergeron
💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-bergeron/
🏢 Avison Young: https://www.hpdg.ca/

👤 Follow Axel Monsaingeon
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

Montreal commercial real estate is entering 2026 with a very different set of tailwinds and constraints. In this episode, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with James Papadimitriou, Senior Partner at McCarthy Tétrault and a long-time governance leader, to unpack what is actually changing beneath the headlines. They cover why "alternative" real estate is increasingly an operating business (hotels, senior living, data centers, student housing), how AI and automation could reshape industrial and construction productivity, and what programs like Canada Builds Homes could mean for financing, land, and delivery speed. They also dig into the macro shifts that matter for Montreal: defense and infrastructure momentum, immigration resets and rental dynamics, the return of in-person work and what that does to Class A office, and why boring and stable is still Canada's biggest advantage for global capital. Expect a grounded, optimistic, long-term lens on where the puck is going and how to position for it.

Topics & Timestamps

🎙️ Intro and James' path to leading in real estate law and governance (01:03)
🤝 Relationship advantage: empathy, humility, and understanding counterparties (02:31)
🏨 Alternative assets surge: senior living, hotels, data centers, student housing (03:50)
🧠 "Stay calm and carry on": cycles, resilience, and the long game in CRE (05:25)
🤖 AI and robotics: legal guardrails, industrial automation, "dark factories" (07:39)
🏗️ Why construction still lags, and what prefab could finally unlock (10:18)
🏠 Housing urgency and delivery: what Canada Builds Homes is trying to solve (12:05)
🧩 Canada Builds Homes toolkit: land, loan guarantees, lending, partnerships (13:05)
🛡️ Defense and infrastructure: where Montreal-area real estate opportunities may emerge (15:58)
🌎 Immigration reset, rent plateaus, and the pendulum effect (18:55)
🏢 2026 theme: the return of office and the value of in-person community (20:36)
🚆 Transit and downtown recovery: REM, foot traffic, and the payoff of disruption (22:36)
💰 Foreign capital and "vibe vs fundamentals": why investors never really left (24:55)
⚡ Canada's edge: energy, resources, and renewed confidence (27:28)

🔗 Connect with James Papadimitriou
💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespapadimitriou/
🏢 Avison Young: https://www.mccarthy.ca/en

👤 Follow Axel Monsaingeon
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/

The commercial real estate recovery everyone expected in 2025 did not arrive. Instead, investors are being forced to rethink risk, cash flow, and capital allocation heading into 2026.

In this episode of the Espace Montreal Podcast, Axel Monsaingeon speaks with Marie-Claire Laflamme-Sanders, Senior Vice President and Practice Lead within Avison Young's Québec Capital Markets Team, about why net lease real estate has become one of the most resilient investment strategies in today's uncertain market. Drawing on insights from the Toronto Real Estate Forum and active transactions across Canada, Marie-Claire explains how investors are pricing stability, why single-tenant assets are back in favor, and how net leases function as a hybrid between real estate and corporate bonds.

The conversation also covers the return of interest in office real estate, the rise of sale-leaseback transactions as companies unlock capital, and why Montreal continues to attract both private and institutional investors despite ongoing political and economic headwinds. This episode offers a grounded, real-world look at how sophisticated investors are protecting cash flow and positioning portfolios for the next phase of the cycle.

Topics & Timestamps

🎙️ Net lease real estate, and why it matters right now (intro) 01:03

📉 "Survive to 2025" becomes "Persist to 2026" after early-year shocks 01:55

🇨🇦 Market reaction: tariffs, immigration slowdown, and a new operating reality 03:11

⏸️➡️▶️ Pens were down, now deals are moving again 05:18

🏢 What a net lease is (single tenant, triple net, expenses passed through) 06:51

🛡️ Why net lease wins in volatility: stability, inflation protection, bond-like cash flow 07:28

📈 Why demand for net lease increased in the last 12–18 months 09:04

⚖️ The big risk and the real framework: tenant covenant vs real estate quality 11:06

📉➡️🏢 Sale-leasebacks explained: why companies sell and lease back their buildings 12:38

📆 How long sale-leaseback leases need to be (10–15 years, often 20+) 13:52

🏦 Who buys net lease assets: institutions vs family offices and privates 14:12

🍔 Net lease in small markets: QSR portfolios, recyclability, and why they sell well 15:22

🏢 Office resurgence: lease rollovers, return-to-work, and the "flight to quality" 17:17

🚫 "We could not use the word office" and how that narrative is changing 19:08

🏙️ Deloitte Tower and what a Class A trade could benchmark in Montreal 20:29

💰 Montreal's buyer depth: why big private capital steps up locally 21:45

🧠 Quebec perception gap: language, politics, tenant culture, and investor education 23:16

👋 Wrap and how to connect with Marie-Claire and the team 25:01

🔗 Connect with Marie-Claire Laflamme-Sanders
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-claire-laflamme-sanders
🏢 Avison Young: https://www.avisonyoung.com/

👤 Follow Axel Monsaingeon
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelmonsaingeon

🌐 Explore more resources
📊 Market guides, data, and advertising opportunities: https://www.e5pace.com/