Real Estate & Development

Dale & Lessmann’s real estate and development lawyers provide legal services on all aspects of commercial real estate, including acquisitions and dispositions, secured lending transactions, land assembly, and land development matters.

Our commitment to our clients is to be completely accessible and to put the entire depth and breadth of Dale & Lessmann's expertise to work for them. We provide timely, cost-effective, practical and pro-active advice on a broad spectrum of commercial real estate matters. With our depth of experience and industry knowledge we can assist our real estate clients to refine business objectives, identify and assess risks and foresee potential roadblocks in their real estate transactions and real estate projects. Where litigation or arbitration becomes necessary to assert or protect our clients’ rights, our litigators are equipped and ready to advance our clients’ interests.

Our real estate and development lawyers represent investors, owners, financial institutions, real estate developers, landlords and tenants, non-profit organizations and educational institutions. 

Our services include:

Acquisitions and Dispositions

Our lawyers handle all aspects of purchase and sale transactions, including advising on the structure of the transaction, negotiation of purchase and sale agreements and related agreements, legal due diligence and negotiation of financing commitments.

Our experience in acquisitions and dispositions includes:

  • Multi-residential developments
  • Office developments
  • Social housing developments
  • Shopping centres and retail including “big box” developments
  • Manufacturing, industrial and warehouse facilities
  • Storage facilities
  • Gas stations

Secured Lending

Dale & Lessmann’s secured lending practice is a cornerstone of the firm and a respected leader in the real estate financing community. We act for many Schedule 1 banks and other institutional and private lenders on a wide range of secured lending transactions including conventional mortgage loans, syndicated loans, secured credit facilities, construction loans and CMHC insured loans.

Our experience in secured lending includes:

  • Acting for lenders and borrowers on commercial mortgage loan transactions across all sectors
  • Structuring and negotiation of financing commitments
  • Construction, mezzanine and inventory loans to real estate developers
  • Mortgage loans to REITs
  • Acting for lenders and borrowers on leasehold financing transactions of multi-residential developments in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors

Land Development

We have extensive experience representing clients in land development matters ranging from land assembly transactions to negotiation of complex multi-party agreements relating to land use and the operation of commercial real estate developments.

Our experience in land development includes:

  • Land assembly
  • Advising on and negotiating municipal agreements related to land use planning and development
  • Conveyancing related to land development
  • Negotiation of cost-sharing, reciprocal, shared facilities and similar agreements
  • Construction, mezzanine and inventory financing
  • Joint venture and partnership agreements

Advocacy and Dispute Resolution

When disputes arise or clients are seeking enforcement of legal rights our litigators work closely with our real estate lawyers to achieve effective solutions. Our litigation lawyers represent clients in all forms of dispute resolution, including civil lawsuits, mediation, arbitration and administrative proceedings.

Our experience in advocacy and dispute resolution includes:

  • Advising and acting for clients in disputes arising from aborted real estate transactions
  • Acting for secured lenders in security enforcement, including mortgage enforcement proceedings
  • Acting for clients in commercial landlord and tenant disputes, including claims for relief from forfeiture and other equitable remedies