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... About Professionals Listings ... ...00 McGill College Avenue, Suite 1950 Montreal, QC H3A 3H3Canada Map Phone:  514.940.5330 Managing Director:  Laurent Benarrous Area OverviewRegarded by many as Canada’s culture capital, Montreal is the largest city in Quebec and one of the largest in North America. The city takes its name from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city. Centrally located at one end of the St-Lawrence River, Montreal is the closest major Canadian market to Europe. The city is an important centre of commerce, finance, industry, technology, culture and world affairs. Montreal’s main industries range from aerospace to electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, printed goods, software engineering, telecommunications, textile and apparel manufacturing, tobacco and transportation. The city is home to the headquarters of many important multinational firms, including Air Canada, Bombardier, VIA Rail, Canadian National Railway, Cirque du Soleil, CGI Group, Rio Tinto Alcan, Molson, SNC Lavalin, Saputo and Standard Life, among others. In the aerospace industry, Montreal is an important North American presence for several large international organizations such as IATA, ICAO and SITA. In addition, there are numerous other not-for-profit organizations such as WADA. Montreal is also home to the Caisse de Depot et de Placement du Québec, which is the Province of Quebec’s pension fund managing in excess of $ 200 Billion in total assets.Montreal’s strong economic fundamentals are characterized by a diverse, highly-educated and expanding population of 3.9 million. With access to nine universities (including McGill) and 12 junior colleges within an eight-kilometre radius, Montreal has the highest concentration of post-secondary students of all North American cities. Most residents speak both French and English fluently, with a large percentage also speaking a third language.The city has a healthy commercial real estate market. Over the past decade, the office, retail, industrial and investment sectors have all displayed remarkable stability despite global economic woes. Though the city itself is an island, the north and south shores are part of the Greater Montreal Area (GMA) and have allowed for substantial real estate market expansion.MarketsOfficeDue to its strategic location at the mouth of the St-Lawrence River, its presence as the closest major Canadian market to Europe and the fact that it is the bilingual and economic centre of the province of Quebec, the Montreal office market is among the most important across the continent. With nearly 90 million square feet of office product and a creative, multi-lingual and multi-cultural workforce, the city has developed concentrations clustered around the aviation, educational, gaming and professional-services industries. The downtown office market caters mainly to larger users who operate globally and typically require more than 75,000 square feet of space. As a result, cycles tend to be longer, with historical demand for new development limited to government-subsidized clusters.RetailDue to the city’s strong employment levels, its position as a premiere tourist destination and its European flair, Montreal’s retail sector has expanded steadily over the course of time. Sainte-Catherine Street, Montreal’s main retail strip, ranks among the world’s 30 most sought-after fashion retail corridors. The list, which considers asking rental rates as a prime indicator, compares Montreal’s Sainte-Catherine Street with the Champs d’Elysées in Paris, Fifth Avenue in New York, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, and Bond Street in London.IndustrialWith more than 250 million square feet of industrial space, Montreal’s industrial market is the second largest in Canada. Low energy costs (hydro-electricity) and an extensive infrastructure system that links the GMA’s main industrial sectors continue to contribute to the market’s strength. The Port of Montreal is the largest inland port in the world, handling more than 25 million tonnes of cargo annually. As a result, Montreal has remained an important trans-shipment point for raw materials, machinery and consumer goods. Consequently, Montreal is an important rail city and the headquarters of Canadian National Railway (CN Rail).InvestmentInstitutional investors – pension funds, REITs and public companies have been present in Montreal for decades due to its large inventory base. While institutional investors dominate the office sector, they have also invested billions in the retail, industrial and multi-residential markets. Private investors tend to have stronger footholds in the industrial and multi-residential sectors.Avison Young in MontrealAvison Young’s roots in Montreal date to 2002. In recent years, Montreal brokers have negotiated large transactions in all asset categories while partnering on major projects with other Avison Young offices in Canada and the United States. What differentiates Avison Young’s Montreal office is a core of senior-level brokers whose experience and track record are unrivalled in the marketplace. Due to this, Avison Young’s Montreal office is particularly well-suited to advise clients through the most complex real estate situations involving office, retail, and industrial leases, as well as any acquisition or disposition situations. Media contacts:  Laurent Benarrous Research contacts:  Laurent Benarrous ...

... About Professionals Listings ... ...United States Map Phone:  323.851.6666 ... ...anaging Director:  Christopher Bonbright Area OverviewLos ... ...alifornia and, after New York, the second largest in the United States. Located in the southern region of the state, Los Angeles comprises almost 500 square miles in area. Often known by its initials L.A., the city is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan statistical area, with almost 13 million people and ranks as one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the U.S. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most ethnically-diverse counties in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself is recognized and regarded as the most diverse metropolitan area in the United States.Nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a world center of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology and education. It is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the country. Los Angeles has been ranked the third richest city in the United States and fifth most powerful and influential city in the world, behind only New York City in the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of more than $830 billion, making it the third largest economic center in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas.As the home base of Hollywood, L.A. is known as the entertainment capital of the world, leading the globe in the creation of motion pictures, television productions, video games, and recorded music. The importance of the entertainment business to the city has led many celebrities to call Los Angeles and its surrounding suburbs home. Los Angeles is also often billed as the creative capital of the world, due to the fact that one in every six residents works in a creative industry. According to the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, "there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than any other city at any time in the history of civilization."Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics, and is also home to renowned universities such as the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.MarketsOfficeLos Angeles is a company headquarters mecca. In all, 21% of Los Angeles companies are involved in real estate, finance or insurance. The L.A. Metropolitan Area’s office market comprises distinctly different submarkets known as Downtown Los Angeles; West Los Angeles (which includes Beverly Hills, Westwood, Century City and Hollywood); the South Bay (which encompasses the area in and around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)); and the northern part of the city known as the San Fernando Valley.RetailThe Los Angeles retail market’s diverse offerings range from high-end stores on Rodeo Drive retail to big-box outlets prevalent throughout Southern California. In recent years, many big-box retailers have taken advantage of L.A.’s favorable long-term lease opportunities to open strategic locations in the region. The overall retail vacancy rate has consistently remained less than 5%.IndustrialThe vast L.A. industrial real estate market benefits from its proximity to the Port of Los Angeles, which handles approximately 6 million containers per year. The industrial sector is principally located in proximity to downtown Los Angeles, the LAX hub and the Long Beach port. The largest completed transaction in nearly 10 years occurred in 2011 when the 99 Cent Only chain leased a 622,000-square-foot distribution center.InvestmentInstitutional investors, including notable pension funds, REITs and public companies, are attracted to the Los Angeles market as a whole due to the city’s large population and the number of companies based here. While institutional investors dominate the office sector, they have also invested billions in the retail, industrial and multi-residential markets. Private investors tend to have stronger footholds in the retail and multi-residential sectors of Los Angeles.Avison Young in Los AngelesAvison Young opened its first Los Angeles office in August 2011, forming a base for locations across the Southern California region. The Los Angeles office has a strong affiliation with many of the most notable firms in the entertainment industry and comprises a full-service real estate platform. L.A. brokers serve tenants, landlords and investors while sharing knowledge in all aspects of the real estate industry. The Los Angeles office also works very closely with many of the Avison Young offices located throughout the United States and Canada. Media contacts:  Christopher Bonbright Research contacts:  Dan Wakumoto, CCIM...