Real Estate Development 2025

Course Chairs
Mark V. Lewis — Bennett Jones LLP, Vancouver
Edward L. Wilson — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs

Mark Lewis is a partner in the Corporate Group at Bennett Jones LLP practicing in the area of commercial real estate.

Mark's practice encompasses the full spectrum of real estate transactions, and development and infrastructure projects, including urban strata projects, business parks, seniors housing, recreational resorts, healthcare and education facilities and public works. He regularly advises local and foreign-based clients in connection with structuring co-ownership, joint venture and partnership relationships for real estate development projects. He also has an active commercial lending practice that focuses on construction and equity financing loans, deposit protection insurance facilities, and cross-border business financings.

Mark has served on the Board of Directors for the Urban Development Institute–Pacific Region since 2012, and also chairs its Legal Issues Committee. Mark is a member of the Editorial Board for CLEBC's BC Real Estate Development Practice Manual and since 2005 has written the Manual's "Development Marketing" chapter.

Ed Wilson practices in the real estate and municipal law fields with a specialty in real estate development.

Ed has assisted clients in such projects as: redevelopment of industrial sites to permit multi-family residential uses; heritage designation and density bonusing arrangements; rezoning and redevelopment of shopping centres; development of office and industrial parks; development of numerous condominium projects; development and marketing of strata title hotels; restructuring of strata corporation bylaws; purchase of abandoned mining towns; development of mine sites; subdivision of pulp mills and saw mills; assisting municipalities on the redevelopment of downtown urban centres; and commercial lease negotiations for a wide variety of tenants and landlords.

Ed has been involved in large land assemblies, subdivisions, bare land strata plans, air space parcels, real estate acquisitions, financings, sales, and structuring forms of ownership and transactions.

Ed has provided advice to private proponents on public-private partnership matters particularly relating to medical infrastructure and transportation projects.

Working closely with sellers, buyers, and developers, Ed is a trusted advisor in connection with property and development projects spanning a wide variety of commercial, residential, industrial, resort, and financing matters. Ed also provides advice on environmental matters in connection with real property.

He is one of the leading experts on strata corporation windups having completed a number of strata corporation windups as well as the first court approved windup in BC. Ed has been an active member of a number of committees over the years proposing changes to strata property law, including the BC Law Institute's committee that recommended changes to the Strata Property Act that allows for more the flexible rules facilitating windups.

Ed has assisted clients on a number of energy related projects including cogeneration plants, run off river electrical generation plants, electrical transmission lines, and natural gas pipelines and LNG plants.

Ed's expertise also includes advising clients on the development of standard form documentation in the real estate, strata management, and mortgage broker fields and advising professional practicing in those fields.

Ed has been retained by the Law Society of BC to provide advice on complaints against members and insurance claims in the real estate field. Ed has acted for the Provincial Government and the Land Title and Survey Authority in the development of amendments to the Land Title Act to facilitate the Electronic Filings System and the Digital Plan System. Ed assisted the BC Real Estate Association in drafting sample legislation, much of which found its way into the Real Estate Services Act.

Faculty
Joscelyn P. Baker — Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver
Sergio C. Custodio — Bennett Jones LLP, Vancouver
Jon del Castillo — Kornfeld LLP, Vancouver
Bradley Cronquist — Pushor Mitchell LLP, Kelowna
Aneez Devji — Richards Buell Sutton LLP, Vancouver
Mandeep R.S. Dhaliwal — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
Alex Fane — Sampson Davie Fane Volpiana LLP, Vancouver
Lisa A. Frey — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
Emmanuel Fung — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Peter Haley — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
Sarah A. Harper — Bennett Jones LLP, Vancouver
Madeleine Hawkins — McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Vancouver
Rachel V. Hutton — Stikeman Elliott LLP, Vancouver
Pamela J. Jefcoat — Civic Legal LLP, Vancouver
Sarah W. Jones — Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver
Greg Lee — Shape Properties, Vancouver 
Alexander L.F. Mackoff — Terra Law Corporation, Vancouver
Dustin Meyer — Deputy Registrar, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster
Matthew Mitchell — Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP, Vancouver 
Surindar S. Nijjar — Lawyers Indemnity Fund, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Leslie A. Tucker — Koffman Kalef LLP, Vancouver
Kyle M. Wilson — Beedie, Burnaby

Click here for full faculty bios

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BC Real Estate Development Practice Manual

Your guide to real estate development law, practice, and procedure

This publication is essential for: lawyers advising or representing developers or municipalities in real estate development matters

Current to: December 1, 2022

To effectively serve developer and municipal clients, you need a strong command of the legal principles as well as an understanding of the real estate development process. With the British Columbia Real Estate Development Practice Manual, you have a concise guide to each phase of the development process, from land acquisition to financing and marketing the project, with discussion of the unique planning and regulatory environment in the City of Vancouver, and considerations for development on First Nations lands.

With this resource, you will be able to:

• understand the real estate development process in the context of current legal developments to effectively serve your clients
  
• save time searching for Vancouver-specific real estate development procedures and regulations
  
• quickly access a collection of over 70 real estate development forms and precedents

Buy today and take your real estate development practice to the next level! View a sample from this book!

Highlights of the 2023 Update include:

• Stage 14 amendments to Contaminated Sites Regulation
• subdivision approving officer liability (BCCA, BCSC)
• Vancouver rental only zones
• constructive taking of private property in public interest (SCC)
• statutory interpretation of permitted use (BCCA)
• city officials' discretion in zoning matters (BCCA)
• updated Vancouver green buildings policy for rezonings
• no lobbying before scheduled public hearing (BCCA)
• Vancouver latecomer charges
• grants for non-profits' SRA upgrades in Vancouver
• city's good faith providing info to subdivision approving officer (BCCA)
• revamped construction contracts chapter
• Policy Statement 17 early marketing extension periods made permanent
• strata rental restrictions removed, Policy Statements 1 and 2 amended re Rental Disclosure Statement
• shíshálh Nation Self-Government Act, possible shíshálh Lands Register, proposed FN National Land Registry

• focus on LPs, GPs in the context of limited partnership agreement and shareholders agreement and their relevant terms
• recent trends around capitalizing limited partnerships, exit rights, and dealing with disputes

• focus on project financing loan agreement/commitment letter and priority agreement between a first and second lender
• first lender (institutional) perspective
• the borrower's perspective
• mezzanine (second) lender perspective including deposit protection insurance

• learn about actual funds transfer frauds that hit BC law firms
• how to avoid being the next victim
• what to do if you become a victim and coverage for these frauds
• learn about recent real estate identity frauds

Surindar S. Nijjar — Lawyers Indemnity Fund, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Edward L. Wilson — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver

• what is the role and practice of in-house counsel in real estate development and how has it evolved?
• know your client—how external counsel can align their engagement with the client's goals and risk tolerance
• who is your audience—understanding the client's internal structure, how/why work is sent to external counsel and how it will be used
• managing fee expectations—providing estimates and responding to RFPs, the value of delegation, and good billing management

• review of issues and latest changes
• the new Summary Disclosure Form and the new pilot project
• commentary on receivers who must file

• sample form of easement agreement reviewec by devloper's counsel and municipal counsel
• LTSA and Surveyor General concerns

• standard purchase and sale agreement for a complex purchase reviewed from the buyer's and the vendor's perspective