Over the last year, Montreal's industrial market has gone from uncertainty to cautious optimism. In this episode, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with Mike Jager, co-founder and co-president of Rosefellow, to break down how one of Quebec's most active developers is navigating higher vacancies, tighter financing, and shifting tenant expectations—while quietly scaling into large-scale multi-residential projects.

Mike explains why Class-A industrial still wins in soft markets, how Rosefellow stayed disciplined when everyone else was chasing deals, and what it really takes to raise and deploy multiple funds while keeping investors, banks, and tenants aligned. He also shares Rosefellow's growing push into multi-residential in Quebec, Ontario, and the U.S., their data-driven approach to site selection, and why they've built a lean team that partners with "the best of the best" instead of trying to do everything in-house. The conversation wraps with Mike's vision for giving back to the next generation, promoting women in construction, and staying grounded through market cycles.

Topics & Timestamps

📌 01:10 – How the last 7 months reshaped Montreal's industrial market

🏭 02:30 – Building on spec and designing for 80% of tenant demand

📉 03:45 – Early signs the cycle is turning: rates, tariffs & tenant confidence

🏗️ 07:15 – What modern tenants actually want (efficiency, clear heights, OpEx savings)

💸 08:00 – Tax incentives in Montreal & Laval—and how they reduce tenant costs

⭐ 09:50 – Why Class-A industrial still outperforms in softer markets

📊 10:35 – How Rosefellow structures its funds and targets 30% IRR conservatively

🏦 12:10 – Construction financing challenges and why banks still back their spec builds

🏙️ 15:25 – Returning to multi-res: land prices, construction costs & new opportunities

🌍 23:45 – Rosefellow's next chapter: expansion across Canada, the U.S., and beyond

Mike Jager on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-jager-6678355/

Rosefellow web: https://www.rosefellow.com/

If this conversation brought you value, share the episode with a colleague or friend in real estate who would benefit from Mike's insights. It helps the show reach more people in the Montreal CRE community.

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities

Is Montreal really "in decline"… or are we just stuck in a negative narrative?

In this episode of The Espace Montreal Podcast, host Axel Monsaingeon talks with Luciano D'Iorio, Regional President of CDNGLOBAL Québec, about why he's so relentlessly positive about Montreal's future – and what he sees on the ground every day in commercial real estate.

They dig into:

• The real stories behind downtown landmarks like Peel Street and the Sun Life Building

• How local landlord families went from one building to owning major downtown portfolios

• Why relationship-based ownership still matters more than AI, data and distant asset managers

• What makes it so hard to lose a good tenant—and so easy if you neglect them

• How small and medium businesses drive the downtown ecosystem

• Elections, policy, safety, homelessness and cleanliness as core CRE issues, not side topics

• The tension between heritage preservation and development (from churches to silos and conversions)

If you're in commercial real estate, urban planning, brokerage, investing or entrepreneurship and you care about downtown Montreal, this conversation will give you a nuanced, optimistic and practical perspective on where the city is headed – and how to create value in it.

📌 Timestamps 0:00 Montreal's negativity problem & why Luciano started telling positive stories 3:45 Peel Street, the NHL, Sun Life Building legends & downtown fun facts 8:00 Local landlord families, long-term portfolios & relationship-based leasing 13:30 Tenants, employees and the "upmarket" office race 17:10 Elections, downtown priorities & building a business-friendly Montreal 21:40 Pride, cleanliness, safety and the "broken windows" effect 24:30 Heritage vs development: churches, silos and conversions 25:50 Why real estate is the most dynamic "static" asset class 29:00 Final thoughts: why you should still bet on Montreal

Get in touch with Luciano D'Iorio on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities.

Self-storage in Montreal is changing fast. Robert Vineberg, president of Pandora Self-Storage, breaks down the model behind their Class-A facilities—drive-thru access you can literally pull a cube truck into, humidity-controlled environments that protect high-value goods, and security that actually feels safe. We unpack how Pandora picks markets (population, storage per capita, rate comps), what zoning and stabilization really take, and why small facilities often fail on fixed costs. Plus: co-working near your unit, commercial-friendly lockers, and a national growth roadmap from Quebec to Ontario and beyond.

Highlights:

• Drive-thru storage & commercial-ready unit mix (3/6/900 sq ft flexibility)

• Market math: ≥100K people in 3 km, comp rates, and saturation guardrails

• Build & lease-up truth: 11–14 months construction, ~40-month underwriting for stabilization

• Green design & financing: zero-carbon targets, climate + humidity control, security as product

• Operator realities: marketing spend, unit-mix discipline, and why "all small units" kills NOI

• Expansion strategy: why you need at least two sites per new city for ops redundancy

Perfect for: CRE investors, developers, operators, and SMBs who need flexible, near-home space.

Follow & Share: New episodes weekly. Follow the show and share with a colleague who's eyeing storage or light-industrial strategies in Greater Montreal.

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities.

The real estate world is shifting — and Quebec is at the center of it.

In this episode of the Espace Montreal Podcast, host Axel Monsaingeon sits down with David Cervantes to unpack how power teams are transforming brokerage, why Quebec's green power advantage is attracting global data-center investment, and what's next for commercial real estate in the AI era.

🎯 In this episode:

• How the brokerage business evolved — and who's thriving now

• What makes Quebec the perfect hub for data-center growth

• The rise of office "campuses" and wellness-driven design

• Why collaboration beats competition in modern brokerage

• How to position yourself for the next big market shift

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities.

Retail is back — and stronger than most expected.

In this episode of the Espace Montreal Podcast, Axel Monsaingeon talks with Ian Quint (President, Brasswater) about the renewed momentum behind retail real estate across Quebec and the U.S.

They explore how population growth, limited new construction, and rising land and building costs have created a tight, high-performing retail market — and what that means for investors.

What you'll learn:

• Office: How boutique, amenity-driven buildings outcompete Class-A towers — and why renewals now cost as much as new leases.

• Industrial: What's driving the rent reset (~$12–$14 vs. $16–$17 before), the oversupply of 100k+ sq. ft. spaces, and how to position quality assets.

• Retail: Why service and grocery-anchored retail continues to outperform despite construction headwinds and limited new supply.

• Investment Strategy: When to go build-to-suit instead of spec, and how to define a buy box focused on cash flow and below-market rents.

• Relationships: How cultivating trust and long-term partnerships can still beat institutional competition.

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities.

Montreal's Sherbrooke conversion is a masterclass in adaptive reuse: keeping the pink-granite look, re-engineering the windows for fresh air and exhaust, and turning a 1962 steel-frame office into bright, efficient apartments with 9-ft ceilings. George Armoyan explains the strategy—buy right, move fast, over-prepare for "unknowns," and win on cost without sacrificing quality.

We also cover LaSalle's 1,274-unit community, a 732-unit tower by the Bell Centre, 3.5M sq ft of Alberta office, a Kansas City acquisition, and a 7,000-door master plan in Atlanta—plus why he's confident office is coming back.

What we cover

🏗️ The family playbook: 41 years of value-driven CRE and public markets activism

🏢 Why 1960s floorplates are ideal for conversions (light, efficiency, rectangular cores)

🪟 Window system innovation: modern performance without losing the granite façade

⏱️ Permitting speed: demo (Sept 2023) → full permit (Feb 2024) → first move-ins (Sept 2025)

💰 Cost discipline: terms with trades, contingency for "unknowns," vertical integration

🌎 Montreal, Calgary/Edmonton, Kansas City, and Atlanta—where the opportunities are now

👥 Who's leasing downtown: downsizers, consular staff, professionals, and students

💡 Why office is rebounding: culture, learning, and in-person problem-solving

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, a

Montreal's industrial real estate market has faced dramatic shifts—from pandemic-driven rent spikes to today's cautious stability. In this episode of the Espace Publication Montreal Podcast, host Axel sits down with Jean-Marc Dube, Executive Vice President at Colliers, to unpack what's really happening in Quebec's industrial sector and where it's heading through 2026.

Jean-Marc shares how rents more than doubled in just a few years, why vacancy has stabilized around 4.5%, and how rising interest rates, tariffs, and global supply-chain disruptions are reshaping demand. He also explores why developers have hit pause on new projects—and how that could trigger a future supply crunch as the market rebounds.

🎙️ In this episode:

• Montreal industrial rent trends—from ~$7 pre-2020 to mid-teens today

• Vacancy stability: what 4.5% really means for landlords and occupiers

• 3PL subleases and the evolving logistics landscape

• How interest rates and inventory financing impact operations

• Global factors: tariffs, wars, and the ripple effect on Quebec's economy

• The Class-A shift toward carbon-conscious, energy-efficient facilities

• Why a construction slowdown could drive 2026-2027 rent growth

• Practical insights for investors and occupiers navigating a VUCA market

If you're in commercial real estate, logistics, or development, this conversation delivers a grounded, data-driven look at the future of industrial real estate in Montreal and beyond.

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities.

In this episode of The Espace Montréal Podcast, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with Brett Miller, CEO at Canderel Group, to discuss how AI, technology, and hospitality principles are transforming property management in Canada.

From the launch of Okkto and the Halo app to the shift from "tenant" to "employee" as the true customer, Brett shares insights on innovation, capital challenges, and the future of Montréal's commercial real estate market.

👉 Topics covered:

• How AI automates property management tasks

• Why employee experience drives office demand

• Opportunities in repositioning Class B & C assets

• Capital and red tape challenges in Québec real estate

The Espace Publications Montréal Podcast brings you data-driven insights and conversations with the leaders shaping Québec commercial real estate.

Visit https://www.e5pace.com for more resources, market guides, data, and advertising opportunities.

The Espace Montréal Podcast kicks off with a special conversation that marks a new chapter for commercial real estate dialogue in Quebec. Axel is joined by Andrew Cross, publisher and owner of Espace Publication, the magazine that for over 30 years has been the voice of the industry in Montreal and Quebec City.

Andrew shares the story of how Espace began in the early 1990s, survived recessions and political uncertainty, and grew into the go-to publication for developers, investors, and brokers. We explore the cycles of Montreal's market, from overbuilding in the 80s to the rise of REITs and pension funds, and now the growing role of family offices and private investors.

Together, Axel and Andrew talk about the vision for this new partnership—bringing the magazine's thought leadership, market insights, and access to industry leaders into the podcast format. The goal is simple: to create a platform where CEOs, developers, and decision-makers can share their vision and where listeners can gain a deeper understanding of Montreal's evolving real estate landscape.

Tune in to hear how this collaboration will bridge print, digital, and audio to tell the stories shaping the future of commercial real estate in Quebec.

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Connect with Axel Monsaingeon:

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/

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

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8EYrmO1aVvVIgwT7AfNFw

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Connect with Espace Publication:

Website: https://www.e5pace.com/

This episode marks a major milestone: five years and 265 episodes of meaningful conversations on real estate, entrepreneurship, and community. I take you behind the scenes of how the podcast began during the COVID-19 lockdowns, starting on Zoom and eventually evolving into in-person studio recordings that brought a new energy and depth to each discussion.

I reflect on the lessons learned from hundreds of guests, the challenges of showing up every week without fail, and the feedback from listeners that has kept this journey alive. Along the way, I share how building consistency, embracing imposter syndrome, and focusing on authentic conversations helped shape the show into what it is today.

I also announce an exciting new partnership that will carry the podcast into its next chapter, with a stronger focus on commercial real estate and the stories that matter most to investors and entrepreneurs. Tune in to discover what's next and how this community will continue to grow together.

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Connect with Axel Monsaingeon:

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-monsaingeon-42577b28/

Website - https://www.realestateeffect.ca/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/realestateeffect/

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