 Bennett Jones Education
University of Waterloo, BA (Hons), 2008
Osgoode Hall Law School, JD, 2011
Bar Admissions
Ontario, 2012 Overview Craig Garbe is a seasoned corporate and commercial lawyer with a focus on transactions related to commercial real estate. He acts for a number of investment funds, real estate investment trusts, lenders and institutional investors on the largest and most complex acquisitions, dispositions, co-ownerships, financings, joint ventures and development projects in the country.
Craig is ranked and recognized by Chambers and Partners Canada, and is a leading lawyer repeatedly recommended in the Lexpert Canadian Legal Directory. Craig is frequently called upon to speak to the commercial real estate community, including at Toronto's annual LandPro real estate and development conference and at other industry events, and he is a regular publisher and contributor to industry platforms and forums.
Craig has been recognized numerous times in connection with his representation of the owners or financiers of many of Canada's landmark properties, including Toronto's Scotia Plaza, the Royal Bank Plaza, Brookfield Place, the Bay Adelaide Centre, Vancouver's Telus Garden, First Canadian Place, and the Aura Tower (Canada's tallest residential development). He acts regularly for buyers, sellers, and developers of significant residential, commercial, and industrial properties, and has specialized expertise in the acquisition, financing, and development of hotel and resort properties, shopping malls, industrial and logistics hubs and infrastructure projects.
Craig's client-focused approach brings a practical perspective to all types of joint venture developments and partnerships, with an emphasis on creating holding structures that balance both risks and opportunities, and Craig's years of experience dealing with complex title issues allow him to give pointed and pragmatic advice on any number of real property related matters. He assists clients in structuring innovative and efficient financing transactions (including mezzanine and participating debt structures), in organizing development projects and in creating the agreements that govern complicated mixed-use projects and condominium properties.
Craig is also an experienced casino and gaming regulatory lawyer, and has assisted clients across the country in negotiating the long-term operating agreements that govern their commercial casino gaming operations. Recently, he has acted for clients in connection with iGaming Ontario's privatization of online gaming in Ontario, and he has acted for a number of clients in connection with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation's Modernizing Land Based Gaming initiative which transformed the operation of physical casinos across Ontario. He regularly addresses complex gaming regulatory matters for clients from coast to coast, including in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
In addition to Craig's experience with financing, acquiring, and selling real property, he also counsels clients in respect of complex land transfer tax and structuring issues, regularly acts for both landlords and tenants in commercial leasing matters and works with both lending and borrowing clients to complete significant offerings of commercial mortgage bonds.
Craig is a member of the Ontario Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Select Experience • Pontegadea, the family office of Spanish billionaire and Zara founder Amancio Ortega, in the US$916-million purchase of the iconic Royal Bank Plaza in Toronto, which houses the headquarters of Royal Bank of Canada, from Oxford Properties Group and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. • KingSett in the sale of its 100% interest in the first three floors of the Aura Tower, located at 388 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, to the Ikea group of companies. • The agents, trustee and bondholders, in the $660,000,000 First Mortgage Bond Financing of the Bay-Wellington Tower. • The agents in the $225-million green bond offering on security of the LEED Gold 47-storey TELUS Garden development in Downtown Vancouver. • KingSett Real Estate Growth LP No.5, with the $99-million acquisition and financing of the Courtyard Marriot Hotel in downtown Toronto. • Osisko Mining Corporation, in its response to Goldcorp Inc's unsolicited offer and subsequent agreement with Yamana Gold Inc. and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited to jointly acquire 100% of Osisko's issued and outstanding common shares for total consideration of $3.9 billion. • Infrastructure Ontario and Providence Care with the structuring, procurement, negotiation and settlement of the project documents in the Providence Care Hospital Project. • First Solar, in the development and sale of a 50 megawatt portfolio of three solar photovoltaic facilities in Ontario (Amherstburg (10MW), Belmont (20MW) and Walpole (20MW)). • KingSett Real Estate Growth LP No. 5, in the acquisition of 100 Alfred Kuehne Boulevard, Brampton, Ontario. • Acquisition of 17 properties by a KingSett Capital-led consortium in H&R Real Estate Investment Trust's acquisition of Primaris Retail Real Estate Investment Trust pursuant to a Plan of Arrangement. Bennett Jones acted for the consortium with respect to real estate and banking matters. • KingSett Canadian Real Estate Income Fund LP, in its $312-million acquisition with Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust of the office complex known as Calgary Place, each as to a 50 per cent co-ownership interest. |
