Cushman & Wakefield Negotiates Rio Tinto's Long-Term Lease to Relocate to the Deloitte Tower and Sell Their Current Montreal Office

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - July 11, 2013) - Rio Tinto, advised by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), has completed a long-term lease with The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd., on approximately 190,000 square feet of space in the new, LEED® Platinum (CS), Deloitte Tower in downtown Montreal.

Deloitte Tower by Cadillac Fairview is the first privately owned and financed commercial office tower to be built in Montreal's core in more than 20 years. This is the second major tenant mandate C&W has brought to the Deloitte Tower. Early this year C&W worked with the Deloitte real estate team to negotiate its lead tenancy of the tower.

"We have worked with Rio Tinto for the past several years to examine all possible options, and develop a real estate strategy that met their evolving needs, while recognizing their important history in the city of Montreal," said Chuck Scott, Senior Managing Director, Corporate Occupiers and Investor Services at C&W. "This is a strategy that will support Rio Tinto and its employees for another generation."

"The Montreal market is at a tipping point - with exciting new space like Cadillac Fairview's Deloitte Tower, tenants are looking for options and bringing additional leverage to the negotiating table with their landlords," said Bernie Marcotte, Senior Managing Director for C&W in Montreal. "The market is primed for movement and we will continue to see big blocks of space move in the next few years."

The latest statistics show that overall vacancy rose from 7.9 percent in Q1, to 8.5 percent in Q2 in downtown Montreal. This illustrates the direction and impact of sizeable tenant activity within a market filled with multiple options for relocation and leveraged renegotiations that favour the tenant. Consequently, sublet space is on the rise and now totals 14 percent of all vacant space in the Greater Montreal Area, a 3 percentage point jump from Q2 2012 and a remarkable leap of close to 7 percentage points from Q2 2011.

Lloyd Cooper, the lead agent on the Rio Tinto transaction and part of the C&W team for the Deloitte transaction, said the market activity is across a broad spectrum of companies. "We're seeing the market move across all sectors - mining, financial services, entertainment and even the public sector. Tenants are getting more savvy and landlords are sharpening their pencils."

Cushman & Wakefield also represented Rio Tinto in the sale of its current location at 1188 Sherbrooke Street West, the details of which remain confidential.

Cushman & Wakefield is the world's largest privately‐held commercial real estate services firm. The company advises and represents clients on all aspects of property occupancy and investment, and has established a preeminent position in the world's major markets, as evidenced by its frequent involvement in many of the most significant property leases, sales and assignments. Founded in 1917, it has 253 offices in 60 countries and nearly 15,000 employees. It offers a complete range of services for all property types, including leasing, sales and acquisitions, equity, debt and structured finance, corporate finance and investment banking, corporate services, property management, facilities management, project management, consulting and appraisal. The firm has more than $3.7 billion in assets under management globally. A recognized leader in local and global real estate research, the firm publishes its market information and studies online at www.cushmanwakefield.com/knowledge.