Practice Expertise

  • Commercial Real Estate and Development
  • Municipal Law
  • Real Estate
  •  

Areas of Practice

  • Commercial Real Estate and Development
  • Municipal Law
  • Real Estate
  •  

Profile

Ed 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, 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 vendors, purchasers 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.

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 B.C. Law Society 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.

Bar Admissions
British Columbia (1983)

Education
Simon Fraser University (B.A., 1979)
University of British Columbia (LL.B., 1982)

Areas of Practice

  • Commercial Real Estate and Development
  • Municipal Law
  • Real Estate

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
Ed has particular expertise with respect to the unique land issues which arise in relation to the acquisition of and on-going access to linear projects. Ed's recent representative experience includes:

Providing BC Hydro with legal assistance in connection with the strategic acquisition of Statutory Right of Way interests over private property for the purposes of the Dawson Creek/ Chetwynd Area Transmission (DCAT) project.

Acting for one of Canada's major pipeline companies with respect major natural gas transmission projects

Advising on obtaining rights to use provincial Crown land for an LNG terminal in the Douglas Channel Energy Partnership in the development and permitting of their LNG project in Douglas Channel, including issues relating to the City of Kitimat's land use controls.

Providing another project proponent with legal assistance in connection with the strategic acquisition of Statutory Right of Way interests over crown land and private property for the purposes of a proposed linear project having its terminus in Kitimat.

Providing a mining corporation with legal assistance in connection with the procurement and/or acquisition of various land tenures over crown land and private property for the purposes of various linear infrastructure components serving the project (including roads and electrical transmission lines).

Negotiated long term ground leases and development agreements with Port Metro Vancouver on behalf of warehousing and logistics firms, cement and aggregate terminal operators, and grain terminal operators.

Familiar with B.C. expropriation procedures and have assisted numerous clients in such matters.

Assisted clients on other projects requiring various form of crown tenures (licenses, work permits, leases, rights of way) or interests in private lands (such as option to purchase, purchase agreements, lease etc.).

Ed has also 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

Marketing of real estate projects located outside of BC in BC

Restructuring of strata corporation bylaws

Development of mine sites

Subdivision of pulp mills and saw mills

Assisting municipalities on the redevelopment of downtown urban centres

Lease negotiations for a wide variety of tenants and landlords

Drafting standard form documents to be used by members of professional associations in the real estate field

Advising owners of industrial properties to market their properties for higher and better uses

Negotiating long term ground leases for industrial users


Professional Associations
*Canadian Council for Public & Private Partnerships, Member
*Mortgage Brokers Association of B.C., Member
*National Association of Industrial & Office Properties, Member
*SPA - Strata Property Agents of British Columbia, Associate Member
*Urban Development Institute, Member

Canadian Bar Association

*Municipal Law and Environmental Subsections Member
*Vancouver Real Property Subsection ("VRPS"), Chair; Executive Committee Member; Strata Property Act Committee Member; Standard Form Undertaking Letter Committee Chair; Real Estate Act Amendment Committee Member; Personal Property Security Act Committee Member
*Presentations on a variety of topics including: Standard Form Contract of Purchase and Sale, Property Law Act, Standard Form Undertaking Letter, Title Insurance, and Electronic Filing
*VRPS Title Insurance Committee, Chair
*CBA Representative on BC Real Estate Association's Standard Form Committee
*Land Title and Survey Authority Electronic Filing Committee, CBA Representative

Law Society of BC

*Retained by the Law Society to advise on real estate fraud prevention measures
*Retained by the Law Society and Lawyer's Insurance Fund to advise on complaints against members and insurance claims in the real estate field
*Law Society of B.C. Task Force on Lawyers Selling Real Estate - 2003 - 2004, Member
*Law Society of B.C. Conveyancing Practices Task Force - 2002, Member

Recognition and Ranking
*Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2015: consistently recommended as a Leading Practitioner for property development
*Best Lawyers in Canada: recognized for real estate law
*Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory: BV Peer Review rated
*The Continuing Legal Education Society of BC: 2007 BC Leaders in Learning Award

Community Activities
*Take a Hike Youth at Risk Society, Board Member
*Medallion Housing Society, Board Member
*Vancouver Curling Club, Former Board Member

Seminars/ Presentation
"Strata Depreciation Reports", Real Estate Advanced Topics, Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia (September 14, 2012), Speaker

"Protecting Your Turf: How Landlords and Tenants can Protect their Financial Interests under Commercial Leases in Challenging Economic Times”, Practical Tips for Tough Economic Times Seminar, Vancouver, BC (May 20, 2009)


Articles

Additional ArticlesBill 17 Has Implications for Mortgage Brokers (Summer 2014)

Bare Trusts and Multifamily Rental Housing (February 1, 2013)

"Strata Property Act - Depreciation Reports" (November 30, 2012), Author

BC Real Estate Development Practice Manual, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (1994 to the Present), Member Editorial Board and Contributor

Due Diligence Deskbook, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (1995 to Present), Contributor

Lawson Lundell represents BC Hydro in the $825 million purchase of a 1/3 interest in the 493 megawatt Waneta Dam from Teck Metals Ltd. (March 22, 2010)

Practical Tips for Tough Economic Times (May 20, 2009)

Advance Real Property Issues Course Chair and Lecturer, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (2008)

Financing Urban Growth: Public Fees and Exactions, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (2008)

Easements in lieu of Subdivision (September 30, 2006)

Real Estate Development: Resort and Hotel Properties (September 3, 2006)

Shaping the Future of Conveyancing (September 20, 2004)

Lorman Education: Easements in Lieu of Leasehold Subdivisions (April 2004 and 2005)

Land Title Transfer Guide Book - Practice Manual, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (2003 – 2004), Member Editorial Board

Conveyancing for Lawyers – The Standard Contract of Purchase and Sale and the CBA Standard Undertakings, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (November 2003)

Strata Property Agents - Liability Issues (April 11, 2002)

The Strata Property Act – 2002 Update, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (April 2002), Course Author/Lecturer
Ask an Expert: Selling your Leaky Condominium - Are you giving away your right to possible repair cost recovery? (February 10, 2002)

Strata Property Agents Association of BC: Liability Issues for Strata Agents (March 2001)

The Strata Property Act May, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (2000)

Urban Development Institute: The Strata Property Act: How is it Working (September 2000)

Pacific Business and Law Institute: Working Under The Strata Property Act, The Strata Manager’s Perspective (June 2000)

The Strata Property Act: Issues for Strata Property Agents, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (June 8, 2000)

Urban Development Institute: The New Strata Property Act, (Vancouver, Kelowna and Victoria) (May/June 2000)

Law Seminars International: Dealing with Liability Associated with Contaminated Property (May 2000)

The Strata Property Act: Lender's Issues, BC Continuing Legal Education Society (May 11, 2000)

Strata Property Agents of B.C.: The New Strata Property Act (May 2000)

Strata Property Agents - Liability Issues, BC Continuing Legal Education Society

Prior to 2000 a number of publications on real estate and other commercial issues, BC Continuing Legal Education Society

Blogs

Real Estate Law Blog

Our Real Estate Law Blog provides brief commentary on current legal trends and developments affecting your business. The topics addressed in Lawson Lundell’s Real Estate Law Blog are of interest to commercial real estate developers, real estate and strata agents, investors, landlords and tenants, as well as a variety of industry groups.

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