Thursday, October 12, 2006

Canderel Subleasing Revisited

I am really scared now and seriously considering whether it is time to cash out my home in Windsor and move out to the "burbs." I love the area I live in and my home is truly my castle but I am getting very worried.

I got a tip from someone that I trust about the sub-lease at the Canderel building early this morning right after my BLOG came out.

I won't give any hints about who this person is including whether this person is a whistle-blower or not. All I can say is that this person is well-connected in the City and is fed up!

This person claims, in his/her own words, that the sublease deal is "THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY" for a tenant. He/she would not go into the gory details but what he/she said was enough to concern me.

Now we are told by the Mayor that the agreements are confidential. Perhaps Administration can be asked to go to the new tenants and to seek their permission to reveal the lease terms. Now that the deal is done, then there should be no problems. If the tenant allows the release, then why should the City care, right! We should get the info. Open and transparent Government after all.

Hmmmm I wonder if our Council put limits on what the Mayor and Administration could do. Did the sub-lease have to come back to Council for final approval? I can guess the answer to that one too!

Let me speculate on what my friend's concerns could be based on the Cleary deal as a good comparable:
  1. unbelievably low rent for the initial term of the lease to get rid of the asset
  2. huge payments for leasehold improvements and renovations where little work is required to be done
  3. sweetheart renewal deal for a very long term
  4. nice deal on monthly costs including how tenant space is calculated
  5. deal on escalators for price increases
Want to know why I am really posting this BLOG? I am not really worried about the Canderel sub-lease. And my friend is wrong. There is a real "100-year storm" deal about to hit us.

Wait until the same people who negotiated the sublease also negotiate the deal with PCR and the Spitfires and the land deal, especially if it is a land swap. If they are so desperate to do a deal in the last month of their 3 year term, imagine how desperate they will be to have everything wrapped up before the new Council takes office. Negotiating from a position of strength...hardly. And anyway, do they know how to do a sophisticated transaction given the City's track history.

And if the story I heard also this morning is true about who another tenant at Canderel is, I am sick!

We better all pray that the East End deal works out. As for me, anyone know a good real estate agent who can appraise my home!

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