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About Thomas

Thomas is a well-known trusted adviser to pension funds and institutional and private investors in the acquisition and disposition of real property and mortgage portfolios. He has also been active in the privatization and disposition of government assets throughout Canada.

Thomas has structured real estate joint ventures and partnerships and placed financing secured by real estate on behalf of both individuals and institutions. He has also assisted clients in transactions involving alternative energy and natural resources development.

Thomas is Co-Practice Group Leader of the Firm's Real Estate group, made up of approximately 40 lawyers.

Select Experience

Representative transactions include acting for:

  • Fiera Properties in acquisitions in excess of C$450-million of office and industrial portfolios in 2019 including, the 13-building Airport Executive Park in Richmond, BC and the 6-building AeroCentre in Mississauga, Ontario

  • Clients of BentallGreenOak in the acquisition and permanent financing of 1250 René-Lévesque Boulevard in Montréal, the largest single asset transaction it has ever completed in Canada

  • JCF Capital ULC in its acquisition of the debt on Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, the enforcement of that debt, the acquisition of 211 hotel units and 74 residential condominium units, and the sale of the hotel portion of the tower to InnVest REIT

  • Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan or its subsidiaries on the joint venture investment in the development of a new 23-floor office tower known as the "Shift" in Toronto; a C$287.5-million new 515 suite apartment building in Chicago known as "The Coast"; logistics developments in Germany and England; the C$240-million purchase of 50% interests in Quinte Mall and Devonshire Mall; the acquisition of a 55% interest in the Nexus 40-13 International Business Centre, Montréal, Quebec; the C$137-million purchase of Marlborough Mall, Calgary, Alberta; and the C$140-million purchase of Lansdowne Place, Peterborough, Ontario

  • Ontario Pension Board on its acquisition of a 30% interest in the Toronto Dominion Centre and the C$300-million purchase of an undivided 50% interest in the RBC Centre, a 41-storey class AAA office tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario

  • Clients of BentallGreenOak on their acquisitions of the KPMG Tower in Montréal, a portfolio of three regional malls from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board; a 23-property industrial portfolio in Mississauga, Ontario; North Hill Mall, Calgary; Cloverdale Mall, Toronto; and on numerous dispositions

  • Standard Life plc on its C$4-billion sale of its Canadian business to Manulife

  • Bell and Rogers Communications Inc. on their acquisition of a net 75% ownership position in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Scotiabank Arena and other significant real estate assets

  • German, American and Dutch investors/lenders and syndicators on their real estate acquisition and lending programs in Canada

  • The developer/borrower in infrastructure financings totalling more than C$160-million for the territorial legislative building, office buildings and governmental residences in Nunavut, Canada

  • Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia-based pension funds in acquisitions and joint ventures of office, retail, industrial and multi-family residential assets

Awards & Recognition

Thomas has been recognized as a leading real estate practitioner in the following publications:

  • Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business ("Sources note: 'He's one of the top real estate lawyers in the country.'")

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada (Real Estate Law)

  • Who's Who Legal: Real Estate ("'Strong lawyer' Thomas von Hahn is widely regarded as a top-class figure in the market.")

  • Who's Who Legal: Canada (Real Estate – Identified as one of the five "Most Highly Regarded" real estate lawyers in Canada)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Property Development)

  • The Legal 500 Canada (Leading Lawyer – Real Estate)

  • Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Real Estate Lawyers

Professional Activities

Thomas has been an instructor for the Law Society of Ontario bar admission course in the real estate section. He also lectured at the Osgoode Hall Law School intensive program in business law from 2000 to 2003.

Thomas has been named the delegate for Ontario, Canada, to the International Roundtable of Legal Experts of the Association of German Mortgage Banks (Der Verband deutscher Pfandbriefbanken) and speaks German fluently. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, and his articles on real estate investment and lending have appeared in publications of the International Bar Association. He has also presented papers and appeared on panels for the Queen's University Executive Seminars on Corporate and Investment Real Estate, Real Leasing, Insight, Federated Press and the Canadian Institute.

Education

Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 1987
LLB, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto – 1985
BA, University of British Columbia, Vancouver – 1981
International Baccalaureate, United World College of the Atlantic, Wales, U.K. – 1978

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