QUÉBEC CITY, Nov. 8, 2019 /CNW
Telbec/ - Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust ("Cominar" or the
"REIT") (TSX: CUF.UN) announced today its new and more efficient
organizational structure, aligned with the dynamic needs of its
markets. Bernard Poliquin is joining
the team as Executive Vice President, Office and Chief Real Estate
Operations Officer and will oversee the leasing and property
management teams for office and industrial assets as well as
operations, maintenance and construction activities for the entire
portfolio.
Mr. Poliquin has a solid track record in commercial and
corporate real estate, having worked for large organizations such
as Desjardins, JLL, Avison Young and
most recently as Senior Vice President at Ivanhoe Cambridge where
he managed an important office portfolio in the province of
Quebec and led the transformation
of Place Ville Marie. "Bernard
Poliquin's arrival enhances our renewed leadership team,
with broadened diversity of expertise and experience while ensuring
leadership strength in our main market of Montreal", explains Sylvain Cossette.
Bernard Poliquin's arrival
completes the team overseeing all of Cominar's financial and
operational activities led by Sylvain
Cossette, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Heather Kirk, Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer and Marie-Andrée Boutin,
Executive Vice President, Retail and Chief Development
Officer. Michael Racine, Executive Vice President, Leasing –
Office and Industrial and Wally
Commisso, Executive Vice President, Operations and Property
Management, will both report to Bernard
Poliquin.
Departure of Alain Dallaire
and efficiencies within the management team
As a result of these organizational changes and the evolution of
its strategic plan, Cominar announces that Alain Dallaire, Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer, has been asked to step down from his role
as of November 8, 2019. "Cominar is
grateful for Alain's contribution since the creation of the REIT in
1998. We are confident that Alain is leaving us with the
legacy of a strong foundation on which we can build with the
leadership team", said Sylvain
Cossette, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Cominar also announces the departure of Richard Fortin, Vice President, Asset Management
and Caroline Lacroix, Vice
President, Marketing and Communications, following internal
restructuring initiatives aiming to improve efficiency and create
better alignment with corporate objectives.
Cominar also highlights the departure of Johanne Leclerc, Vice President, Operations,
Retail, following a distinguished career in the commercial real
estate industry.
New roles and new talent within the management team
The transformation of Cominar has also required changes to
certain management positions and the addition of new talent in
order to further initiatives launched over the course of the last
year.
Richard Nolin becomes Vice
President, Retail and General Manager, Quebec Region, reaffirming
Cominar's desire to maintain a major presence in the provincial
capital region. Guy Rondeau
becomes Vice President and General Manager of the construction
unit, which now includes all project management activities, and
will report to Bernard
Poliquin. As for Sandra Lécuyer, Vice President, Talent
and Organization, she will be adding internal and external
communications to her current responsibilities.
In addition, new talent has recently been added to the
management team:
- Sébastien Dubois, Vice President Leasing, Retail
- Jean-Marc Rouleau, Vice
President, Operations, Retail
- Brigitte Dufour, Vice President,
Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary
- Mélanie Vallée, Vice President, Data and Technology (new
role)
- Antoine Tronquoy, Executive Director, Capital Markets (new
role)
- Alexandra Faciu, Executive
Director, Asset and Portfolio Management (new role)
"These roles have added new expertise that greatly contributes
to shaping our perspectives, increasing process efficiency and
better positioning us for the future," says Sylvain Cossette. "I already see the
contributions of the new skills to Cominar's strategy."
These new hires complement the existing management team and
provide Cominar with the structure and expertise required to
achieve its strategic plan objectives.
Profile as of November 8,
2019
Cominar is one of the largest diversified real estate investment
trusts in Canada and is the
largest commercial property owner in the Province of Québec. Our
portfolio consists of 331 high-quality office, retail and
industrial properties, totalling 36.5 million square feet located
in the Montreal, Québec City and
Ottawa areas. Cominar's primary
objective is to maximize total return to unitholders by way of
tax-efficient distributions and maximizing the unit value through
the proactive management of our portfolio.
Forward-looking statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements with
respect to Cominar and its operations, strategy, financial
performance and financial position. These statements generally can
be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may",
"will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" or
"continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations and the
use of conditional and future tenses. The actual results and
performance of Cominar discussed herein could differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements
are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and
uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Some important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
expectations include, among other things, general economic and
market factors, competition, changes in government regulation and
the factors described under "Risk Factors" in Cominar's Annual
Information Form. The cautionary statements qualify all
forward-looking statements attributable to Cominar and persons
acting on its behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Cominar
does not assume any obligation to update the aforementioned
forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable
laws.
SOURCE COMINAR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST