Espace Montréal Podcast

Over the last year, Montreal's industrial market has gone from uncertainty to cautious Former pro hockey player turned top investment broker, Joe Rullier (Executive Vice President, Colliers), shares how he went from the NHL grind to building the #1 investment team in Canada and navigating one of the toughest markets Montreal has seen in years. In this episode, Joe breaks down how New York's high-pressure investment world shaped his work ethic, why land deals have slowed, how he underwrites like a banker to make deals actually financeable, and where he sees real opportunity right now in Montreal's multifamily and land markets. From CMHC delays to older stock repositioning, Joe explains the mindset, structure, and creativity investors need if they want to win in today's environment instead of buying into "dream" pricing that never materializes.

Topics & Timestamps

⏱ 00:01:03 – Welcome back to the Espace Montreal Podcast & intro to Joe Rullier

🏒 00:01:41 – From pro hockey career to New York commercial real estate

🏢 00:03:04 – Old-school New York training: 500 cold calls a week & outworking everyone

💼 00:06:54 – Moving back to Montreal, opening Cushman's investment team & starting from zero

📉 00:09:25 – Why land transactions are down: rates, costs, CMHC and the "perfect storm"

🏗 00:10:56 – Apartment crisis vs. construction reality: why building is getting harder

📊 00:12:24 – Underwriting like a banker: structuring deals that lenders will actually finance

🎯 00:15:12 – Telling the truth on value vs. "selling the dream" and disappointing vendors

🔁 00:17:06 – Shifting asset classes: from land to multi-res and reading where the market is going

🏚 00:19:00 – The big opportunity in older multi-res (30–100 units) with upside & poor management

🔍 00:20:21 – Repositioning, optimization and dealing with private owners and messy paperwork

🏙 00:21:46 – Where Joe sees the next 3–5 years in Montreal: rentals, government support & density

📈 00:24:00 – Example of a 50-unit building reposition and why patience and team matter

👋 00:25:07 – Final thoughts, staying patient in Quebec's sub-2% vacancy market & closing

Over the last year, Montreal's industrial market has gone from uncertainty to cautious optimism. In this episode, Axel Monsaingeon sits down with Mike Jager, co-founder and co-president of Rosefellow, to break down how one of Quebec's most active developers is navigating higher vacancies, tighter financing, and shifting tenant expectations—while quietly scaling into large-scale multi-residential projects.

Mike explains why Class-A industrial still wins in soft markets, how Rosefellow stayed disciplined when everyone else was chasing deals, and what it really takes to raise and deploy multiple funds while keeping investors, banks, and tenants aligned. He also shares Rosefellow's growing push into multi-residential in Quebec, Ontario, and the U.S., their data-driven approach to site selection, and why they've built a lean team that partners with "the best of the best" instead of trying to do everything in-house. The conversation wraps with Mike's vision for giving back to the next generation, promoting women in construction, and staying grounded through market cycles.

Topics & Timestamps

📌 01:10 – How the last 7 months reshaped Montreal's industrial market

🏭 02:30 – Building on spec and designing for 80% of tenant demand

📉 03:45 – Early signs the cycle is turning: rates, tariffs & tenant confidence

🏗️ 07:15 – What modern tenants actually want (efficiency, clear heights, OpEx savings)

💸 08:00 – Tax incentives in Montreal & Laval—and how they reduce tenant costs

⭐ 09:50 – Why Class-A industrial still outperforms in softer markets

📊 10:35 – How Rosefellow structures its funds and targets 30% IRR conservatively

🏦 12:10 – Construction financing challenges and why banks still back their spec builds

🏙️ 15:25 – Returning to multi-res: land prices, construction costs & new opportunities

🌍 23:45 – Rosefellow's next chapter: expansion across Canada, the U.S., and beyond

Is Montreal really "in decline"… or are we just stuck in a negative narrative?

In this episode of The Espace Montreal Podcast, host Axel Monsaingeon talks with Luciano D'Iorio, Regional President of CDNGLOBAL Québec, about why he's so relentlessly positive about Montreal's future – and what he sees on the ground every day in commercial real estate.

They dig into:

• The real stories behind downtown landmarks like Peel Street and the Sun Life Building

• How local landlord families went from one building to owning major downtown portfolios

• Why relationship-based ownership still matters more than AI, data and distant asset managers

• What makes it so hard to lose a good tenant—and so easy if you neglect them

• How small and medium businesses drive the downtown ecosystem

• Elections, policy, safety, homelessness and cleanliness as core CRE issues, not side topics

• The tension between heritage preservation and development (from churches to silos and conversions)

If you're in commercial real estate, urban planning, brokerage, investing or entrepreneurship and you care about downtown Montreal, this conversation will give you a nuanced, optimistic and practical perspective on where the city is headed – and how to create value in it.

📌 Timestamps 0:00 Montreal's negativity problem & why Luciano started telling positive stories 3:45 Peel Street, the NHL, Sun Life Building legends & downtown fun facts 8:00 Local landlord families, long-term portfolios & relationship-based leasing 13:30 Tenants, employees and the "upmarket" office race 17:10 Elections, downtown priorities & building a business-friendly Montreal 21:40 Pride, cleanliness, safety and the "broken windows" effect 24:30 Heritage vs development: churches, silos and conversions 25:50 Why real estate is the most dynamic "static" asset class 29:00 Final thoughts: why you should still bet on Montreal