EMPHASIS ON CREATING VALUE

BY NATHALIE SAVARIA, JOURNALIST

Since his appointment in May 2022 as president and CEO of Cominar, Mario Morroni has set his sights on rejuvenating this star of the Québec commercial real estate industry, setting a new course after a turbulent period.

ith a new board of directors and a new management team developing new projects, Cominar has embarked on a new chapter in its history, and the president and chief executive officer is actively spreading the message..

FROM POLICEMAN TO CEO

Mario D. Morroni's path to real estate was a multifaceted journey.

After receiving a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in finance from Concordia University, young

Mario worked for a short time as a headhunter for a recruitment firm before signing up for the Montréal Police Service training program. After completing the intensive training, he joined the police force in January 1995. "I started out in downtown Montréal at Station 25, at the corner of St. Mathieu and de Maisonneuve."

About three and a half years later, he joined the Montréal Police Brotherhood union as secretarytreasurer and member of the board of directors, before moving on to the Police Officers' Retirement and Benevolent Association. He served as its vice-president from 2001 to 2010, and managing director from 2010 to 2014. In that role, he was responsible for its multi-asset investment strategy and for overall administration of the pension plan, which had over $4 billion in assets under management.

Shift To Real Estate

With that impressive professional background, he then joined Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. From 2014 to 2018 he served as executive vice-president, Strategy and Capital Allocation, and from 2018 to 2022 as executive vice-president, Industrial, for North America. "I'm proud to say that in four years we went from about $1 billion to over $9 billion of assets under management [...]. That was probably the high point of my accomplishments with my team at Ivanhoe

Cambridge. We were able to create value in the best sectors at the best possible moment."

Head Of Cominar

The position of president and chief executive officer of Cominar came at an opportune moment in his career. As an experienced executive, he was pleased to be able to bring his knowledge, expertise and management style "to help the consortium realize its strategic vision in a way that allowed employees to flourish within the context of a smaller company,"

On March 1, 2022, the 310 properties under management at the real estate investment trust created in 1998 by Jules Dallaire were sold to three purchasers. The Mach Group acquired 40 commercial and office buildings, Blackstone bought 190 industrial buiildings, and the consortium of investors led by Canderel purchased

Cominar and a portfolio of 80 office and retail assets for $5.7 billion. As for the workforce, it was reduced from over 500 to 225 employees.

"I won't hide the fact that when my appointment was announced in the media, several people called to congratulate me for joining Canderel."

While he believes that the complexity of the transaction is probably at the root of that misunderstanding, he hastened to add that the company "is alive and well and will continue to evolve." In December 2022, the Cominar portfolio consisted of 73 properties under management – 49 office buildings and 24 retail buildings.

Strategic Repositioning

His mandate is to "reposition the portfolio so that it continues to grow, not in terms of the number of assets, but in terms of quality," so as to create value and to generate returns on investments.

The repositioning is taking place in three phases. "We are already in disposal mode for certain non-strategic assets. We are also proactively managing targeted assets that we need to take to another level. At the same time, our development team is working on a dozen major projects to present to municipalities, so that over the next 12 to 18 months we will be able to recycle our capital and create value."

"Now that we are a private firm and no longer a publicly traded company obliged to post quarterly results, Cominar is able to focus on a medium and long-term approach. "It's often the case that companies, once privatized, have greater strategic latitude, which helps them concentrate on creating value."

Despite a difficult economic context and a possible recession, Mr. Morroni notes that the firm's substantial assets attract private investors with long-term time horizons, people who are willing to support the company's approach.

Creating New Communities

Cominar's vision emphasizes the creation of urban communities based on densification and mixed-use spaces. More specifically, it aims to create assets and spaces located near mass transit, with shopping, green spaces and bike paths, communities that meet the needs of all generations. "In every major country in the world, this is what people are asking for," said Mr. Morroni.

Consequently, in November 2022 the firm announced the launch of Mostra Centropolis in the heart of the Centropolis complex in Laval, to be built in partnership