William A. Rowlands 

Toronto

Brookfield Place, Suite 4400

181 Bay Street

Toronto, Ontario M5J 2T3

t: 416.307.4065

e: william.rowlands@mcmillan.ca

overview

William (Bill) Rowlands is a partner in the Real Estate Law Group in the Toronto office. He has been a partner with the firm since 1988.

Bill is a recognized leader in commercial leasing. His practice involves a full spectrum of commercial real estate transactions including leasing, acquisitions and dispositions of property. Bill represents participants on all sides of real estate transactions, including property owners and managers, landlords and tenants, purchaser and vendors.

His professional activities include:

• Co-Chair of the Law Society of Upper Canada annual Six-Minute Commercial Leasing Lawyer Program
• Editor for O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms, Division IV, Leases, Canada Law Book, 2002, updated annually, a major Canadian legal resource book on leases

Bill also speaks at various business and professional conferences on topics related to retail, industrial and commercial leasing. He also served as resource counsel on the lease committee of Realpac (Real Property Association of Canada), a leading Canadian real estate organization.

Representative Matters

• Acted for subsidiary of Brookfield Office Properties in connection with the lease to Deloitte Management Services LP, as lead tenant, of approximately 420,000 square feet of the new 44-storey Bay Adelaide East office tower.
• Acted for Manulife Real Estate in the purchase of the office building complex known as York Mills Centre from Ivanhoe Cambridge.
• Acted for Manulife Real Estate in a forward purchase and sale arrangement with Broccolini Construction and Canderel Management in respect of Manulife's purchase of the new Export Development Canada headquarters.
• Acted for BMO Bank of Montreal in an agreement with a subsidiary of First Gulf Corporation and Sun Life Financial to be the anchor tenant in a LEED-certified office building, First Meadowvale Corporate Centre in Meadowvale.
• Acted for a major Canadian landlord in related leasing transactions with a major tenant at numerous locations across the county.
• Acts for a number of retailers in connection with their leasing and property matters including a financial institution, a petroleum retailer, a major electronics retailer and a major home furnishings retailer.
• Is retained on an ongoing basis by a number of landlords in connection with office, retail and industrial leasing.

Presentations

Publications

News

Education

• Queen's University, LLB - 1982

Year Of Call

• Called to the Ontario bar - 1984

Directorships and Professional Associations

• International Council of Shopping Centres

Awards & Rankings

• Recognized by the Best Lawyers in Canada (2021) as a leading lawyer in the area of Real Estate Law
• Recognized in the 2020 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a Consistently Recommended lawyer in the area of Property Leasing 
• Listed in Who’s Who Legal: Canada 2019 as a leader in Real Estate
• Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada (2020) as a leading lawyer in the area of Real Estate Law
• Recognized in the 2019 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a Consistently Recommended lawyer in the area of Property Leasing
• Recognized in the 2018 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a Consistently Recommended lawyer in the area of Property Leasing
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011 - 2019 as a leader in Real Estate Law
• Received 2017 Distinguished^TM Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
• Listed in Who's Who Legal: Canada 2016 - 2018 as a leader in Real Estate Law
• Listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2010 - 2017 as a leading practitioner in Property Leasing