Pepsi Forum

The former home to the Montreal Canadians hockey team, the
Pepsi Forum was converted from a fabled hockey arena to an
entertainment and retail complex.  The property features a 22-
screen AMC Entertainment theatre as its anchor tenant, as well as
Future Shop, Énergie Cardio and the Societé des Alcools du
Québec (SAQ).

The Challenge
The property faced numerous obstacles during its conversion,
including but not limited to City of Montreal limitations on the
nature and physical aspects of the development, as well as a major
tenant bankruptcy (Rainforest Café), a tenant that never occupied
its space (Cinegrande), and two operators who failed to profitably
manage a fully built-out restaurant, games, and bowling business. 
At the time of sale, the property was 62% leased, the Montreal
business community had deemed the project a failure, and the
AMC had an abatement clause that would become effective within
eight months of the marketing process.
 
The Solution
The sales team focused the marketing efforts on the quality and mix
of the tenant covenants representing the existing income, the
potential lease-up opportunity of the vacant space through
alternative uses such as office space, the strategic location of the
asset at the gateway to downtown Montreal and at the foot of
Montreal's wealthiest borough, Westmount, as well as the ability to
develop the air rights associated with the property.