Article
For CBRE Montreal’s Industrial Teams, Collaboration Leads to Success
November 4, 2026 4 Minute Read
Over its 30 years in business in Montreal, CBRE has been fortunate to be able to field three strong industrial teams across the Greater Montreal Area, each running their own territory but never hesitating to collaborate to get deals done and create winning outcomes for clients.
Leveraging decades of market expertise and experience, CBRE Montreal’s leading industrial professionals have delivered for clients and dominated when it comes to sales and leasing in their respective domains, from the South Island to Laval-North Island to Saint-Laurent.
“The success of our industrial teams has had a lot to do with the collaborative culture they’ve forged, which is unique,” says CBRE Montreal’s Managing Director Louis Karam.
“Our teams are keen to share intelligence and collaborate on strategy to ensure our clients will continue to see CBRE as their go-to source for market intelligence and deal execution.”
Deal Making Duo
Speaking of deal execution, Ryan Cymet and Jean-Philippe (JP) Daunais have been part of some of the GMA’s biggest industrial transactions in their 10-plus years with CBRE Montreal. And many of those deals came as a result of collaboration.
Reflecting on when they first arrived at CBRE in 2015, Cymet and Daunais recall being encouraged by the size of the company’s Montreal operations and impressed by the calibre of its industrial brokers in the GMA and across Canada.
“It meant we were able to establish a spirit of collaboration right out of the gate and create opportunities for our clients,” Daunais says. “We reached out to all the other CBRE teams for meetings and came up with rules of engagement and joint marketing efforts.”
Isabeau Des Rosiers joined the duo early into their time at CBRE and evolved from an administrative role to recently earning her own commercial broker licence. “Getting to see Ryan and JP in action was the best education I could have hoped for,” she says.
True North (Shore) Strong
James Cacchione and Geoff Hughes more than established their bona fides in the decades they’ve worked in the industrial real estate business in Laval-North Shore.
Cacchione joined CBRE Montreal in 2006 right out of real estate school and was hired to focus exclusively on the North Shore. “They basically said, ‘Go do this’,” he recalls. “And I’ve been doing it now for 20 years.”
In 2014 Cacchione approached Hughes, a lifelong friend of his with no background in real estate, and persuaded him to join his team.
“We created our own little world here in Laval and the North Shore,” Hughes says. “It’s been amazing to build a base of clients and a reputation that has allowed us to become the preeminent industrial professionals in these parts.
“And of course we benefit greatly from being able to collaborate and tap into the expertise and market intelligence of our CBRE colleagues.”
Hughes and Cacchione got a helping hand from Karelle Rémillard, a junior broker who joined their fold in 2018. “Being on a dynamic team like this has given me plenty of chances to hone my skills,” she says.
Best in the West Island
Juan Perez could be considered the longest running of CBRE Montreal’s industrial real estate professionals, having spent 22 years with the company following five at a competitor.
In 2015 he recruited Robert James, himself an industry veteran with 25 years-plus experience. Together the pair have done more than 43 million sq. ft. worth of industrial deals.
Perez notes that CBRE Montreal is unique in the fact that its industrial teams operate independently in their respective territories but also frequently collaborate on intelligence and putting deals together.
“From a Montreal industrial market standpoint, collectively we cover a lot of ground,” Perez says. “We have teams in all territories and we get a lot of data and intel based on that. It helps us deliver the best value and service to our clients and making transactions happen for them.”
Capital Collaboration
The collaborative spirit extends to Quebec City, where Philippe Lambert helped establish a CBRE office in 2015. As he’s built an industrial business in the provincial capital, he’s benefitted from being able to collaborate with brokers in Montreal and share industrial intelligence.
“It’s definitely helped strengthen the operation here and gave me more confidence and support as I’ve grown our Quebec City industrial business,” says Lambert, who in 2024 was bolstered by the arrival of Patrick Soucy, William Grenon, Maxime Paquet and Maxime St-Pierre.
Louis Karam knows that he’s got something special in his industrial teams and the uniquely collaborative approach they’ve honed over three decades.
“I truly believe that’s had so much to do with establishing CBRE Montreal as the leading force in Quebec industrial real estate,” he says. “We’ve proven that collaboration is a secret to success.”
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