Selling an Office Building in Alberta

1. Define ownership, authority and disposition objectives

Confirm the registered and beneficial owner, signing authority, internal approvals and any lender, partner, estate, court or corporate requirements. Order current Alberta titles and have counsel review registered interests, legal parcels and rights that may affect the sale.

Set priorities across price, certainty, confidentiality, timing, vacancy strategy, active leasing, tenant relations, retained management and post-closing obligations. Define whether parking, storage, signage, development rights, equipment or adjacent land are included.

• Ownership and authority
• Included parcels and rights
• Price and certainty
• Vacancy and leasing strategy
• Tenant sensitivity
• Closing transition

2. Reconcile the property and area record

Match title, legal plans, municipal records, building plans and observed conditions. Organize parking, access, shared facilities, utilities, easements, encroachments and other agreements that affect operation or buyer control.

State the source and measurement convention for building, rentable, usable, common, storage and vacant areas. Contractual billed area can differ from another physical measurement convention; disclose the basis rather than implying one universal figure.

3. Build a complete lease and occupancy schedule

Collect executed leases, amendments, renewals, assignments, guarantees, notices and material side agreements. Reconcile tenant, premises, area, commencement, expiry, options, rent, recoveries, parking, storage and occupancy status to the documents and current observation.

Separate occupied, physically vacant, committed-not-occupied, landlord-use, model-suite and offline premises. Do not describe signed but conditional leasing, negotiations or renewal discussions as completed occupancy.

4. Reconcile income, recoveries and collections

Tie base rent, escalations, additional rent, parking, storage and other charges to lease language, invoices, tenant ledgers and cash or accounting evidence. Reconcile property tax, insurance, utilities, common costs and management under each lease's recovery structure.

Identify base-year terms, expense stops, caps, exclusions, gross-up provisions, administration charges, audit rights, arrears, abatements and incomplete reconciliations. Keep contractual, billed, collected, adjusted and projected figures distinct.

5. Make vacancy and leasing capital explicit

For each vacant or expiring suite, state area, condition, availability, asking position, active prospects and evidence status. Build separate scenarios for downtime, free rent, tenant-improvement allowances, landlord work, leasing commissions, legal cost and suite restoration.

Do not infer market rent, absorption or lease-up time from active listings alone. Use supportable market evidence with source, date, geography, building class, suite size and transaction context, then label the result as analysis rather than property fact.

6. Document rollover, options and tenant rights

Schedule renewal, expansion, contraction, termination, purchase, first-refusal, assignment, sublease, signage and parking rights with notice dates and source sections. Record whether a right has actually been exercised and whether conditions remain outstanding.

Counsel should interpret ambiguous or conflicting provisions and their effect on sale or future leasing. A marketing summary should not reduce a complex right to an unsupported yes-or-no label.

7. Present condition, service and capital evidence

Organize roof, envelope, elevators, HVAC, controls, electrical, fire and life safety, accessibility, washrooms, security, telecom, parking and common-area records. Include inspections, service contracts, energy or utility history, warranties, claims and capital work with dates and scope.

Document normal and after-hours HVAC, access and service arrangements without promising future capacity. Separate completed work, committed work, estimates and unresolved conditions.

8. Control marketing and buyer disclosure

Define the likely buyer universe, confidentiality level, tenant-contact rules, tours, data-room stages, questions and offer requirements before launch. Position the building's location, tenant profile, parking, systems and adaptable space without presenting forecasts as guaranteed outcomes.

Stage tenant financials, guarantees, personal information, security details and proprietary records according to purpose and buyer qualification. Alberta's PIPA should inform collection, use, disclosure, safeguards and retention.

9. Compare offers on price and execution

Compare price with deposit, purchaser authority, equity, financing, lease and tenant review, building and environmental conditions, title, representations, closing adjustments, assignment and timing. Model likely net proceeds and owner work under each proposal.

Applicable FINTRAC obligations include client identification, beneficial-ownership and recordkeeping requirements. Brokerage compliance is separate from the owner's commercial evaluation of buyer capability and conditions.

10. Coordinate tax, closing and operating continuity

CRA guidance states that sales and rentals of commercial real property are generally taxable unless a specific exemption applies. Obtain transaction-specific GST, income-tax, corporate and accounting advice.

Plan title, discharges, leases, deposits, rent and recovery adjustments, active leasing, contracts, keys, parking, security, insurance, tenant communication and property-management transfer. This guide is educational and is not legal, tax, accounting, privacy, engineering, environmental or appraisal advice.