Spelling aside, Peter Sharpe's surname describes his business sense.

Sharpe is the president and CEO of Toronto-based Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. (CF), a firm many Canadian real estate executives watch closely for signs of new industry trends.

The trends don't apply only to investment. They also apply to building management and operations practices.

In February, Cadillac Fairview's 40-year-old Toronto Dominion Centre received the Business Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada's "Go Green Plus" certification.

Brennan O'Connor, Business Edge
Cadillac Fairview CEO Peter Sharpe says U.S. retailers approach his company first to break into the Canadian market.

Go Green Plus, a step above BOMA's basic Go Green program, sets environmental benchmarks for all aspects of commercial buildings, including resource consumption, waste reduction, recycling, building materials, interior environment and tenant awareness of the importance of conserving energy.

Keeping a fairly low profile, Sharpe oversees $15 billion worth of assets for CF, which is wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board - arguably, one of Canada's most influential institutional investors. As property prices continue to rise and customer habits continue to change, he is looking for new international markets and new types of shopping centres and office complexes to develop.

Peter Sharpe

And he has some pretty interesting ideas.

1. Where were you born and raised?

"I was born in Winnipeg, but moved to Toronto at only three months old, in 1947, where I spent most of my childhood."

2. What was it like growing up in Toronto?

"I grew up in the beautiful Lawrence Park area in mid-town Toronto. I led a very healthy, active outdoor childhood and loved to go for bike rides."

3. What did your parents do for a living?

"My mom was a nurse and when my sister and I were born, she was a stay-at-home mom. My father was quite a successful salesman for Westinghouse and American Standard."

4. What early events sent you toward a career in business?

"I studied honours economics and business administration at Wilfrid Laurier University (formerly Waterloo Lutheran University.)" 5. Why did you choose that particular university?

"WLU was known to have a good business and economics program. I knew one of the economics professors - Ralph Blackmore - (and) met with the dean of the WLU business school at the time, a guy named Glenn Carroll. He was very dynamic and impressed me."

6. What was your first job?

"My first real job was with Royal Bank in the summer of 1966 as part of a training program, which I continued throughout university. I began working as a teller and became an expert at using "proof machines," as they were called at the time. I continued to work in various roles at Royal Bank until 1971."

7. Who were your mentors early in your career?

"I certainly admired and respected my father, Len Sharpe, for his strong working values. Also, a man named John Latimer, who owned Camp Kilcoo (near Minden, Ont.). I worked for him when I was the waterfront director of the camp. He taught me a lot about what it takes to succeed. There was also Blake Ashforth at Royal Bank, who was another role model I learned a lot from."

8. How did you end up joining Cadillac Fairview?

"I was actually recruited by Cadillac back in 1984, and took on the role of vice-president of operations for the entire office portfolio. Prior to Cadillac, I worked at a company called Marathon Realty, which was the former real estate arm of CP Rail."

9. How has the company re-invented itself over the years?

"Cadillac Fairview has gone through several different phases of growth, refining its focus over the past 54 years. Originally we had our own construction company and were involved in virtually every kind of real estate development: From building subdivisions, to condominiums, apartment buildings and many different sizes of shopping malls in communities across Canada. Innovation has been our common company trademark. We revolutionized the design of apartment buildings. Features that are taken for granted now - health-club facilities, individually controlled heating and air conditioning, underground parking, and grounds landscaped with trees and fountains - were all pioneered by Cadillac Development. In the 1960s, we built Canada's largest office complex, the Toronto Dominion Centre. In 1975, we expanded into the United States market. In the 1980s, we refined our focus to high-rise office towers and larger, high-quality shopping centres in major cities across Canada. In 1997 for a short time, we were a publicly traded company. By December 1999, the new Cadillac Fairview was on its way to becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board whose relationship with CF went back to 1995. When CF was publicly traded, Teachers was the largest shareholder, holding approximately 21.8 per cent of the outstanding common shares. We further focused on quality, leading-edge architectural design and continued to develop our talented people to maintain our competitive edge and leadership position in the industry. On the retail side, we now own and manage 29 of Canada's premier shopping facilities and continue to re-invest (in) and expand them to stay vibrant and relevant to the communities in which they operate."

10. What are the company's goals as far as increasing its retail and office properties over the next decade?

"As the exclusive manager of Teachers real estate assets, the role of CF is to develop and manage a property portfolio that achieves significant and steady returns and to generate cashflow and long-term growth. We will continue to focus on our core areas of expertise by expanding our portfolio of dominant regional malls and downtown office towers in major cities across Canada and the U.S. that we know will generate consistent profitability. Because of the expense of the Canadian market, we will continue to seek out international investment opportunities in emerging markets to build the CF portfolio based on value, and ensure continued growth and limit risk. An example of this is our recent investments in Brazil. Construction is also already underway to build the RBC Centre in Toronto. RBC Centre becomes the first major development in downtown Toronto in over 10 years.

"It is a 43-storey office building at an estimated construction cost of $400 million. The new tower will be located on the southwest corner of Wellington and Simcoe streets, across from Roy Thomson Hall, with an expected completion by 2009. Today, Cadillac Fairview possesses one of North America's finest portfolios of retail and office properties."

11. What challenges lie ahead for Canadian shopping mall owners as large department stores - which often serve as anchor tenants - struggle financially and appear to be less important to customers?

"Department stores were the shopping centres of the past, and while they certainly still have their place among the buying public, and are important in the retail sector, we have seen a trend towards more specialized, high-quality boutique stores and retail chains that provide a unique product line and very knowledgeable staff. It's all about enhancing the offering to consumers, providing more choice and the latest trends. When new U.S. brands look to break into the Canadian market - for example, the Gap, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch - they come to Cadillac Fairview first. We have large, best-in-class properties, with high consumer traffic, national representation and strong leasing and marketing teams that know how to introduce new offerings effectively.

CF has done major mall expansions recently, without an anchor department store. Two examples of this are Market Mall in Calgary and Georgian Mall in Barrie. " 12. How does Cadillac Fairview try to make a shopping mall a destination, or lifestyle centre, rather than simply a place to buy necessities?

"We continuously reinvest in our properties to ensure that we are creating a quality ambience to provide a comfortable, shopping experience. We pay close attention to the furnishings and design of our properties (and make) continuous reinvestment in tenants to keep offerings unique, driving consumers to our properties. We are currently in the midst of a complete redevelopment of the Don Mills Mall in Toronto into an outdoor-lifestyle centre that will transform the space and the community into a mixed-use, residential, retail and office space. This leading-edge design and the new retailers it will attract to the area will certainly make it a destination that people will come from far away to enjoy. We also offer the CF Shop! card, Canada's premium multi-store gift card. It is a value-added service allowing customers to give the gift to someone to shop at any of the 4,000 retailers at our properties across the country. This creates a special loyalty between our customers and Cadillac.

Nearly 900,000 of these cards were purchased in 2006, a 25-per-cent growth over the previous year."

13. What's your assessment of the B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario retail markets?

"The B.C. market is seeing additional government investment and support for development activities due to the upcoming 2010 Olympics, so we are confident that there will be ongoing growth and revitalization in retail. Alberta is very strong right now due to the economic prosperity driven by the energy and resource sector. Three of our most productive retail properties are from our western portfolio: Pacific Centre in Vancouver, Chinook Centre and Market Mall located in Calgary, where sales growth has been impressive. Cadillac Fairview used to have shopping centres in Regina and Saskatoon, but we ultimately sold these properties to focus on different areas, so we are not familiar with how Saskatchewan is doing. Manitoba is a relatively smaller market, but we have found that it does not fluctuate dramatically and provides a steady return. In Ontario, we are seeing solid growth in both the Toronto and Ottawa markets."

14. How are increasingly high real estate prices going to affect the design of shopping malls in the future?

"There is no question that it will continue to cost more to design shopping malls. In Canada, we have established a truly international reputation for building innovative, high-quality retail properties. For Cadillac Fairview we feel that despite the prices, once a decision is made we cannot compromise on quality construction, materials and architectural design. We continue to reinvest and redevelop our retail centres to stay ahead of the curve and offer more to our customers and tenants. There is a renewed focus on building environmentally progressive buildings, both in the design and materials that may cost more initially. But they will endure and have less of an impact on the community and power usage."

15. Many new sports facilities are associating themselves with retail centres, especially in the U.S., where your company also operates. Do you foresee the day when Cadillac Fairview may try to develop a stadium or arena in conjunction with a mall?

"Not at this time; however, we do foresee the potential for pursuing mixed-use development opportunities around sports facilities in the future. We will continue to explore new opportunities that allow us to complement existing arenas or stadiums with entertainment, office, hotel and condo facilities. One related example is our involvement with the Maple Leafs Square development in Toronto connected to the Air Canada Centre."

16. Turning to offices, why has Calgary become such a hot market?

"It's no secret, the energy sector and the oilsands projects in Alberta have certainly been a catalyst for international companies setting up business operations in Calgary and the increased demand for office space that has prompted the need for additional office development. The city's growth and an overall buoyant business economy (are) spurring things on, in addition to attractive tax incentives that make for a good business environment to operate."

17. What's your assessment of the office markets in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario?

"The strongest growth in our office business over the past year has come from our western portfolio. B.C. improved substantially, due to a stronger business environment, the new gains in the natural resources sector that (have) had a positive effect on the overall economy, and the positive impact of the 2010 Olympics and resulting infrastructure requirements. We view B.C. as having continued stability. There has been very little construction of new office space and, therefore, the land values remain some of the highest in Canada. Looking forward, there will be limited new supply of office space for the next four to five years, resulting in continued growth in rental rates. For the first time in a decade, there is a renewed focus on growth in Ontario office space. The RBC Centre and several other downtown office towers that are currently under construction will literally transform Toronto's skyline. There is confidence and growing demand for high-quality space as more people are choosing to live and work downtown, and as companies are growing, their requirements for more space are growing as well."

18. When it comes to approving new office projects, many local governments, especially Vancouver's city council, prefer to see mixed-use developments. How will that position affect Cadillac Fairview?

"We embrace the philosophy of mixed-use developments and (they are) often the most efficient use of space, while offering a wide range of services to tenants and consumers in major urban centres. My understanding is that the City of Vancouver is currently reviewing the supply of new office space and the need for new development to meet the needs of the business community. They are considering imposing a requirement of office space on some new residential proposals in the downtown core."

19. Energy prices are starting to cause a lot of grief to office and retail developers. Cadillac Fairview has adopted Enwave's deep-lake water cooling grid at the TD Centre in Toronto. What other forms of alternative energy are you considering in other locations?

"Cadillac has really been leading the way in our industry by supporting the lake-water cooling technology and we are proud to have won several recognitions for this innovative approach to development and commitment to energy efficiency. It's not only the right thing to do; it's also the smart thing to do. RBC Centre, currently under construction, will make use of this technology. Beyond Enwave, we are constantly looking at the most effective ways to efficiently heat and cool our buildings and have invested a great deal in technology to reduce our energy consumption and strain on power systems."

20. If someone told you that you can't serve as president and CEO of Cadillac Fairview anymore, what would you do?

"I would increase my involvement on various boards (and) devote more energy to the not-for-profit sector. I probably wouldn't spend my winters in Ontario. (I'd) move somewhere warmer and travel to new places with my wife."

Peter Sharpe

* Title: President and chief executive officer, Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd.

* Born/raised/age: Winnipeg/Toronto/60.

* Education: Honours economics and business administration degree from Waterloo Lutheran University.

* Family: Married, three adult children.

* Moonlighting: Fundraiser.

* Passions: Classic cars and boats.

Cadillac Fairview

* Brass: Peter Sharpe, president and CEO; Clive Baxter, senior vice-president, Toronto Eaton Centre; Norm Blouin, senior vice-president Eastern Canada portfolio; Alan Carlisle, senior vice-president, U.S. portfolio; Linda Gray, vice-president, Ontario portfolio; Scott Pennock, senior vice-president, Toronto office portfolio; Ron Wratschko, senior vice-president, western portfolio; John Sullivan, executive vice-president, development; Rudy Adlaf, senior vice-president, architecture and design; Wayne Barwise, senior vice-president, office development; Ian MacKellar, executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

* Profile: Cadillac Fairview invests in high-quality retail centres and office properties in Canada and the United States, and also oversees equity investments in real estate companies and international investment funds.

* Stats: CF's portfolio is valued at approximately $15 billion.

The company and its affiliates own and manage 83 properties, including some of Canada's landmark developments such as the Toronto Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens, Toronto-Dominion Centre, Carrefour Laval, Chinook Centre and Pacific Centre.

* Corporate Structure: Cadillac Fairview is a wholly owned private subsidiary of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board. The board invests on behalf of 264,000 active and retired Ontario teachers.

* Website: www.cadillacfairview.com

* HQ: 20 Queen St. W., Fifth Floor, Toronto, M5H 3R4

* Phone/Fax: (416) 598-8200/(416) 598-8607

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)