contact on behalf of the Company, within the last twelve (12) months of its consultancy with the Company. 3 7.3 Noncompetition. CONSULTANT agrees that during its consultancy for REIT and for a period of twelve (12) months immediately following the termination of its consultancy with the Company for any reason, whether with or without cause, it will not: (a) have any ownership interest in, or participate in the financing, operation, management or control of, any Competitor; or (b) engage in or perform services for any Competitor, if such services either (1) are the same as or similar to (individually or in the aggregate) the services CONSULTANT performed for the Company during its consultancy with the Company, or (2) are performed with respect to products or services of the Competitor that are competitive with the products or services provided by the Company with which CONSULTANT was involved during its consultancy with the Company or about which it received Proprietary Information during its consultancy with the Company. As used in this section, "Competitor" means: (i) any private or publicly traded real estate investment trust, fund or other investment vehicle or program whose principal place of business is in Virginia or any other state in which the Company owns real estate and whose business strategy is based on investing in, acquiring or developing flex/industrial, retail, multifamily and limited service hotel real estate, whether directly or indirectly through joint ventures, or (ii) any entity whose principal place of business is in Virginia or any other state in which the Company owns real estate and that advises (including any external advisor) such investment vehicles or programs. It is agreed that ownership of no more than 1% of the outstanding voting stock of a publicly traded corporation will not constitute a violation of Section 7.3. 7.4