Sherbrooke’s Le Montmartre: Get it while is hot.

Right in the corner of Sherbrooke and rue de Bullion, there’s a nearly finished condo project that began construction late 2006. Le condos Montmartre, has only just a few units available for sale.
For those who frequent the area, you’ve probably seen this sign before.

Taking a quick look of the projects completed units, I came across this sign. A finished non occupied condo is already for rent.

Notice the little white sign on the window?

According to their website, the project was built on ” a heritage site, surrounded by splendid edifices built at the turn of the XXth century.”

The sales office itself looks like the heritage building, but obviously not the new construction. Wondering it the will be placing the sales office for sale as well.

As for the remaining units, their asking price ranges from 300,000+ to half a million.

1^st floor 407,700

4^th floor 559,700

5^th floor 337,100

Here are a few snap shots of the floor plans:

Or visit their website to view the rest of the units.

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Construction snooper update: ETS delivers before due date

Remember back in April when this building was still under development? They were aiming the grand opening for September this year.  This picture was taken just this weekend. And here we have it: completed, delivered and already occupied.
Yes, miracles do happen! - Mind you, the construction crew must be happy to finally finish this rush-hour job.

The bonus: instead of opening a food court as previously advertised, they ended up locking a lease with a major grocery store. No Inter-Marché here. Go big or home.

And notice the sleek glass wall dividing the building.  Very nice, indeed.
Not bad for a student housing!

Meanwhile, this guy across the street remains for sale. According to one of our readers, as he explained it in his comment, the owner is asking a bit too much for the piece of land:

“Well i can tell you why this piece of “prime land” is still for sale and neglected:
the owner - an old man who is in no rush to sell - asks $3,8 million for the building and the parking at back.
I inquired because the building itself interrests me and i had - notice the past tense here - i had a smooth idea to help bring some life in the area, but there is no way i can find 3.8 $M and expect to be profitable or even break even.
SO saddly this land will be bought by a huge contractor who will pop some souless commercial spaces at the bottom and put up as many condos as needed to be profitable on top.

My two cents :)

Ugo”

Griffintown Project: Suburban Reports

Photo by kinalaya

“Even as Tremblay administration officials announced they were going to accept Devimco’s massive $1.3 billion Griffintown development plan, urban planners and assorted city activists are still trying to rally the forces required to knock the project off the tracks.

At a Thursday meeting held at the downtown St. James United Church, almost 100 people, including city executive council member Alan DeSousa, heard McGill urban planning Professor Raphael Fischler and other experts denounce the project as dull, uninspired, and completely out of date with modern urban priorities. While few had anything good to say about the company’s plans for the site, more than a few questions were raised about the Tremblay administration’s apparently cozy, complicit and complacent arrangements with Devimco. Even as Université de Montréal urban design professor Michel Gariepy believes the city’s present leadership lacks the background and the aesthetic sense required to make such long-lasting decisions, he was especially dismayed by the failure of Montreal’s own urban planning department to stand up to their political masters at city hall. Among several observations, he could not understand why city planners were ready to ignore the city’s own building code along with its six-storey height restrictions in favour of Devimco’s 20-storey plus high-rise condo buildings scheduled to go up alongside its commercial strip development.”

Read the complete article: The Suburban

Selected Griffintown News reading:

• Save Griffintown! - Save Griffintown Blog
• Council gives green light to Griffintown project - Spacing Montreal
• More details on the Griffintown redevelopment - Spacing Montreal
• Last Irishman Standing - Montreal Mirror

Hot Development: Le Amherst

Don’t let the ugly angle and raggedy looks fool you. This little project is selling like hot cakes.

Recently found by one of our readers who happened to pass by the area. As he explained: “it was like a flash appearance, one day the lot is empty and next thing you know..WHAM! the building is almost done”

I have to admit, I didn’t see it coming either. And after looking at it in person, didn’t think much of it. Until I checked out their website and took a good look at the number of units sold. Impressive to say the least.
Out of 40 units, only 8 are currently available. A blue light sale?

With the location they have: Amherst and de la Gauchetière; two steps to Old Montreal, Gay Village, Downtown; they are asking a pretty decent price. But enough of the generalities…let’s get to the nitty gritty:

Where: Amherst corner of de la Gauchetière
Size: 1 and 2 bedroom apartments. 40 units in total
How much: Between $151,900 - $199,900
Developer: Mondev Construction
Incentive: “Benefit from our New Access Co-Ownership Program and receive a Cash Deposit toward your purchase of up to 20,000 $ ” (from their CraigsList ad)

Cash deposit of $20,000? Where do I sign?

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St Laurent Blvd: Under the knife again.

Oh yes, once again Boulevard St. Laurent is going through major repairs. This time though, the city has put up a sign with the details of the work. Thanks, that helps a lot.

Not having enough repairs done last year, the digging up started once again, this time it’s Gaz Métro turn. The city intends to add a few “cosmetic changes” to the boulevard by enlarging the sidewalks (aren’t those sidewalks brand spanking-new?): addition of lamps and trees, insertion of historic indicators (if this continues, there will be no one who’d care to read them!), taxi stands, bus stops and even the installation of parking for bicycles on the sidewalk.(Uh?). The good news, the bicycle parking is already done, at least on this side of the street:

Expect nothing but dust, noise and traffic jams in Blvd St Laurent between Sherbrooke and Mont-Royal. Hopefully, the local merchants will not go out of business. One more year of construction hell, then (crossing fingers) back to normal. Unless, of course, someone else decides to install a baby-stroller path, or something similar to it.

Media Coverage [Montreal Gazette]:

Pain on the Main: Work plans raise a stink
How city hall is killing St. Laurent Blvd. - one construction barrier at a time

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Construction Snooper: ETS Student Housing.

When we saw the construction from this side of the building, the first thing that came to mind was “Yet another condo project.” But, as it turns out, it will be a new housing for the ETS students, located in the south-east corner of Rue Notre Dame and de la Montagne. According to the sign, it promises to deliver over 450 beds, food court on the first floor, etc. Not bad.

We found out from the workers, the project is expected to be ready by September 2008, although the sign says: Opening Summer 2008. They are only one month behind schedule, wow. Could this be the only project in Montreal that will open on time? We have to see it to believe it. We are keeping our eyes on it.

An interesting thing that will happen is the following: The project across the street [Read more]

Condo Development Update: Le Crystal

Wondering around the web, I came across this article which gives some information on the condo prices and the available units.

“The crowning jewel of the Crystal De La Montagne is a 4530 square foot Penthouse on the 26th floor with breathtaking views of the city, the mountain and the river. It features three spacious bedrooms, including a Master bedroom with panoramic view, complemented by a library, living room, top-of-the-line kitchen, dining room with a 20 foot ceiling, 2 terraces and more. This stunning Penthouse is available for US$2,865,000 including parking and 3 lockers.

A few hotel residences and condominiums are still available at Crystal De La Montagne starting from US$440,000.“

Le Crystal De La Montagne: Pinnacle of Luxury in Montreal

Considering the location, we think the price is right. What do you think?

Featured Condo: Les Cours Cosmopolis Laval

Where: 2100, avenue Terry Fox, Laval.
Size: 2 buildings, 6 floors each , 160 units in total.
How much: $229.500 starting price.
Architect: (we just don’t know)
Developer: Le Groupe Cholette
The Scoop: Supposedly, this is one of the most talked about Condo complex in Laval. Why? well… apart from the awesome interior design, the architectural style (glass, metal and concrete) is a mix of modern and elegant, without looking overly pompous. Choices of indoor or outdoor parking.

The Cosmodôme and Colossus cinema are within walking distance, along with a choice of restaurants (not sure how good they are) and let’s not forget the well-known supper club Moomba (Wednesday night, ladies special). Gym, supermarkets and all amenities also close by, so you never have to leave Laval ever again. But if you do, access to highway 15 is right down the street and upcoming metro station Montmorency.

Their website has some mention on rentals in the building(s), and a few very enticing images are displayed in the form of virtual tour.

Try to get a condo like that in Montreal, for less than 300k.

Condo-Hotel Le Crystal is now open

$80 million and three years later, the new and stylish Condo Hotel Le Crystal opens its doors for business. You know you’ve been waiting to hear about it.

The building itself is quite impressive to look at, and we’re not so worried about it’s popularity; considering they are also the owners of the trendy Le Saint-Sulpice in Old Montreal, (supposedly, one with the highest occupancy rates in the City) this new Hotel will be for sure a popular spot.

But forget about the 131 suites, what really got our attention was the 53 condos built in addition to the rooms.

According to the Gazette’s article, most of them have been already sold (of course).

“The Spa and some of the top floors are still under construction” - The condos, perhaps?

“…and are expected to be complete in the summer.”

If you want to pass by and pay a visit (even if from the outside), Le Crystal is located at:
1100 rue de la Montagne, corner of Blvd. René Lévesque. You can’t miss it, is the tallest building in that corner.

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SLEB: The criminal scandal behind the luxury project.

The luxury condo development called Sleb on the corner of St. Laurent and Ontario was originally started by Minco Construction. In 2003 by Luciano Minicucci. Dozens of home buyers invested at the pre-construction level of this project.

The project started in 2003 to be completed in 2005 and that same year Minco Construction sought bankruptcy protection from it’s creditors, since then no work has been completed in Sleb. Last November the superior court withdrew the project from MINCO Corporation to give it to Bartolo Dalle Nogare (9170-6929 Quebec Inc.), the new owner.

Luciano Minicucci was arrested in Italy in mid January 2008, for extortion against the new owner of Sleb. [Read more]

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