Old Montreal building: now for sale by the City of montreal

I’ve been following the progress on the new look of this building. First it was this abandoned front, then the make-up crew came into action, with a beautiful new cover .
Before I even got the chance to write about the airbrush design on the new cover of 22-26 Notre Dame ouest, there was a new sign on it.

“A vendre par appel d’offres publiques”

So now the city is taking offers for this building, or whatever is left of it.
I made a call to see what the starting bid was at, and what I got is the following info:

• Starting bid: 1.3 Million.
• The building has a front (Notre Dame) and back entrance (des Bresoles)
• The city had decided to start taking offers from May 25th, but now the dates have been suspended (they don’t know yet the new deadline)
• Reason for suspension: they want to make sure the basement isn’t contaminated, they are doing tests, etc and will notify the interested parties once they have the report in hand.

Certain Conditions Apply

The building’s facade (on the Notre Dame) side must preserved, as it is protected by Le ministère de la Culture.
The new construction must begin within the first 3 years after the sale.
The zoning must be respected (of course!). Lanuckily, this is already a semi commercial area. So you can build stores in the main floor and condos at the top :)

A little investigation on my own shows me that the municipal evaluation (VALEUR AU RÔLE 2007 EN DATE DU 2009-03-28) is:
Land: $538,200 Building: $111,800 Total: $650,000
Not so high, is it? It’s obvious the location is what’s making the property interesting, because there’s not much of a structure to look at.
Will it go for the asking price? Higher bids? Not sure.
The local merchants are all aware of the sale, and while in the area I asked one of them:
- So, when are you submitting your offer?
Their response: For that price? Are you crazy?

What do you think?

Posted by:  Deya Bautista - Affiliated Real Estate Agent working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in condos and revenue property in the metropolitan area of Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889

Related Articles:

1. Old Montreal Building Getting a New Face
2. Old Montreal Building: Sold or Not?
3. Seven Years Later, Still For Sale
4. Old Montreal: Pedestrian only in the summertime.
5. Notre Dame Basilica: Christmas Decoration Are Up