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urban planning Professor Raphael Fischler and other experts denounce the project as dull, uninspired, and completely out of date with modern urban priorities.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

Celebrity Condo: 333 Sherbrooke East.

333 Sherbrooke St., East: a luxury condominium project designed to appeal to a clientele with an eye for quality and location.

In the heart of Montreal’s trendy Plateau neighbourhood, the development consists of 83 units in Phase I, 67 units in Phase II, and 30 townhouses linked to the property. The second phase of construction at 333 Sherbrooke St. East, was officially launched on April 1st 2008 by Richard Homburg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Homburg Invest Inc., the occupancy is set for autumn 2008. The $35 million second phase increases Homburg Invest’s total commitment to its Montreal portfolio to more than $1 billion over the past three years.

“Phase I is effectively sold out, and Phase II sales have surpassed the critical level needed to ensure the success of the project. Once completed, 333 Sherbrooke St. East will be a reference for luxury condominium living in downtown Montreal.” Mr. Homburg said.

To date, the project has attracted buyers from all over Europe, the United States and Canada.

“Location, location, location. Montreal is ideally situated as a major crossroads for European and North American trade and business,” Mr. Homburg continued. “Montreal possesses all the qualities of a major real estate market, from a large, well educated population to a solid transportation infrastructure to a growing economy supported by healthy activity in several key sectors, like aerospace, life sciences and information technology”

Source: NewsWire.ca

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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

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

Development Spotlight: Gillette Lofts

Location: 1085, St-Alexandre, Montreal.
Size: 6 floors, 55 units.
Prices: $300 per square foot.
Architect: Karl Fischer
Developer: Mark Dichter & Noam Schnitzer
The Scoop:

Five floors feature 12- or 13-foot ceilings, and a wide open floor plan that will make is easy to create large open lofts. The units range in size from 650 feet to 1,200 feet, though some buyers have been buying and combining units. Prices work out to about $300 a square foot. The developers are adding a glass and steel penthouse, which will contain five luxurious two-storey units. Prices for those are in the $1-million range.

For more information visit: www.gillettelofts.com