LES TOURS SAINT-MARTIN
14-storey towers of rental units will be outfitted with “everything from A to Z,” developer declares
There’s a reason why Jack Arduini has decided to include a full set of appliances in each of the 292 rental units of Les Tours Saint-Martin, his new project in Laval.
The president of T.G. Becon says he’d rather “spend half a million dollars than watch the elevators and hallways and doorways of my beautiful new building get banged up by movers.”
The towers, being built in two phases and rising 14 storeys above the Daniel Johnson and St-Martin intersection in Chomedey, will be outfitted with “everything from A to Z” — appliances included. Digging began in May on the 62,000-square-foot site, just steps from the Centropolis, blocks from Carrefour Laval and minutes from Highways 15 and 440. The first eight floors of Phase 1 are scheduled for delivery by July.
Arduini and Tom Socciarelli, his partner and brother-in-law, did their homework.
“I know this market, and have built a lot of high-quality condos at good price points,” Arduini said. “That 55-and-over group? They want something nice. To live in downtown Montreal is one thing, to invest as speculation, to park money or to live, but for here, this area? It’s for local people who want to live here. They say: ‘I want to stay here but I don’t want to invest in a condominium here’.”
It wasn’t so long ago that people “invested in a condo to live in, and beat the stock market with 10 per cent growth, but that’s not the case anymore.
“Now I’m presenting an opportunity for people who want to live well, but on a budget.”
When you compare, Arduini said, “a $300,000 condo in Montreal doesn’t get you much. Take $1,200 mortgage plus fees plus taxes now you’re at $1,500 to $1,700 (a month) for a two-bedroom condominium. But I did the market study and the research. I know my clientele. We are targeting young professional couples, singles, 55plus empty nesters, and parents. We can offer something luxurious, something high-end, all-inclusive, at that level with no investment and no cash down.”
It’s worked, said marketing director Sarah Torres. “We pulled it off. Within days after launching we started receiving interest, and we’re up to 500 VIP registrations.”
“And that,” Jack Arduini said gleefully, “is for a rental!”
The $72-million project consists of the towers with a total of 292 units, 7,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, and a 20,000 square-foot courtyard linking the two phases.
Les Tours apartments range in size from 650-square-foot onebedroom units to 1,300-squarefoot three-bedroom apartments. Rents range from $900 to $1,800 a month, depending on size and floor location. All units feature ninefoot ceilings, granite and quartz countertops, modern kitchens and large bathrooms, and boast oversized patio doors and windows for abundant natural light. All lighting fixtures are included, as are storage lockers and all appliances.
Amenities include Wi-Fi in all common areas, an interior heated, salt system pool, an exercise room and two saunas, while a rooftop terrace offers a modern chalet with kitchen, billiard table and large TV, as well as a barbecue area and lounge chairs.
“We’re also planting a ton of trees in and around our courtyard and we will have green roofs and lots of vegetation.
“There’s nothing like this in the area,” Arduini said, touring the site. “Our tenants are going to love it.”
The developer will manage the property as well as build and develop it, a partnership with the Ipso Facto real-estate investment firm, which has invested in and around Montreal and Quebec in projects as diverse as Castelnau-sur-leparc condos to Quartier Dix30 commercial spaces, participating in the development of assets with a value in excess of $4 billion.
A family business with more than six decades of experience developing a diversified portfolio — from pharma labs, schools and police operations centres to highend condos, industrial and institutional spaces (including Montreal’s Botanical Gardens) — T.G. Beco sat on the land for almost two decades with plans for commercial development, Arduini said. “But then we conducted profound market reports into residential rentals and the results were stunning. We’re going to have no problem renting this.”
Transit availability figures heavily in the location of Les Tours Saint-Martin, adjacent to Highway 15 and a few blocks from Montmorency métro station, with the Laval transit corporation’s bus service for downtown Laval stopping in front of the new building.