Luxury homes planned for McConnell Woods
McConnell Woods in Dorval is poised to become the Royal Quai luxury residential development. Last week Dorval council gave the green light to developer Paolo Presti to build highend, single-family homes on the 540,000-square-foot property. Eleven of the lots will have water views and private access to the lakeshore. Thirteen per cent of the woods will be conserved and Presti said a pathway will allow public access to a portion of the waterfront. “It was not a matter for negotiation. Within that 13 per cent we wanted public access to the water,” Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau said. The majority of the approvals necessary to move a project such as this along have been obtained. Only one approval from the environment ministry is pending, which could take months. In the meantime, Presti is allowed to build a model home. “The model home is on Lot #1 and can be connected to the (necessary) infrastructure on Lakeshore Rd.,” Presti said. The development has a maximum of 31 lots. Each home will be customized to suit the taste of the buyer, with the average square footage sitting at 4,000 sq. ft., basement and garage not included, and the price tag hovering at around $2 million. Presti is committed to saving as many of the mature trees as possible. “Beautiful trees add value to a property,” he said. “The style of the homes will be along the lines of homes you would see in Las Vegas or Los Angeles . ... Big windows, flat roofs. A timeless style.” Presti specializes in luxury abodes and has built for big-income earners including NHL hockey players Michael Cammalleri and Max Pacioretty. Rouleau said Presti and the city’s technical services department are sifting through myriad technical details, but that things are moving in the right direction. “Nobody is rushing,” Rouleau said. “It’s good for the city to have this sort of prestige development.” Rouleau said local businesses will benefit and the city will benefit from new tax revenues. “Roughly speaking, the development will result in around $600,000 in tax revenue,” he said. “However, the Montreal Agglomeration Council will take 60 per cent of that.” Presti said he is hoping for a short wait — three months — for final government approval. If he gets his wish, construction could begin this summer with delivery in early 2020. The model home, with luxuries including a cinema room and sauna, will give potential buyers a sense of the scale and craftsmanship of the project. It will also be net-zero capable. A net-zero home is well insulated and has solar panels, making it possible to live completely off the electrical grid. The sprawling wooded property was listed for sale in 2017. Residents lobbied Dorval council to make an offer to purchase. The city made an unsuccessful $15.1-million bid.