Tour des Canadiens 2 set to be built by end of 2019
The appetite for Montreal Canadiens-themed merchandise — even $250,000 studio apartments and $1-million-plus penthouse condos — appears to be boundless.
Demand is such that construction has begun on the second 50-storey Tour des Canadiens condo tower downtown, directly across St-Antoine St. from the Bell Centre. It’ll be connected to the arena, Windsor train station and the métro by a pedestrian bridge across St-Antoine to the Deloitte Tower adjoining the Bell Centre.
Like the first condo tower, erected right next to the arena, it will cost about $150 million, with its 590 units ranging in size from just under 400 to more than 1,000 square feet, and price tags extending from $250,000 to more than $1 million.
Buyers of Tour des Canadiens 1, who snapped up all 555 units less than six months after they went on sale, started taking possession this summer, three years after construction began. It’s about twothirds occupied now and should be full by December, said Daniel Peritz, senior vice-president (Montreal and Ottawa) for developer Canderel, during a media tour of the premises Wednesday that included the official sod-turning for Tour 2, due for completion by the end of 2019.
Decorators in Tour 1 stayed true to the hockey theme, outfitting hallways and common rooms with framed jerseys of former Canadiens stars and artwork making creative use of hockey pucks. Table-hockey games were prominent in the game room.
Montreal’s saturated condo market has been soft of late, but Peritz said Tour des Canadiens 2 has been pre-selling briskly, which prompted the partners in the consortium (Canderel, Cadillac Fairview, the Quebec Federation of Labour’s Solidarity Fund and the Montreal Canadiens) to start construction.
“We felt confident enough to push the button,” he said.
He wouldn’t specify the percentage already sold but said, “it’s a product people gravitate to because of the location, convenience and attachment to the Canadiens. The market isn’t as effervescent now, people are being more selective, and that’s where the better projects in great locations will do well. The association with the Canadiens also helps. People have confidence the project will be delivered well.”
Buyers also get some Canadiens perks — priority access for the purchase of certain tickets to games and concerts, the right to attend practices and discounts on merchandise. “It’s not just a logo on a building,” Peritz said.
He added that, contrary to what some people expected, virtually all buyers in Tour 1 were local. In Tour 2, they represent about 95 per cent of buyers so far.