Construction

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 16 office buildings were under construction in Greater Montréal, totalling 3,590,519 square feet. Of those 16 buildings, five are located downtown, including a new project in the Golden Square Mile. In fact, Groupe Quint is investing close to $20 million to convert the former Holt Renfrew building at 1300 Sherbrooke West, into a mixed-use complex combining prestigious commercial spaces and offices. 73,530 square feet of offices will be available in the complex once the renovations are completed.

Meanwhile, another Downtown project could be launched soon, with RioCan and the Hudson’s Bay Company confirming that The Bay store on Sainte-Catherine Street, erected in 1891, will gradually be transformed into a 25-storey office tower, extending towards the back of the current building that runs along De Maisonneuve Boulevard West.

This project would add close to a million square feet of class A office space Downtown, where availability rates are reaching their highest point of the last several years. Capitalizing on a return to normalcy over the long term, the project aligns with the companies' goal of maximizing the value of their downtown properties across North America while diversifying their assets portfolio by adding retail, residential and office space. If the City of Montréal approves the project as it is presented, construction of the new tower could begin in 2023 with a completion date in 2027, according to current projections.