Cadillac Fairview Betting Big on Downtown Montreal

Cadillac Fairview has invested $150 million buying land around the Montreal Bell Centre and plans on building a similar style development to Maple Leaf Square in Toronto (See here). Maple Leaf square, following in the footsteps of LA Live in LA and Victory Park in Dallas, is a hugely successful development that capitalizes on the brand of pro franchises in Toronto. This bodes well for the proposed Montreal development since there is no stronger brand there than the Habs.

Here's a quick Comparison to the Actual Maple Leaf Square and proposed development in Montreal:

Transit
Maple Leaf Square: Next to Union Station
Proposed Montreal: Lucien-L'Allier Station

Office Component
Maple Leaf Square: 10 Storey
Proposed Montreal: 27 Storey

Residential:
Maple Leaf Square: 872 units between two buildings (54 and 50 Storeys)
Proposed Montreal: 700 units between three buildings (Two 44 Storey buildings and one 25 Storey building)

Cost:
Maple Leaf Square: $500 million (2005)
Proposed Montreal: $400 Million

Prices at Maple Leaf Square started at about $450 psf with a 25% deposit structure. This was much higher than competition from nearby Montage at Cityplace. Montage was about $300 psf with a more flexible deposit structure. Expect this project to charge a premium over others as well.

Worth it?

While Montage topped out at about $500psf....Maple Leaf Square approached $700psf this year.

People saw good value living at Maple Leaf Square and units were sold quickly. I expect to see the same thing when Cadillac Fairview starts the sales in Montreal later this year.

Anecdotally, from the Real Estate agent community, i've been told that a huge component of the buyers at Maple Leaf square were overseas investors. Wonder if the same will hold true in Montreal.