Lynne Robson, Special to the Montreal Gazette
Published on: October 21, 2016 | Last Updated: October 24, 2016 3:03 PM EST
Who among us hasn’t gotten into an elevator and wanted to press the “P” button and ride right up into the penthouse, just to see what life is like up there?
This might be a good time to do it. A promotional campaign called October Is New Housing Month showcases 54 condo projects in the Greater Montreal area participate in open house events. (For details and list of the projects participating this weekend and next, go to www.guidehabitation.ca/en/visites-libres/
Among the properties available to view are penthouses – the kind of place where Formica is never considered, and a superior view is to be expected. In other words, the ones with that tempting P in the elevator.
Until about 20 years ago, there was virtually no market for condos in Montreal and most everyone who wanted luxury moved to Westmount or downtown. Now, condos represent 80 per cent of the city’s new residential market, and luxury condos (units worth more than $750,000) are found in virtually every corner of the island.
“This is a new trend in the luxury market,” says Jacques Beaulieu, of Guide Habitation, organizers of the Open House event. “People grow up in a neighbourhood and even if they can afford to move, they would rather have luxury where their roots are. Luxury condos and penthouses represent 10 to 15 per cent of the market, and they are lovely to look at. So, in preparation for the Open House event, the Montreal Gazette sampled three luxury penthouses. We looked at one near a prestigious golf course, one atop a high-rise and one that offers “beauty on a budget.” Very different projects with one thing in common: spectacular views that anyone would love to live with.
Why look at condos now?
The peak season for condo buying is spring. “That’s why,” says Jacques Beaulieu, “now is the best time to look at condos. Agents are less busy. There is less competition from other buyers, so prices are more stable, and assuming that you would want to move next summer, buying now allows more time to make important design choices.”
Laval sur le Lac
When developers decided to build luxury condos between the Riviere-des-Mille-Îles and the century-old Laval-sur-le-Lac Golf Club, they invited 50 people in their target market to join them at a local vineyard. They showed them plans of luxury condos in Paris, Spain, California. Then they built a condo complex to suit their dinner guests’ taste, which they describe as “discreet, modern sophistication.”
“The difference between us and other developments is most projects have smaller, cheaper floors and then the penthouses. Not here,”marketing director Maxime Laporte said. “Here, luxury is everywhere, even in our smallest condo (1,700 square feet). The attention to detail is amazing: electronically controlled mosquito screens that descend to cover the terrace, from floor to ceiling; and porcelain walls in the bathroom.
How do you sell luxury to discerning buyers? Laporte has three words: customize, customize, customize.
“If buyers want a wall moved, we move it. One client wanted an elevator to get to his mezzanine level. He got it.”
Their method works. The project is a year ahead of schedule. Two of the four buildings are going up now and most of the penthouses are sold.
The penthouses are all on two floors (6 and 7). The largest one is almost 4,000 square feet and features an enormous wrap-around terrace (61 feet long), plus a 34-by-20-foot terrace with a pergola on the second floor. The hardest part is choosing a favourite view: the river or the gentle golf course and sunrise. Prices range from $1.7 million to $2.3 million.
At the moment, the project is just a hole in the ground, but the showroom model contains all the luxury fixtures to be used. Plus, during the Open House event, paintings by Jean Claude Poitras will be incorporated into the show model. Another touch, says Laporte, to reflect the taste of their potential clients.