Construction

12 office buildings are currently under construction in Greater Montréal for a total of 2,735,929 square feet. 5 of the 12 development projects are located in Downtown Montréal and account for almost 60% of the total area under development. This is a clear indication that the appetite for Downtown office buildings is still strong despite the challenges associated with the pandemic.

Amidst the increasing availability of office space Downtown, developers are still investing top dollars into new and existing buildings. Kevric is going ahead with the redevelopment of two of their office buildings, namely Place Bonaventure and 600 de la Gauchetière West. Place Bonaventure boasts 1.3 million square feet of office space and has been undergoing major renovations since 2015, while 600 de la Gauchetière will undergo a major transformation when National Bank vacates the building to relocate to their new head office at 800 Saint-Jacques Street.

Further East, Prével’s Espanade Cartier is underway and will offer 70,000 square feet of office space once the first phase is completed in 2023. Another major project that recently launched is the Quartier des Lumières which is located at the old site of Radio-Canada. Groupe Mach announced in October that the office portion of the project would be bumped to 1.5 million square feet, another show of confidence in the office market on the long term. All this construction activity coupled with recent shortages in labor and materials is creating challenges and significant delays for anyone undertaking construction projects including office renovations and buildouts. The good news however is that the situation is starting to stabilize.