Having some time on my hands, I decided to walk around the city to check out the progress of new towers going up downtown, murals and all other festivities going on. In this update, I walked from Atwater to St. Laurent checking out the major projects going on in downtown. It’s also been a few months since I saw some of the projects, so I was blown away by the fast progress of some of them. This project excludes projects in Griffintown and the Eastern parts of downtown.

Square Children’s Project: 6 highrise towers

The last time I passed by this project was a few months ago. Since then, they have half of phase 1 up (Alexander Apartments, 25-floors, 270 units) with phase 2 reaching the ground level (Est/West condos, 2x 27-floors). The other phases will include condo/rental towers, a senior residence tower with luxury condos on the last 8 floors and social housing. In addition to this, they’ll be a small park, community centre, retail, commercial spots and much more.

Union Sur Le Parc: 2x 20-floors, 80 metres/262ft

Another project that has risen quickly is the Union Parc project on Rene Levesque street, which is across the street from the Square Children’s project. Once done, it’ll add 375 units and 4 townhouses to the downtown core.

Quinzecent: 120 metres/394ft

Not much has changed since the last update besides some digging. Same applies to Dorchester Apartments across the street

YUL Phase 2: 120-metres/394ft

Not too much has changed from last weeks update besides them sinking another floor and adding more cladding to the building.

Tour Des Canadiens Phase 2 and 3: 168 metres/551ft

Making the largest impact (for now) is TDC 2/3. Phase 2 is close to being finished with some cladding being added to the roof and also the Habs logo. On the other side though, the logo is there and all the cladding is up. TDC 3 is close to being topped off as well, and if I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s about 8-12 floors away from that. Both projects will add almost 1,200 units and townhouses to the downtown core, in addition to phase 3 having a cafe.

The two cranes are for Le Duke, a 25 story rental tower containing 353 units.

Victoria Sur Le Parc/National Bank new HQ: 200 metres/656ft

Not much going on besides digging for both respective projects, but once everything kicks into high gear, these massive towers will rise at a rapid pace like the others.

628 St. Jacques: 120 metres/394ft

Right next to Victoria Sur Le Parc is 628 St. Jacques, also being developed by Broccolini. The crane has been assembled and this should be going up with ease very soon. I am very excited to see the transformation of this sector within the next three years.

628 St. Jacques in the foreground with Humaniti peaking in the background.

Humaniti: 120 metres/394-ft

The last project for this update is the world-class project Humaniti. This project will include office space (leased by WeWork) a hotel (Marriot Autograph), apartments for rent, condos and commercial space. The cladding for the project is high quality with a mix of charcoal and light Grey/Blue glass. It is one of the most anticipated projects going up downtown at the moment and it’s easy to see why. In total, the project will include 17,000 sq ft of retail space, 57,000 sq ft of office space, 193 hotel rooms, 314 rental units and 160 condos.

The evolution of downtown Montreal continues to inspire many and continues to change the city. Slowly, the downtown is becoming more sophisticated, classy and more urban. The desire to live and invest in downtown continues to show high demand, as not only Montrealer’s but people from other parts of Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia are choosing to live here. From families to students to professionals, downtown Montreal belongs to everyone.