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Great write up in the Freep of some of the trends in the loft marketplace.
The best quote of the article is the developer of the Overland Lofts "This neighborhood sells itself."
I am acutally surprised that you can get a loft there for around 140K. Not to bad really.
It's good to see progress, and it shows there is a big demand for living in the city. Now let's hope the momentum continues and spills over into adjoining areas.
It's bittersweet to see news articles trying to chip away at this region's suburban mindset. I enjoy the City getting good press, but where else is the idea of living in a city newsworthy and treated as groundbreaking? Unless I'm wrong and places like San Fran get the same kind of fluff news pieces.
more lofts are needed in different neighborhoods. southwest, near-west, northwest, near-east, warren/mack/cadieux, etc.
knock down the derelict unsafe housing, condemned apartment buildings, burnt-out storefronts..
You might see some action in loft space recovery from older industrial bldgs in the burbs too. In my suburban city, a lot of warehouse/factory bldgs cant find new tenants or buyers because the trend is toward higher ceilings. This is due to the on time delivery and globalization. There is a building boom of sorts for industrial space, and conversely a depreciation of low-ceilinged suburban factories. Our city [[Pointe-Claire) has proposed rezoning certain street corners where factories are located close to residential areas to turn them into housing.This would take some pressure off the industrial real estate market and enhance the residential offer. Some streets would be rezoned if a tenant leaves and a developer wants to take over the property for redevelopment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroitej72
One complex in the city of Dorval next to us has a sixties built office and lab complex that the CIBA-Geigy pharma company vacated years ago. They are rehabbing it and building townhouses on the property. http://www.espacemv.com/loft-eng.html