Look no further. Unsurprisingly, Westmount and downtown Montreal remain the two favored territories of the wealthy in Quebec.
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Of the 107 transactions of more than $4 million concluded in Quebec since the start of the pandemic (until December 31, 2021), nearly half come from these two cities.
Westmount, a wealthy municipality of approximately 20,000 residents, is located on a landlocked territory of 4 km2nestled on the southern flanks of Mount Royal and within walking distance of downtown Montreal.
Two very large transactions
This city has seen a total of 29 deals worth more than $4M since March 2020. The largest, on Sunnyside Street, was made for $18.5M by Pinar Cetin, wife of SSENSE founder , a luxury clothing giant sold online.
The second largest, on Summit Circle, is the former property of the late businessman Ernest Leo Kolber, former senator, fundraiser for the Liberal Party of Canada and founding president of the real estate company Cadillac Fairview.
Built on a mountainside in 1988, his house was sold to his children, Lynne and Jonathan Kolber, before being sold for $11.7 million to Sandra Lévy and Frederico Atkinson. Mme Lévy is president of Liberty Sites, owner of office space in Montreal.
Golden Square Mile
A stone’s throw east of Westmount, downtown Montreal is without a doubt the second favorite place of residence for wealthy Quebecers. The Golden Square Mile sector (or Golden Square Mile), set between the summit of Mount Royal and de Maisonneuve Boulevard, includes several of the sumptuous houses of the former English-Canadian bourgeoisie of Montreal.
The third largest transaction, on Croissant Redpath, is one of them. Built in 1924, the magnificent residence located a stone’s throw from McGill University’s medical building was sold in December 2020 for $18 million.
The sumptuous residences at 1280 Sherbrooke Street West, built on the upper floors of the Ritz-Carleton hotel, are also part of the sector. Three condos at this address changed hands during the pandemic.
One of them, belonging to Sophie Desmarais, daughter of the founder of Power Corporation, found a taker for $11 million with Paysafe CEO Joel Leonoff and his family. Another was purchased for $8.5 million by businesswoman Isabelle Marcoux, daughter of the founder and chair of the board of directors of Transcontinental.
Lakes and mountains
The other most numerous and costly transactions are located, again unsurprisingly, in the Laurentians and Eastern Townships regions. The Eastern Townships take the prize with 18 transactions of more than $4 million, against only 13 for the Laurentians.
In the Laurentians, it is on the territory of Mont-Tremblant that we experienced the highest transaction. The residence of Gregory Chamandy, president of Cornerstone Capital Resources (and founder of Gildan and Liquid Nutrition), was sold for the sum of $11.8 million to François Carignan, president of Purkinje, which specializes in the design and integration of software solutions for the health sector.
In the Eastern Townships, it is in the small municipality of Austin, neighboring Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, on the shores of Lake Memphremagog, that the most transactions have been counted in the region. .
In addition, two of the seven transactions to have been concluded on its territory since the start of the pandemic dominate the charts of the most important sales in the region, all cities combined.
One was sold for the sum of $12.5 million to Vincent Chiara, CEO of Groupe Mach, a real estate giant, while another found a buyer for $13.75 million from Glenn Chamandy, CEO of the Quebec clothing giant Gildan.
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NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS OVER $4 M PER MUNICIPALITY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC*
Cities Number of transactions
Westmount………………… 29
Montréal………………………23
Mont Tremblant ……………8
Austin…………………………….. 7
Beaconsfield …………………4
Magog…………………………….4
Laval ………………………………. 3
Mount Royal……………… 3
Stanstead ………………………. 3
Brome Lake ………………………. 2
Our Lady of Île-Perrot……….. 2
Senneville ……………………… 2
Baie-d’Urfe………………………1
Bolton-Ouest………………..1
Boucherville……………………1
Candiac……………………………1
Gatineau………………………….1
Harrington………………………1
Hudson ……………………………1
Ivry-sur-le-Lac……………….1
Lac-Beauport ………………….1
Lac-Saint-Joseph………….1
Pointe Claire …………………..1
Shefford…………………………..1
Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard……………..1
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville………………….1
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts …………………………….1
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu…………………….1
Saint-Placide …………………………..1
TOTAL……………………….107
COMPILATION PERIOD: FROM 1 IS
MARCH 2020 TO DECEMBER 31, 2021. ADDING THE DATA FROM THE PRE-PANDEMIC MONTHS OF 2020 (JANUARY AND FEBRUARY), THE NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS OVER $4M WOULD BE 111.
Source: Philippe Langlois, Bureau of Investigation.