New Property Assessment Roll is Out. How Did Your Area Fare?

The city of Montrea released its triennial property roll this morning. Property values are up across the board, though the rate of increase varies widely depending on the property type and borough or municipality within Greater Montreal.

In brief, the value of the average Montreal home rose by 4.6 per cent, while the value of the average condo rose by a scant 2.2 per cent. The one type that saw a big jump was the multi-unit building with six or more apartments. The average value rose by a whopping 13.2 per cent.

The city takes a snapshot of property values once every three years and sets property taxes according to the value. The snapshot the city is using for this roll was taken in July, 2015. The new roll will apply from 2017 through 2019.

Of course, the increase in a property's value is only one half of the equation. We now wait to see what mill rate will apply in each of the boroughs and municipalities. The mill rate is the tax per $100 of property value. In Verdun, the basic 2016 mill rate was 0.5795cents per $100. In the Plateau, the base rate was set at 0.6562 cents per $100.

The new budget should be out mid November.

You can check your new evaluation by visiting the city's web site here and then click on "Consultation du role foncier" in the left margin. Enter the robot-fooling alpha-numeric code and then enter your civic number and street name. Have fun.

In the meantime, here's a map that shows how evaluations have risen across the island since the last roll was created.

December Housing Sales Up vs 2012 & 2013

 

Montreal's resale market ended 2014 with a bang, recording its best December for housing sales in three years.

A total of 2,203 homes were sold in the final month of '14, a 9-per-cent increase over the same month in 2013, which, if we're being honest, was a pretty crappy year for the local housing scene. (I am looking at you Pauline Marois and your trio of ill-behaved frat boys, Drainville, Peladeau and Lisée.)

It is no secret that the housing market took a dive during the Parti Québeois' 18-month chair-warming tenure as government. That took care of the final quarter of 2012, all of 2013 and the first bit of 2014. Happily, sales began to regain equilibrium in the second half of last year.

The North Shore and Laval led the charge, registering an eye-popping  26 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. Sales were up on the island by 8 per cent and 4 per cent on the South Shore.

Somewhat surprisingly, sales of both single-family homes and condominiums rose by 9 per cent and plex sales rose by 10 per cent. This despite an abundance of new and resale condos available. The median home prices remained unchanged at $284,000, while condo prices inched up by two per cent.

The number of active listings also rose December over December by 8 per cent. More choice for everyone!

Two Bedrooms, Elegant Architecture and an Oasis of Green, Facing Jeanne-Mance Park

The courtyard, an oasis in the city.

 If you've ever walked past the tennis courts in Jeanne Mance Park, chances are you've noticed Chateau Esplanade, the yellow brick complex directly across Esplanade Ave.  The Chateau, built circa 1915, makes a statement with its dark-stained and arched wood windows and doors, elaborate exterior staircases and elegant courtyards. These are not cookie-cutter condos.

View from the courtyard towards the street and beyond that Jeanne-Mance Park.

 Amy Barratt and I have just listed  Apt. 3 at 4433 av de l'Esplande, a two-bedroom condo with a balcony onto the lovely courtyard. The asking price is $325,000. The monthly condo fees are $158 . Taxes, combined are $2576.

The combined living and dining room.

 There are only two condos per floor in 4433 Esplanade. This unit has two good-sized bedrooms at opposite ends of the apartment, for maximum privacy. The master bedroom is on the courtyard side of the building, with a balcony overlooking the trees and flowers. The second bedroom has a window on St. Urban St.

Second bedroom, now used as an office.

Master bedroom with balcony.

The kitchen is an enclosed galley style, with a pass-through and breakfast bar. The refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer are included.

Kitchen with pass-through and breakfast bar.

Among the features of the Chateau Esplanade, are a communal bike storage room, very large individual lockers, a building sauna and a party or meeting room.

Esplanade and Mont-Royal is an ideal Plateau location. Jeanne-Mance Park, with its tennis courts, soccer fields and open spaces, is directly across the street. The mountain is just beyond that. Every shop and service one could need - grocery store, pharmacy, SAQ, coffee shop, bakery or bank, is located within a three-uminte walk. 

Public transit could not be more simple, with buses on the corners of Park Ave., St. Urban, St. Laurent and Mont-Royal. The Mont-Royal metro station is a short bus ride or 10-minute walk away.

All in all, this condo has everything an urban sophisticate could want - including a little oasis of green when it is time to retreat from the hubbub of Montreal's most vibrant neighborhood.

Call or text me to arrange a visit. Or check the listing on my website: marylamey.com

Samcon, Montreal Condo Developer, Proposing Massive Project on Point Rail Yards

Twitter is exploding this morning (well, at least among urban development geeks) with news that Samcon, a condo builder known for its small-scale and affordably priced condo projects, has announced plans to build 850 condos on the old CN rail yards in Point St. Charles.

The rail yards are south of Bridge St. and east of Wellington. I've just noticed that Google has written "Sebastapol" as "Sevastopol". Hm, does this have anything to do with Russia's annexation of Crimea?

No news release yet, but the company, which has found success by targeting first-time and mid-price buyers, says that 75 per cent of the offering will be "affordable" housing.
Two things, what will the reaction be in the Point, where residents are well and truly fed up with the traffic and congestion that a spate of new construction has brought to the usually quiet residential streets.
Second, the land Samcon is looking at is the same parcel that the Casino de Montréal has been eyeing for some time. Before that, it seems to me that developer Vincent Chiara had a scheme to build a shopping mall and some housing.
According to reports, Sam Scalia, Samcon's president, says the new project and future projects will be developed according to principles of walkability and will be located close to public transit.
Not sure how that squares with the railyard, which is accessible to Wellington St. and a direct bus to downtown but nowhere close to a metro station.
More to come, no doubt. 

City Offering $136 million in Subsidies and Incentives to Keep Homebuyers on the Island

The city of Montreal has quietly renewed a program to encourage tenants and families to buy and stay on the island. The on-again, off-again home ownership program received a $136-million cash injection with little fanfare in April. As in years past, the city will take applications for up to  three years, or until the cash runs out.

The cash tends to run out well before the three years are up.

Still, not a bad program if you fit the various criteria. For new homes, the incentives are on a sliding scale, depending on whether you are a single buyer, a couple without children or a household with children. The lump sum incentives range from $4,500 to $12,000 . Households with kids can also get a refund of the hated welcome tax.

Not bad! The program gets complicated when you look at the types of properties that are eligible. For single buyers, the maximum budget is $200,000, for a couple $250,000. If you're buying for a family, the budget can go as high at $360,000, but to qualify for the highest amount you must buy a three-bedroom unit.

The program will also refund the welcome tax on the purchase of a resale duplex or triplex, providing the purchase price is not more than $450.000 and $490.000 respectively.

Households with kids can also get six months of free public transit with the purchase of a one-year Opus card. It is not clear from the brochure whether this means a total of 18 months of public transit for the price of 12 or 12 months for the price of six.

As with any program, there's lots of small print. Still, worth looking into if it can save you several thousand dollars, right?

Here's the website, en anglais et en francais .

You can also download the brochure on the site.

Trains, a Part of Life in Montreal

The horrifying train derailment, explosion and fire in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Qc. earlier this month has given rise to a lot of talk about the wisdom of running trains through populated areas.

One of my Facbeook acquaintances even kidded me about whether there was going to be a run on St-Henri real estate as people dumped their homes out of fear for their safety. I was skeptical then and remain skeptical now. That's what I told CTV News, when reporter Max Harrold called me up.

Don't mind my dorky face. I was talking, ok. 

He had already interviewed a Management prof at UQAM who had studied the sale of 40,000 residential properties on Montreal island. His analysis indicated that living within 50 metres of a super highway reduced the value of a home by as much as 5 per cent, living within 50 metres of a rail line meant an 8-10 per cent reduction in property values.

This I don't dispute.

My larger point when asked about the impact of the Lac-Mégantic tragedy on Montreal home prices was that Montreal was built along rail lines. Think about all the communities where trains are a fact of life - Point St. Charles, St. Henri ( the level crossing pictured above), NDG, Westmount, Cote St. Luc, TMR, Griffintown and all those suburbs served by commuter rail service. That's a lot of trains.

Montrealers have long made their peace with trains and for all the horror of what happened in Lac-Mégantic, it says something that it is the only train disaster most of us can remember. I was chatting with The Gazette's Allison Lampert and she pointed out that the big difference between Montreal and Lac Mégantic is that CN owns and controls most of the freight rail track in the city and has a better track record for safety than the corner-cutting Chicago outfit MMA  whose freight train caused the fiery explosion in small-town Lac-Mégantic.

I think that the images of burning crude oil and a leveled downtown core are fresh in our minds but that within a few months those memories will fade and Montrealers will feel comfortable with the rumble and squeal of passing freight trains once more.

We buy homes near rail lines, like we buy homes near airports or near flood zones. 

You can watch the CTV report here. 

Luxury Address, Lowlife Clientele?

Heritage du Vieux-Port

The Toronto Star has a fascinating story today about the seamier side of one of Old Montreal's most exclusive luxury property's,  Le Heritage du Vieux-Port.

I don't know how long the link will be good so here's the gist of the story:

Hockey players and wealthy socialites call the Heritage du Vieux Port home.

Longer than a football field and crowned by four five-storey rooftop villas, it offers what the glossy sales brochure describes as “your private chateau in the city.”

But police also describe it as a virtually impregnable “bunker” for a handful of bikers, Mafia associates and other alleged organized crime figures who over the years found comfort and isolation behind the walls of the massive structure that once served as a refrigerated warehouse near the port.

How's that for a morning read?

The report goes on to enumerate at least 20 people with criminal records or ties to Montreal's underworld who have owned or lived in the 200-unit property in the last decade.

A Sûreté du Québec investigator told reporter Julian Sher of having carried out four search warrants on homes in the building and knew of a dozen more having been carried out since 1998.

True confession time. I was The Gazette's real estate reporter in 1999 when Toni Magi and his brothers announced their plan to redevelop a massive refrigerated warehouse on the edge of Montreal's Old Port.

No one had ever heard of the Magi brothers - I think remember there being four of them - at that point. In later years, Toni Magi evinced an amazing affinity for surviving being shot at. It got his name in the papers quite a lot.

I do remember the launch was held on a beautiful fall day, aboard a gleaming boat that cruised the harbour. Mayor Pierre Bourque, smiling and vacant, was in attendance.  There were hors d'oeuvres and light classical music. It was the splashiest PR event announcing the launch of new condo. (They usually involved visiting an unheated Dickie Moore trailer to pick up a sales kit and meet a sales agent who was chilled to the bone.)

The Magis couldn't bring the project to completion and ended losing it to TRAMS Property  Management, a large real-estate development and managemnt firm that does a lot of work in the U.S.. 

Radio-Canada's investigative news show, Enquete, will have a report on the dubious doings at one of Montreal's most luxurious addresses tonight. I, for one, intend to tune in.

In the meantime, if anyone is in the market for a luxury apartment in a bunker-like chateau on the edge of Old Montreal, give me a call. Prices start at about $2,500 for a rental and climb to $4.45 million for a penthouse.

After tonight, those prices might be negotiable.

New Listing in LaSalle 8997-8999 Godbout

Amy Barratt and I have just listed an impeccable 1965 duplex at 8997-8999 Godbout in LaSalle. The property has been inhabited by the same owners since the year of construction and has been carefully maintained.

It consists of two three-bedroom dwellings. The ground floor has a finished basement with powder room, laundry room and workshop, as well as a two-car, tandem garage. The ground floor is available for immediate occupancy.

The upper is rented for $800 a month, heated. It has washer and dryer in the bathroom.

Both units are heated by a single oil-burning furnace, with hot-water (radiator) heating systems that are independent of one another. The ground floor also has a wall-mounted A/C.

What I love about this property is that the original style has been lovingly preserved. The kitchen is straight out of an episode of the Brady Bunch, I'm pretty sure. Love the real wood-grain cabinets. Love the copper drawer pulls. Love the etched glass panels with geese in full flight.

.(Love the wallpaper a little less, but that is a cosmetic trifle.)

This property has gleaming, unsullied oak floors throughout the main level. The basement has wall-to-wall carpets which are being steam cleaned as I write.

The roof was installed in 2004 and is still under guarantee. The front and rear balcony railings, stairs and flashings were redone in aluminum within the last decade. Ditto the fibreglass balcony decks.

The thermopane windows date from 1992. The hot water tanks were replaced in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The oil tank was replaced in 1999.

The living room is large and quite bright, thanks to the southwestern exposure that provides lots of afternoon sunlight through a big picture window. Fabulous for entertaining.

The bedrooms are well proportioned with good closet space and big windows.

The bathroom is fully functional if a little retro with its pink wall tile, pink and white shower tiles and pink marble-effect arborite vanity. It has a large closet and could easily be remodeled for the washer and dryer. Again, a trifle to change.

The lot is also larger than average for the neighborhood, measuring 388 square metres or 4180 square feet. 

Asking price is $453,000, which is a very competitive price for the area. 

Give me a call to schedule a visit. Mary Lamey (514) 978-6522 or Amy Barratt (514) 718-6522

Just Listed! Point St. Charles 4-Bedroom Cottage

Just listed in Point St. Charles, a lovely four-bedroom Victorian. 582 Bourgeoys St., a bit south of Wellington, was built in 1885 and has been lovingly cared for by an attentive owner. It's big enough for a growing family though the easy flow of the main floor would make it a wonderful home for that sociable couple who like to entertain. The asking price is $524,000.

The floors, door and window trim, as well as a grand staircase that wends to the second storey, are all stripped original pine. The hot water radiators (super comfortable heat)  are hidden beneath ornate 19th-century brass and marble mantles. The ceilings are high, the windows and doorways are large. In short, like broad-at-the-beam Queen Victoria herself, this house was built for comfort.

The main floor features a spacious living room that easily accommodates a huge sectional sofa, ideal of family movie nights or gatherings of friends.

The dining room, with a view onto the back garden, can easily seat 12, without crowding.
The kitchen retains its original tall wooden cabinets. There's room for a breakfast table and a nook for a desk, computer station or spot where the kids can do homework while a grown up gets started on dinner.

The main floor also has a powder room. A door at the back of the kitchen communicates with the main floor laundry and to a large treated wood deck and flagstone patio in the sunny, fenced back yard. There's a lane behind the house and the flagstone patio can double as parking in a pinch. Street parking is easy.

 Upstairs, you'll find four real bedrooms, including a massive master bedroom that measures nearly 13 feet by 13 feet. The second and third bedrooms are equally spacious.The smallest room is irregular in shape. It would make a perfect baby's room or den/office. All of the rooms have high ceilings and large windows. This is a quiet residential street with two and three-storey buildings. The light pours in all day long.

The main bathroom is divided into two rooms, a bath with shower in one room with a skylight and the WC in another little room of its own. The fixtures have been updated.

Point St. Charles has become one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in central Montreal in the last 20 years, in part because it is an easy 10 minute drive, 20 minute bike ride or 20 minute bus trip to the corner of Peel and Ste. Catherine. The housing stock is older, with lots of Victorian charm and more modest homes that have been gussied up with sleek contemporary style.

582 Bourgeoys (the anglo old-timers pronounce it Burgess)  offers the luxury of space, a rare fenced AND sunny garden, carefully preserved cachet and four real bedrooms.

The basement is unfinished, but is easily 7 feet high, with interesting potential, if the square footage above ground isn't enough room for you.

As with all houses, it has a few quirks. There's a new chimney liner but the brick chimney itself will need attention in the next few years. The windows are older and still work fine, but aren't as energy efficient as newer models. We all have our little imperfections, don't we?

Check out the complete listing at marylamey.com. Give me a call if you'd like to schedule a visit.

Spacing Magazine Launch in Montreal

Spacing, the totallygroovy magazine that looks at the past, present and future of our urban spaces, is having a launch party for its new pan-Canadian issue right here in Montreal.

The issue will feature lots of content about our belle ville with  short audio-visual and + talkie content from local thinkers,

The event is being held Jully20, at the McCord Museum's newly created outdoor space on Victoria St.

You can find out more by following this link. I'll be there. Will you?

UPDATE
Sorry for the no-good link. I dunno what that was about. Let's hope this one works.

Dupuis Park, The Battle Continues

I just received an email from Albert Albala, the Verdun resident who spearheaded citizen opposition to the planned closing of Park Dupuis last spring.
Albala got wind of the plan to close the 4-hectare green space next to the Atwater filtration plant when he saw city crews quietly beginning to remove equipment like soccer goals from the site.
Hard to know what the real story is. It is either
A) Continued recreational use of the grassy expanse over the filtration plant's subterranean basins risks depositing soil and sediment into the water supply.
B) The city is worried about dog poop and pee leeching into the reservoirs.
C) Easy public access is a security issue that makes the water-filtration plant a potential terrorist target.
D) Verdun is tired of paying the bill to maintain a park that is technically located in the neighboring Southwest borough but is only accessible from Verdun.
E) All of the above.
It looked like a truce had been reached, with a promise from city hall that the status quo would remain in place. Now, it seems that the park will be closed next spring.

Here's what Albert had to say:

"Dupuis park is still set to be permanently closed next spring. The fence is being put up, and no entrance is planned for. Four hectares of prime green space is being lost in a neighborhood which badly needs green space!

Meanwhile, incumbent mayor candidate Gerald Tremblay says parks and green space are a cornerstone of his policy; concerning Dupuis park, the Tremblay administration says the park will be closed if citizens keep going there with dogs. But the city is making no effort to let anyone know (through signs, etc.) that dogs are not welcome. The dog issue seems to be a good excuse to close the park!

And closed it will be, unless citizens act now!

If you have the time and energy, here is what I propose:

(1) call 3-1-1 and ask city officials what is going with Dupuis Park (official name: "réservoir 3A de l'usine de filtration Atwater") and other water reservoirs in Montreal including McTavish reservoir.

(2) write, call your municipal representatives to let them know what you think.

(3) ***WEDNESDAY 7 OCT*** (TOMORROW) : go to the debate of Verdun mayor candidates in Nuns' Island.

(4) create and distribute leaflets to sensitize the population (you can put them up on the fence around the city's reservoirs).

(5) if you want to contribute to an eventual citizens' report on the park (and other reservoirs including other reservoirs in Canada), and ideas to keep reservoirs accessible while ensuring their safety, please write to me.

(6) any other ideas? Let me know!

(7) leave comments on http://4hectares.info

(8) get informed about the 14 reservoirs which will be closed in Montreal, and let us know what you have learnt!

Merci à l'avance!

Albert Albala
4hectares.info citizens group

With a municipal election coming up on November 5, this might be our best chance to save Dupuis Park once and for all.

L'autre Montréal

National Georgraphic Society has partnered with Heritage Montreal, Les Amis de la Montagne and other local players to devise a different kind of tourism guide to our fair city.
The so-called MapGuide, focuses on geotourism, which is described as tourism "that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place -- its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents."
You can download a PDF copy of the guide here
I love that it includes everything from the city's pretties back lanes to La Binerie Mont-Royal, home of authentic Quebec grub like ragoût de pattes et boulettes and pouding chômeur to Parc des Rapides, La Salle's beautiful park on the edge of the whitewater rapids.
This is the Montreal I want visitors to see. Heck, this is the Montreal I want to see during my staycation this summer.
Speaking of Montreal tourism, check out this old tourist poster that I grabbed off a web site somewhere. I think it's from the 1950s. For the life of me, I can't find the web site to get a larger image. Too bad.

Local Housing : Lots of Choice Yet Prices Firm

La Presse had a good resumé of the current housing market in the Saturday Mon Toit section.
The headline read "À défaut d'aubaines, l'embarras du choix", or "In the Absence of Bargains, an Embarrassment of Choice".
The underlying theme was that while turmoil has struck other markets across North America, Montreal continues to chug along.
Buyers hoping to scoop up real estate at distressed prices have been disappointed. Prices are stable and even rising. What has changed is that properties are taking a little longer to sell. It took the typical home 65 days to sell during the first three months of last year. During the first quarter of 2009, that listing period was 80 days. There are more properties to choose from and buyers have more time to consider their purchase, but prices continue to increase.
You can read the article here.

La Fontaine Park, Update

After reading the post on La Fontaine Park, my alert friend Karen sent along this photo of her five(?)-year-old self and the aforementioned whale aquarium. Looking good, Karen! I like the bangs.

The Zoo at La Fontaine Park

This 1961 photo posted on the Histoire du Plateau blog took me right back to childhood. Anybody else remember the zoo in the north (Rachel St.) end of La Fontaine Park? It had a distinctly biblical theme, with an ark full of goats and sheep and a giant whale whose mouth you could walk into. Inside was an aquarium full of goldfish, as I recall. It seemed to me that the zoo was closed in the early 1980s, but Wikipedia assets that it remained open until 1989. Can that be right?
My friend Noni's parents lived in a triplex on Christophe-Colomb a little north of the park. She says you could hear the peacocks squawking at all hours of the day.
Of course today the zoo has serves as a playground for the offspring of the Plateau bourgeoisie.

Dupuis Park Saved, For Now

Public outcry and a little media blitz seem to have done the job. The city has agreed to leave Dupuis Park and Rutherford Park open to the public for at least a year while it studies ways to improve the security of their water-treatment plants.
You can read The Gazette report here.

Bike Paths in and Around Montreal

The Montreal Mirror, a newspaper with which I started my journalism career*, has a good piece on area bike trails.

* Actually, I started my journalism career at age 11, writing Girl Guide and Brownie news for my hometown St. Bruno Journal. The difference is that I didn't get paid for that column. The Mirror paid me with free LPs (!!!) and the occasional movie pass.

Save Dupuis Park

UPDATE The Gazette now reports that the city is also restricting access to Rutherford Park, the green space atop the McTavish reservoir just south of Pine Ave. at University. Could this have something to do with the fact that people keep documenting how easy it is to get into the filtration plants?

The Gazette reports that without a word of warning, much less public consultation, the city has decided to close Dupuis Park, a four-hectacre green space that sits atop the Atwater filtration plant's water reservoirs.
The city says the park, where locals run, fly kites and play soccer and other sports, was never officially a park. Funny, because it is listed among Verdun borough's parks on the city web site.
Area residents told The Gazette that the non-park's soccer nets and baseball diamonds were removed about 10 days ago.
The city has tried to dodge responsibility, with Verdun saying the green space actually lies within the borders of neighboring Sud-Ouest and Sud-Ouest saying Verdun has long agreed to maintain the park because its three public access points are on Verdun territory.
Now the story is that the green space is the private property of the water filtration plant. The plant will allow some controlled access by sporting associations, but the days of wandering into Dupuis Park for a jog, a picnic or to admire the city skyline are over.
Perhaps they thought no one would mind. They thought wrong. A citizens' group has started organizing to save the park. You can find out how to help and sign a petition at www.4hectares.info


Paul Beaupré, who looks like he has never flown a kite or picnicked in a park in his life, represents the Verdun district in which Dupuis Park is or isn't located. His number is 765-7010 His email is paul.beaupre@verdun.ca The next borough council meeting is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5. The address is 4555 Verdun Ave.

Michel Mérette is the manager of the Atwater filtration plant. I can't seem to find a phone number for him.

If you don't get satisfcation from either of them, you can, as a last resort, file a complaint with Montreal's go-get-'em ombudsman, Johanne Savard at (514) 872-8999 or ombudsman@ville.montreal.qc.ca

Moving to the Rhythm of Montreal

Here's a fantastic NFB short by Sylvie Trouvé that captures the pulse of Montreal. See how many familiar landmarks you can spot. Mmmm! Orange Julep, I hear you calling my name.

Montreal from the Sky circa 1930

Andy Riga has posted a cool site featuring archival photos of Montreal on his Metropolitan News blog. Lots of interesting images there. This scrollable map caught my eye. Too bad you can only scroll from left to right and not top to bottom.