Residential towers on former Spectrum site now set to rise even higher
https://montrealgazette.com/business...se-even-higher
FRÉDÉRIC TOMESCO
Updated: September 26, 2019
Montreal’s biggest ever mixed-use residential project just keeps getting taller.
Maestria, the sleek real-estate complex slated to rise on the site of the late, lamented Spectrum music club, will include two residential towers of 57 and 61 storeys respectively, developers said Thursday after a groundbreaking ceremony at the corner of Ste-Catherine and Bleury Sts. That’s even more ambitious than the previous incarnation, which called for asymmetrical towers of 51 and 53 storeys when the project was unveiled in November.
Although Maestria now features 1,750 apartments and condos instead of 1,500, construction is still expected to cost the same — about $700 million. Developers expect the first residents to move there in 2022 or 2023.
Located in the heart of Montreal’s festival district, in proximity to Place des Arts, Maestria brings together three local players: developer Devimco Immobilier, Fiera Properties and Fonds de solidarité immobilier FTQ, the real-estate arm of Quebec’s largest labour union. Its signature characteristic will be an aerial passageway connecting both towers on the 26th and 27th floors.
At the behest of the city, Maestria’s developers went back to the drawing board in the past year to make the towers thinner. Each floor now features about 12,000 square feet of space, compared with about 15,000 initially.