The owner’s tour | Time to leave, after a stopover in Montreal

Owners open the doors of their exceptional residence to us, offered on the resale market.

Danielle Bonneau
The Press

Baptiste Cabrera and Florian Schmitt love adventure. They left Paris 11 years ago and decided on a whim to settle in Montreal.

They first lived downtown, near Place des Arts. When they looked to buy a property, about a year after their arrival, they were drawn to the bustling Griffintown, near the Lachine Canal. Over the years, they lived successively in the first, then in the last phase of the same complex: the Bassins du Havre.

“In Paris, we lived in the neighborhood of the François-Mitterrand Library, which was undergoing reconstruction at the time, explains Baptiste Cabrera. So when we heard about Griffintown, an old developing industrial district, we went for a walk and we really liked it. »

Heart stroke

In 2012, the district was still embryonic. Several projects were underway. The couple visited the witness condo of the first phase of the Bassins du Havre, on the edge of the Lachine Canal, and were won over. Developed jointly by Prével and Rachel-Julien, the complex was built with the aim of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The two new Montrealers bought an off-plan apartment in the first phase, without even having visited the sales offices of the other projects in the area.

“The fact that LEED certification was targeted also touched us a lot because the environment is important to us,” he adds.

They moved in in 2013. They had a view of the water basins, laid out on the ground to recall the basins of yesteryear, and saw a little of the canal. They began to dream of a better view and, above all, a more spacious kitchen.

“In 2018, our condo was five years old,” explains the co-owner. We wanted to have something new and improve certain aspects of our apartment. We redid the tour of the projects in the surroundings, then we decided to stay in the Bassins du Havre, in the fourth phase. We are here today and it has been an extraordinary experience.

“The neighborhood is close to the city center, but far enough away to be quiet. Many people who live in the Bassins du Havre used to live in the suburbs and decided to come back to Montreal when their children left home. It’s pretty quiet. That’s also what we loved and what made us stay, rather than moving to one of the places where it’s party time every night. It is also a very welcoming place for animals. »

The view above all

When they saw the plan of the condo they subsequently purchased, any lingering doubts were dispelled. “We love to cook,” says Cabrera. It really was the dream. We could have chosen a condo with three bedrooms, but we fell in love with this one, especially because it’s a corner unit. We have light all day and a view of the city center, which we know we will lose in a few years with the constructions, but it was worth it. Then on the other side, the view will never be obscured because there is a dog park. We can see the canal from our balcony, so it’s really nice. »

They took possession of their condo, which features a large island in the heart of a very open space, in 2019, just before the pandemic. They did not regret the third bedroom. “Florian was already working from home, since he is self-employed, and I too have been working from home, throughout the pandemic, and I continue to do so today. Even if we only have a closed office, we have plenty of space to work in peace. »

The taste for settling elsewhere and experiencing new adventures once again took hold of them. “There are certain countries in Europe that we would like to discover, Scandinavia in particular”, reveals Baptiste Cabrera. So they provoke fate by putting their condo up for sale. Then they will see where life takes them.