“Yesterday, I went to see the Andrea Bocelli concert at the Bell Center without bringing a coat with me,” explains Lara Zidine. “We are close to everything and that’s what’s nice,” adds Lyly Lefort.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Lara Zidine in one of the common areas of the Nobel Tower
The two women live in the new Solar Uniquartier in Brossard in the Nobel project tower, annexed directly to the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) station. The first is a tenant while the second lives in the condo that her daughter bought off plan for investment purposes.
“It’s happening with restaurants, terraces and the market during the summer. I feel like I’m on vacation,” says Lyly. “We feel that it’s a new neighborhood and a new experience for everyone,” Lara also enthuses.
all new, all beautiful
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Lyly Lefort on one of the terraces of the Nobel Tower with a swimming pool
We met the two women at Starbucks, where a customer was in… flip flops!
Connected to the REM, Solar Uniquartier is an extension of underground Montreal. We can go to the Eaton Center or the Palais des congrès without setting foot outside and we can do the same to the Montreal-Trudeau airport or even to the northern crown when the entire network is in service.
In addition to all the restaurants, shops and the DIX30 cinema – to which a footbridge provides access over Highway 10 –, in Solar Uniquartier we find the French brasserie Chez Lionel, a Cage – Brasserie sportive, a Mexican restaurant ( Escondite), a bakery, a branch of Enfants Terribles, and so on. That’s without counting businesses, a Courtyard hotel and a campus of the University of Montreal.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Lyly Lefort and Lara Zidine in front of the footbridge connected to the REM and the DIX30, and at the top of the escalator which leads notably to the Starbucks café, La Cage – Brasserie sportif and Chez Lionel.
There are several phases and residential projects within Solar Uniquartier, namely Nobel, Magellan, Lumeo, Oria and Eolia. Underground tunnels connect the different towers (except one closed due to litigation), while in the center, we find a park and the Place de la Gare – where two men were throwing a baseball at each other during our visit!
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
There are several works planned at Solar Uniquartier. Ultimately, more than 6,000 apartments are planned, including private residences for seniors in Cogir.
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
To the 2e14e and 28e floors of the Nobel, there are common and coworking areas with an incredible view of Montreal. There is also a children’s area, swimming pools, sauna, training rooms and terraces with barbecues.
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PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Tenants and owners rub shoulders in the towers and buildings of Solar Uniquartier and all benefit from inviting common areas.
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For Lyly Lefort, it was quite a change to live in a three and a half apartment at 15e floor after living in a single-family house in Saint-Lambert. She had given herself a year to try the Solar Uniquartier experience. When she throws her garbage into the trash chute in her hallway, she regrets nothing. “Everything is simple. »
Lyly loves how she and her neighbors see each other unexpectedly. How easy it is with the REM to get to the city center or to visit your friend in L’Île-des-Sœurs. She appreciates the offer to go out and have fun… and the Nobel swimming pools!
There is always something to do: I feel like I’m in a resort.
Lyly Lefort
It also highlights the proximity to the Grand Urban Park of Brossard.
Living with or without a car
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
A group is walking in the DIX30 district.
“There is now a way on the South Shore to no longer have a car,” says Jeremy Bouvier, who has lived in the building of the third phase of the Magellan project since August 2021.
We ate a bibimbap with the man who is an analyst in an office on Boulevard Lapinière, where he goes on foot.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Jeremy Bouvier at the corner of avenue de l’Équinoxe and rue des Éclaircies
“You had to believe it,” he says.
And you had to be patient, since the young man bought his condo in 2018, almost four years before living there.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
When Jeremy Bouvier bought his condo, we were selling access to the airport without putting on a coat, but we will still have to be patient, since the REM must go to Dorval in 2027 according to the current schedule.
When Jeremy was finally able to take up residence there, there was practically nothing around his building, but he had confidence in the future of Solar Uniquartier. “What I saw was an extension of Montreal. The wait was worth it. »
Certainly, Solar Uniquartier is less welcoming than neighborhoods with mature trees, he concedes. “But the vision of the project is good. »
What is missing ? A grocery store and a pharmacy. Fortunately, a Couche-Tard convenience store opened.
” The best of both worlds “
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
My Korean Friend Restaurant
The developer Devimco says he thought of and designed the Solar Uniquartier according to the principles of public transport-oriented development (TOD, from its English acronym transit-oriented development). There is a Communauto car-sharing car park, but also a huge underground parking lot for those who own a car.
“The best of both worlds,” says Jean-Eric Hénault, who does not have a car and takes the REM to get to his office in Old Montreal.
It’s also the “best of both worlds” when he entertains friends in the Nobel’s common living areas rather than in his condo where he hasn’t had time to clean!
PHOTO JEAN-PHILIPPE TANGUAY, PROVIDED BY JEAN-ERIC HÉNAULT
Around a hundred Nobel neighbors admired the eclipse together.
Jean-Eric Hénault, who holds happy hours with Lyly Lefort and Lara Zidine, brought together around a hundred neighbors for the passage of the Moon in front of the Sun on April 8. “The Nobel terrace is at 5060, rue de l’Éclipse in Solar: we had to see the eclipse together! »
According to him, Solar Uniquartier “has a lot of future” and fulfills its mission. “It’s like a little village,” he said.
From the future, one might add.