Montreal Luxury | The Royalmount is born

Some facades were missing letters to form the word Royalmount on Tuesday. Workers, who have been working day and night over the past few days, were literally sweeping the footbridge – overlooking Highway 15 – connecting the metro to the site. Postponed several times, the opening of this luxury destination will finally take place on Thursday, with half of the commercial offering open… and no housing yet built.

“We had the wind in our face and finally, we’re opening in 48 hours,” said a visibly relieved Claude Marcotte, executive vice-president and partner of Carbonleo – which is leading the project – during a visit to the site organized for the media, while the noise of the work could still be heard.

For the first year, it is expected to receive 25 million visitors and generate a billion in sales.

A commercial destination focused on luxury, a lack of housing, a project generating a high level of car traffic due to its geographical location – at the corner of highways 15 and 40 – there has been much criticism of the Royalmount since its announcement in 2015.

Despite everything, the developers gathered in the Royalmount urban park did not mince their words Tuesday in describing their project as a “midtown” or even a second city centre where they estimate that 30% of visitors will reach the destination by public transport. Those who come by car will have to pay to park in one of the 1,800 parking spaces.

The first phase of the Royalmount project, which includes 170 stores with names such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Versace, Saint Laurent, required an investment of more than a billion dollars out of a total of 7 billion to 10 billion.

The critics

The Royalmount plans include nearly 6,000 housing units. However, none have been built yet. This is because the zoning issue has still not been resolved with Ville Mont-Royal, where the shopping centre lands are located. The lack of living space when the Royalmount opened, however, did not dampen the pride of Nicolas Désourdy, president and partner of Carbonleo.

“We’re not disappointed because it allowed us to put in place all the infrastructure to welcome residents later,” he says. “The footbridge to the metro is done. We have the restaurants, the services.” Office towers are also planned for the second phase.

According to Mr. Désourdy, people’s perception of Ville Mont-Royal will change when the shopping centre opens.

The project was also criticized for the already heavy traffic it would generate. To facilitate access by public transit, a 200-metre footbridge spanning Highway 15, which connects the De la Savane metro station to the shopping centre, was built. “It was complex, it cost around fifty million,” Mr. Marcotte said bluntly. Its installation required the closure of the Décarie Expressway for seven to eight nights.

“We tend to forget that cities have rolled out boulevards, which is not the case here,” he emphasizes. “People complain about congestion, but at the same time, we are in the heart of Montreal, people are already in the network. We improved access.”

The stores

Since the beginning of the project, the Royalmount has not hidden its intention to indulge in luxury. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tiffany & Co. are among the 170 boutiques scheduled to open in the first phase. These luxury icons should welcome their first customers within a month. Quebec designer Marie Saint Pierre, who we met by chance during the visit, will also open a pop-up boutique there.

According to Carbonleo, nearly 50% of the commercial offering will be “composed of new brands and new concepts never before seen on the Quebec market.”

So it won’t just be Louis Vuitton luxury bag lovers who will find what they’re looking for. Consumers who wander the grounds starting September 5 will see familiar retailers like Aldo, Dynamite, La Vie en Rose, David’sTea, Garage, Canada Goose.

Zara (which will open its largest store in the country), Uniqlo, Nike, among others, are joining the international brands. In an interview over a year ago, Carbeonleo said he was concerned with offering “inclusive luxury” aimed at a wider clientele.

To eat, the Fou Fou food fair will offer a dozen restaurant options, bars and a catering service. With the help of a QR code, it will be possible to place an order and it will be placed on the customers’ table.

And the fish?

The “world-class” aquarium that was supposed to take up residence on the site in 2024 will finally open in a year and a half. Moviegoers, meanwhile, should be able to visit the theaters by Christmas, it was assured. There are also plans to open a hotel. The lobby is already built … but it is still unclear which hotelier will set up shop there.

There is only one city center

Furthermore, despite the commercial and entertainment offerings found at the Royalmount, there is only one downtown area in the metropolis, Glenn Castanheira, general manager of Montréal centre-ville, states without hesitation. “A shopping center, you can call it Midtown, lifestyle center, power centerall the anglicisms you want, it remains a shopping center. The city center, there is only one per city.

“Now, it’s certain that this is not a project that will strengthen downtown Montreal,” he acknowledges. “It can be seen as a form of competition. In some ways, it is. We live with it. This is not our first rodeo.”