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MONTREAL'S FIRST 100% GREEN CONDO AND TOWNHOUSE PROJECT Overview Located minutes from Montreal’s downtown core and the historic Atwater Market, Maison Productive House (MpH) is a contemporary, green living project that offers a contemporary architecture that makes sustainable urban living bountiful and verdant. At Maison Productive House empowers consumers to live intelligently. Maison Productive House offers you two housing choices to meet you specific needs, Condo and Townhouse. Each unity offers a contemporary and green design that is both rich in space and refined in its architecture. MpH residences offer a privileged, refined living environment, which is refined and avant-garde. MpH perpetuates the exceptional architectural style with the most advanced Green (sustainable living) elements. MpH is Montreal’s first ecological design that seeks carbon-neutrality and addresses various productive aspects of a responsible lifestyle: alternative energy, food garden, active transportation, more personal productivity and leisure time. Here are some of the design principles that inspired the vision for the MpH Its walking distance from Charlevoix metro station Amenities MpH is very green. Its infrastructure can contribute to the environment instead of being as drain upon it. Maison Productive House seeks a LEED® Platinum certification and follows zero-emission development (ZED) design principles. What is unique about the MpH project is that it is Novoclimat® certified, uses Solar Panel and Geo-thermal energy; includes EnergyStar® appliances, dual-flush toilets and radiant heated floors. Additional examples of this unique project include: Onsite garden Custom-built doors kitchens and stairways using FSC or reclaimed wood or bottles No use of VOC products in lacquers, and natural fibers wherever possible (insulation, wall structure). Social and productive spaces, mixing ecological and social functions, such as: its year-round greenhouse, sauna, meditation room, and laundry room recovering grey waters and balcony. The sauna is strategically placed to allow for voluntary heat loss that directly will benefit the otherwise passively heated (solar) greenhouse. The greenhouse is supplied with recouped rainwater and filtered gray water for irrigation. Other amenities include: - Attention to linkages between outdoor and indoor spaces with the innovation of SunSpaces and ample roof, garden and balcony spaces for social interaction and growing. - Artisan bakery integrated into the residential development - Creation of possible income-streams to owners through rental spaces - Proximity to public transportation and the provision of a shared car service - Both inside and outside the greenhouse, the roof is maximized for growing vegetables. Cold-frames are integrated in the roof balustrade with seasonal covers to extend the growing season. - This social gathering area will have all the amenities for Bar-B-Qs, sun-bathing and gardening. - The Sauna uses an electrically-powered design which utilizes pine wood and is large enough for 4-6 people. - In addition to the roof greenhouse, every owner has their own private plot for growing fruits and vegetables in the garden as well as access to a fruit orchard and a herbal garden. - Water filtration systems: Units 2,4 and laundry room have recycled gray waters. Also personal units are supplied with carbon filters in the kitchen counters to provide the cleanest possible drinking water. backview They say they have 55% sold. It seems like they have 3-4 condos [only 1 left] (each are 3.5 equalling 809 sq.ft) and there is 4 townhouses [only 2 left] PDF File

Step aside Toronto, the next housing boom is in Montreal Karen Mazurkewich, Financial Post Published: Friday, January 11, 2008 Gordon Beck/Canwest News Service What sets Montreal apart from other urban centers is the fact that it has retained its neighbourhood mosaic. When Montreal architect Henri Cleinge purchased an old wine depot in Montreal's Little Italy district in 2002, he transformed it into a contemporary three-unit condo with polished wood and concrete floors, iron staircases and stainless steel kitchens. He then flipped two of the units for seven times the original investment of $200,000. Mr. Cleinge had a few sleepless nights wondering whether the units would sell. He didn't have to worry. In Montreal, there's big demand for contemporary-design living. Much has been made about Toronto's big museum projects and condo lineups, but Montreal is also changing its shape. Toronto housing prices have experienced 58% growth since 2000. The island of Montreal, however, has seen housing sales jump 50%, but the city itself has gone up 94%. In addition, a new concert hall and 28-storey condo tower is being erected atop Place des Arts metro, two mega hospitals are under construction and Sotheby's International Realty recently entered the market. As well, the largest private real estate investment in decades, involving 4,000 dwellings and a shopping plaza, is scheduled to get a green light from city hall. Montreal's mojo is back. But its not the big urban projects that are redefining this city. What makes Montreal distinct from other urban centres is the fact it has retained its neighbourhood mosaic. The most famous is the northeastern district known as Plateau-Mont-Royal. The Plateau has become the most expensive address in the city, with its average housing price jumping 105% in the past seven years. It's also one of the reasons Montreal consistently ranks among the top 25 cities in the world for quality of life. Like Greenwich Village in New York or Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the Plateau is where culture and haute couture intersect. In the 1980s, the Plateau was a string of shabby row houses. Owners lived on the main floor and rented the walk-ups. But the working-class enclave changed dramatically in the 1990s, when new legislation made it possible to subdivide duplexes and triplexes into condo apartments. "Instead of a single owner, who would rent one or two of the other floors, now each apartment is owned individually and people are now willing to invest," says Susan Bronson, a Montreal heritage conservationist. The artists and architects that moved into the area with nothing in their pockets can now afford to invest. The hood became hip because it maintained "high bohemian index," she says. Montreal's Mile End, a subsection within the Plateau immortalized by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, has seen the greatest upheaval. Gone are the icons: the discount grocery store Warshaw's, Simcha's Fruit Market and St. Laurent Bakery have closed. Instead, a slew of new high-concept design stores, including Interversion and Latitude Nord, have staked out Boulevard Saint-Laurent, turning it into the new fashion Mecca. Even the old rag-trade factories, religious buildings and empty lots have received a radical facelift. Architect Eric Gauthier, who created the landmark Espace Go on Saint-Laurent, is currently constructing the all-new Théâtre de Quat'Sous on formerly grungy Avenue Pins. The firm Lepointe Magne has also made its mark on the Plateau, redesigning the public swimming pool Bain Lévesque and converting an old fire hall into the high concept Théâtre Espace Libre. In Plateau's housing, one of the first innovations was Atelier Big City's 1989 Sept-Plex condominium project on Clark Street, which made creative use of the narrow street fronts and back lanes. Atelier Build reinvented the notion of infill with its 2004 "thin house" project along Avenue L'Hotel-du-ville. When she started her architectural company with partner Michael Carroll 12 years ago, Danita Rooyakkers of Atelier Build, says few others were betting on the Plateau. Political instability in the province was a deterrent for developers, but it was the perfect time for a young architect with modest means and big dreams. Ms. Rooyakkers biked around Plateau in search of cheap empty lots and made her mark by eschewing the traditional walk-ups, where every family gets a floor, and subdivided the property so each owner has a front door, backyard and terraces. By opening up the walls and adding skylights, the architectural firm created a vertical loft. It won awards because it offered another prototype for high-density Montreal living, she says. The design aesthetic in Montreal has been tempered by activism. The Plateau is not only governed by a planning advisory committee stacked with architects and landscapers, it has community watchdogs galore, including the Mile End Citizens Committee and Urban Ecology. Every architect working here has had to face fierce town hall forums before building begins. "As educated local residents, we have both a sense of entitlement and empowerment," says Owen Rose, an architect and head of the Urban Ecology group, which focuses on urban green spaces. "It's easy to get involved in issues because we are constantly bumping into each other on the street in this urban village," he says, adding that community involvement has permeated the local culture. As one of the first architects to help reshape the plateau, Mr. Gauthier was frequently forced to marry old facades with his slick contemporary style to meet the borough's strict guidelines. With Théâtre de Quat'Sous, he's been given an exemption: the historic synagogue in which the theater is currently housed didn't meet safety codes so it will be replaced by a showy new architectural structure. Mr. Gauthier is concerned about a public outcry, but he's excited about the new design. "If you want to keep the city alive, you need to add new buildings and new layers." While the strict development guidelines built a "cohesive" neighbourhood, he says, "we've passed the point where conservation should now trump freedom." Mr. Cleinge, the architect, is trying to exercise that freedom. In recent years he has revamped in his sleek industrial design look a microbrewery on Duluth Street as well as the Les Chocolats de Chloe of Roy Street East. He avoids wood stairs and plastered ceilings, preferring concrete and steel for urban living spaces. The look reflects the city's history, he says. "Montreal is an industrial city with a large garment industry so it's appropriate language to use in a residential context," he says. Luckily for him, clients such as Stéphane Dion and Éloïse Corbeil, typical Plateau dwellers, are looking to restyle their 1880s duplex. Ms. Corbeil's father purchased the building on Christophe Columb Street in 1996 when she and her brother needed a place to live while they attended university. Ms. Corbeil's brother has since moved to the United States, but the 33-year-old writer-filmmaker and her lawyer husband still love the mixed neighbourhood. They looked in the swank neighbourhoods of Westmount and Outremont after the birth of their two children, but decided to stay put. "We didn't want to go to the suburbs because we like the diversity here," says Ms. Corbeil. Conscious of their limitations but eager for a contemporary style, they hired Mr. Cleinge after seeing his work in a magazine. His mandate was to keep a portion of the "stacked wood" interior shell of the house, but rebuild the place from top bottom. He proposed a mezzanine open-style approach to filter more light into the home and create more space. Concrete floors and iron railings are part of the new plan. For most young buyers, the Plateau is now untouchable - meaning overpriced. Its evolution, however, has created a ripple effect across the city and intensive gentrification is happening in the shabby districts of Point St. Charles and the Jean Talon market area. "The Plateau has matured," says Mr. Cleinge. But the condoization of Montreal has only begun. Financial Post kmazurkewich@nationalpost.com http://www.financialpost.com/magazine/family_finance/story.html?id=231679

Montreal's moment Stylish, historic and full of great dining options, this Québécois hot spot has evolved into North America's own City of Light. Co-owner Alison Cunningham at Joe Beef Stay Our favorite hotels are clustered around Vieux-Montréal. Hotel Le St.-James (355 Rue St.-Jacques; 514/841-3111; hotellestjames.com; doubles from $400), housed in a former 19th-century bank, is a Gilded Age fantasy of Oriental carpets, antiques and paintings, and outsize four-poster beds. The fauxhawked staff at Hotel St.-Paul (355 Rue McGill; 514/ 380-2222; hotelstpaul.com; doubles from $279) might be off-putting if the rooms weren't so comfortable and stylish, with playful fabrics brightening the dark walnut floors and white walls. Although the era of the minimalist design hotel may be ending, Hotel Gault (449 Rue Ste.-Hélène; 514/ 904-1616; hotelgault.com; doubles from $209) shows no signs of losing its edge. The exposed brickwork and cast-iron columns feel as of-the-moment as when Gault opened five years ago. Set among the port's converted warehouses, Auberge du Vieux-Port (97 Rue de la Commune Est; 514/876-0081; aubergeduvieuxport.com; doubles from $280) offers water views and a lively rooftop terrace. Shop Old Montreal has been quietly resurrected from its tourist trappings. Yvonne and Douglas Mandel, pioneers of the new Vieux, showcase their sharply tailored menswear at Kamkyl Urban Atelier (439 Rue St.-Pierre; 514/281-8221). If you go ... Montreal has great bike trails throughout the city and along the water. (Try the one that follows the Lachine Canal.) In Old Montreal, Ca Roule Montreal (27 Rue de la Commune Est; 514/866-0633; http://www.caroulemontreal.com) offers both bicycle rentals and guided tours. Nearby, Espace PEpin (350 Rue St.-Paul Ouest; 514/844-0114), a women's label, features a kimono-meets-tuxedo-shirt dress called the Écuyère. Rue St.-Denis, up in the Plateau neighborhood, is filled with charming boutiques. Couleurs Meubles et Objéts du 20e Siècle (3901 Rue St.-Denis; 514/282-4141) stocks a smart selection of Midcentury housewares, equal doses Scandinavian and Canadian. Proof that Montreal is an epicure's dream: Les Touilleurs (152 Ave. Laurier Ouest; 514/278-0008) in Mile End, where marble counters are piled with cooking implements, including Quebecer Tom Littledeer's maple spoons and spatulas. Visit the expansive Le Marché Jean-Talon (7070 Rue Henri-Julien; 514/937-7754) for regional cheeses and maple candies, and 53 kinds of sausage at William J. Walter. Eat At Joe Beef (2491 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest; 514/935-6504; dinner for two $140), the interiors (a boar's head trophy over the bar; rustic wooden tables; checkered napkins) verge on irreverent, but the food is anything but. The emphasis is decidedly Québécois -- heavy on meat, with healthy doses of foie gras and boudin. Don't Miss T+L: Montreal destination guide T+L: The next design city T+L: Mountain magic Club Chasse et Pêche (423 Rue St.-Claude; 514/861-1112; dinner for two $125), on a cobblestone lane in Vieux-Montréal, is marked by an antler-and-fish crest hanging outside the door. Dishes (striped bass with asparagus and sorrel; rabbit and lobster gnocchi) pay homage to both gun and rod, but all are refreshingly light. Leméac (1045 Rue Laurier Ouest; 514/270-0999; lunch for two $60), in the fashionable Outremont neighborhood, has all the tropes of a perfect French bistro: efficient staff, a long brass bar and a menu that ranges from a creamy blanquette de veau to a fresh salmon tartare. Part restaurant, part underground nightclub, Garde Manger (408 Rue St. -François-Xavier; 514/678-5044; dinner for two $9) offers innovative seafood (General Tao lobster), and a seat at the coolest party in town. After 9 p.m., the rock sound track comes on and the dining room fills up. Do There's plenty to explore in the city, but save time for a walk through Frederick Law Olmsted's wooded Parc du Mont-Royal (lemontroyal.qc.ca) -- views from the summit are spectacular. The municipal-looking Belgo Building (372 Rue Ste.-Catherine Ouest), the hub of the city's contemporary art scene, brims with more than 30 workshops and galleries. Two of the best are Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain (No. 216; 514/395-6032) and Galerie René Blouin (No. 501; 514/393-9969). For a deeper look at Canadian art, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (1380 Rue Sherbrooke; 514/285-2000; mbam.qc.ca) has contemporary Inuit sculptures, early-20th-century landscapes from Ontario's Group of Seven and Serge Lemoyne's exuberant 1975 "Dryden" -- a 7-by-11-foot painting of legendary goalie Ken Dryden's hockey mask. Montreal's nightlife is centered around Rue St.-Laurent, in the Plateau. Try Pop! Bar à Vin (250 Pine Ave. Est; 514/287-1648), which resembles a Danish living room circa 1966; Bily Kun (354 Mont-Royal Est; 514/845-5392), specializing in local microbrews; and Bar Plan B (327 Mont-Royal Est; 514/845-6060), a favorite among the city's restaurateurs.E-mail to a friend