Résidences EVO : Delta Centre-ville

[SynosiK]

D'un pas rapide, McGill est à 15 minutes. L'UQAM campus ouest à 20. Concordia à 30.

Même le campus est de l'UQAM peut se faire à pied, si l'on a pas peur de marcher.

Ajoutons un peu plus s'ils doivent se rendre au pavillon le plus loin de leur campus.

C'est parfait pour garder les étudiants un minimum en forme.

 

Et en plus, sur university, un peu plus haut, il y a une piste cyclable, elle va diectement aux McTavish gates au campus McGill. Sur Maisonneuve, il y a aussi une piste cyclable qui se rend facilement jusqu'a Concordia ou l'UQAM.

[denpanosekai]

Can a mode PLEASE rename this thread to EVO University (former Delta) so google searches are improved?

 

Looks like they are still renting out conference rooms.

 

[SkahHigh]

Nouveau lettrage:

 

[Monsieur_MA]

Voici le lien vers le site de ces futures résidences, si vous voulez en apprendre un peu plus:

http://francaise.evosqvictoria.com/

[ScarletCoral]

Via the Gazette :

 

Posh new residence redefines student living

 

Karen Seidman,

Montreal Gazette

Published on: November 20, 2014

Last Updated: November 20, 2014 6:54 PM EST

 

Student residences aren't what they used to be.

Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

 

There you are, on the 27th floor of your student residence, taking in the sweeping vistas of Old Montreal and the hills beyond the St. Lawrence River while getting ready to take a dip in the shimmering turquoise and cobalt blue indoor pool.

 

Your day started at the Lavazza coffee bar. You’ve already been to the state-of-the-art gym, stretched in the Pilates room and completed your homework in the mahogany panelled study room.

 

After swimming, you’ve invited some friends for a spirited game of pool and air hockey in the game room. Then you’ll all head to the building’s microbrewery before watching the hockey game on a giant projection screen in the multimedia room.

 

Anyone who thinks living in a student residence means a dingy room with erratic heating, cheap furniture and a Scrabble game for entertainment hasn’t kept up with the times.

 

Welcome to the new age of student residences; literally the evolution of student living — which is how the newest player in the burgeoning private student residence market in Montreal got its name: EVO.

 

The swanky downtown student residences housed in the former Delta Centre-Ville hotel on University St. and the former Holiday Inn Midtown on Sherbrooke St. W. may be called EVO, but a more fitting name might be OMG.

 

As in: OMG, are those tanning beds? Is that an 80-inch TV on every floor? OMG, is that a student lounge or a posh hotel lobby?

 

This is not your parent’s dorm.

 

“Book a visit to student paradise,” trumpets the EVO Google ad, and it’s not kidding.

 

“What we’re trying to do here is brand new and out of the box,” said Olivier Monnais, the area manager who oversees the two EVO properties in Montreal. “We are trying to teach the local market that there are other opportunities than the ugly basement in the student ghetto.”

 

And while they just opened in September and don’t have that many students yet — the restaurant, coffee bar and microbrewery are set to open in the next month on University — those who have discovered it seem delighted.

 

The main living area at the entrance of the new EVO residence on Wednesday November 19, 2014. The new swanky private student residence is located on University street in a renovated hotel.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

 

“I wasn’t expecting anything like this for a student residence,” said Léo Aksas, 18, a student at HEC Montréal from Paris. He can’t get over the gym facilities (he was on his way to a kick-boxing class), and said his mother is happy about the enhanced security. Aksas said the only drawback to EVO is, well, that he’ll have to leave one day.

 

“They’re going to have to kick me out,” he said. “It’s so nice.”

 

EVO can only be described as the antithesis to the red square movement in a city that was besieged by students protesting a planned $350 tuition hike two years ago, and in a province where even marginal tuition increases can spell political death.

 

However, with about 200,000 post-secondary students in the city and universities courting the lucrative international student market, a growing number of private student residences are popping up in downtown Montreal: Varcity 515 on Ste-Catherine St.; Parc Cité on Parc Ave.; the Edison Residence near McGill University’s Milton Gates.

 

These are not slap-on-the-paint, throw-in-a-cot operations. EVO is a joint venture between U.S.-based Campus Crest Communities Inc. and Europe’s private-equity firm Beaumont Partners SA. They paid about $60 million to $65 million for each of the downtown properties. Monnais said about $20 million has been spent renovating them. (Still to come: a decision on how to best use the iconic revolving restaurant that tops the old Delta hotel.)

 

Campus Crest has grown in the last 10 years to one of the largest developers of high-quality student housing in the U.S. But its popular Grove concept — complete with outdoor fire pits, volleyball courts and clubhouses — wasn’t the right approach for an urban setting.

 

So EVO was born. So far there are just three of the student housing towers: one in Philadelphia and two in Montreal. There are about 1,300 beds at the EVO on University St. and 948 on Sherbrooke St.

 

And there’s no question the arrival of EVO, and all the private residences, has shaken up the market.

 

“The competition is a concern because they have a lot of shiny new stuff,” said Janice Johnson, managing director of residence life at McGill. “We were worried with so many new beds opening but I think it’s just helping to raise the standards.”

 

So how can public universities — plagued with budget cuts — compete with lavish digs like EVO?

 

The single room at the new EVO residence on Wednesday November 19, 2014. The new swanky private student residence is located on University street in a renovated hotel.

Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

 

“Our places aren’t as shiny and fancy as the new places, but many parents still want their kids at McGill having that university residence experience,” Johnson said, adding that the university provides social and support programming that is unbeatable for its primarily freshman clientele.

 

In fact, when McGill took over a hotel on Sherbrooke St. W. for its newest La Citadelle residence, they covered the indoor pool to create a common space. Chalk it up to risk management, said Johnson. And different priorities.

 

“I don’t think a tanning bed is what I’d want my kid to have,” she said, noting McGill’s numbers haven’t dropped since the new residences opened in the last few years. It still has about 3,000 first-year students in residence.

 

The new residences often can’t compete with the university ones in terms of proximity, services, events and student integration, said D’Arcy Ryan, director of residence life for Concordia University, which has 900 beds.

 

Sure, Concordia’s newest residence at the Grey Nuns building has a gorgeous reading room in the old chapel, but Parc Cité has “brain rooms” on each floor equipped with a Mac, PC and printer. And it’s got Tim Hortons providing room service to its tenants.

 

Hard to top that.

 

While they all boast bright and modern accommodations — even the newer university residences — and most offer amenities like game rooms and gyms, EVO brings the student experience to a whole new level.

 

Its plush surroundings scream boutique hotel rather than student residence.

 

The double rooms, at the new EVO residence on Wednesday November 19, 2014. The new swanky private student residence is located on University street in a renovated hotel.

Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

 

And then there are the tanning beds. Three at the University site, two on Sherbrooke. And offered at no extra charge.

 

Really? Don’t parents worry about the health risks, a reporter ask.

 

“Kids are kids and they still have a right to choose to do it or not,” said Monnais, adding that the tanning beds have been a popular feature in the company’s U.S. student residences.

 

Monnais says the luxurious atmosphere isn’t even what distinguishes EVO. He believes the real attraction is the all-inclusive lifestyle. Other than food, the only additional fee is for laundry. And the fabulous gathering spaces — even the expansive laundry room offers a bright and funky setting — means students don’t have to be cooped up in rooms which were, after all, just hotel rooms intended for short stays.

 

It’s so appealing that about 10 per cent of the University St. clientele so far is young professionals — not students.

 

Jonathan Pesce, 21, stumbled across EVO on the Internet. He’s from France, studying neuroscience at the Université de Montréal — and he couldn’t be happier about his choice of residence.

 

“It’s a very convivial atmosphere and I’ve met a lot of people,” Pesce said while playing foosball with a friend. He particularly likes the elegant study room and the communal kitchen on each floor, which makes it easy to prepare meals.

 

With more than a touch of envy in his voice, his visiting friend confirmed what anyone who sets foot through the doors discovers: “It’s really nice here.”

 

Prices of some on-campus and private student residences in Montreal:

 

EVO

Double room: $675 per month for 12 months, $775 for nine months, $875 for four months

Single room: $1,075 for 12 months, $1,175 for nine months, $1,275 for four months

 

Parc Cité

Standard double: $599 to $849 per month

Standard single: $999 to $1,648 per month

Corner double: $649 to $899 per month

Corner single: $1,049 to $1,698 per month

 

Varcity 515

Small shutter room: starts at $759 per month

Large shutter room: starts at $799 per month

Large window room: starts at $959 per month

 

McGill University

Double room: $1,225

Large double: $1,304

Single: $1,401

Rates are for the academic year, eight months. Room and board ranges from $9,000 to $12,000 for the academic year.

Rates for McGill’s newest residence, La Citadelle (the per month rate is over eight months only and includes a full meal plan)

 

Concordia University

Double room: starts at $450

Single room: $850

Rates are for the academic year, eight months. A mandatory meal plan costs an additional $4,000 for the year.

 

kseidman@montrealgazette.com

 

twitter.com/KSeidman

[denpanosekai]

For what it's worth, I walk in front everyday and I've never seen a single student around. I wonder how popular this place really is.

[BiloMtl]

Ouch!

 

An attempt by an American student housing REIT to convert hotels in downtown Montreal into upscale student housing has been a monumental failure, the company’s latest leasing figures indicate.

 

Evo MontrealCampus Crest Communities, which owns a US $2 billion student housing portfolio, transformed the Delta and Holiday Inn Midtown into student residences last year.

 

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company formed joint ventures with European private-equity firm Beaumont Partners SA to acquire the hotels for about US $120 million and develop them into student housing under the Evo brand.

 

The high amenity Evo Centre-Ville and Evo Vieux-Montréal projects include such features as indoor pools, state-of-the-art gym, Lavazza coffee bars, Pilates and game rooms, tanning beds and 80-inch TVs on every floor. Single rooms rent for $1,075 per month, while double room go for $675.

 

But despite the frills, Campus Crest’s 2014-15 leasing results showed only 242 beds out of 2,223, or 10.9 per cent, were occupied in the two Montreal Evos as of Sept. 30, 2014.

 

Delayed renovations part of the problem

 

The U.S. publication Commercial Property Executive reported delayed renovations partly explained the extremely low leasing at the start of September’s school year. And it was puzzled by the company’s venture into Canada when there were plenty of dorms that could be filled up in the U.S.

 

Newly released figures show things have improved only slightly since last September for the Montreal Evos. In late May, Campus Crest released updated 2015-16 pre-leasing results as of May 18, indicating its Evo Montreal properties are only 14.6 per cent pre-leased for the 2015-16 academic year.

 

While Campus Crest had been banking on the fact there are 200,000 post-secondary students in Montreal and far too few campus residences to hold them, it has yet to work out that way.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

That’s despite the fact the REIT has ramped up its marketing activities to increase student interest in Evo Montreal.

 

“World’s largest toga party”

 

During the winter, Evo Montreal was one of the sponsors of what was dubbed the “world’s largest toga party” an attempt to break a Guinness World Record.

 

And in April, it gave free tickets to the EvoHouse party to students who passed by one of the residences and held the annual McGill varsity sports awards gala at one of its residences.

 

Ryan Burke, a REIT analyst with Newport Beach, Calif.–based Green Street Advisors, told the U.S. publication Multifamily Executive earlier this year Campus Crest erred because “they tried to enter the Canadian market in quick fashion.

 

“Montreal is a relatively unproven student housing market where most students prefer traditional apartment living. The two hotels they converted to student housing didn’t fit this bill.”

 

While the two Evos in Montreal have so far been a failure, another Evo in Philadelphia is doing much better. The 33-storey, 850-bed tower which is 30% owned by Campus Crest, was only 48% leased at the beginning of the school year last September.

 

Jumped to 89.5 per cent

 

According to the company’s updated 2015-16 pre-leasing results, that number has jumped to 89.5% for the 2015-16 academic year.

 

Aside from the high-rise, upscale Evo properties, Campus Crest operates more conventional Grove residences, in which students have private bedrooms and bathrooms and share common spaces, and Copper Beach, a townhome community brand.

 

Green Street Advisors, which specializes in REIT analysis, calls Campus Crest’s existence as a public company “a resounding failure” since its October 2010 IPO. In its latest report on Campus Crest last February, Green Street calls the company the “worst performer” among the companies it covers.

 

It notes the company oversaw “an overly ambitious external growth agenda that included delayed development deliveries” and “complicated hotel conversions in Canada.” It also cites a series of letdowns in operations “that can be attributed to both mismanagement and poor asset quality.”

 

Still, the stock analyst rates Campus Crest a hold, saying there is a good chance the company will be sold.

 

Significant management upheaval

 

Poor management has been cited to explain Campus Crest’s performance and the company has undergone a significant amount of management upheaval in the last several months.

 

CEO Ted Rollins and CFO Donnie Bobbit stepped down last year as the company announced a “strategic repositioning.” Richard Kahlbaugh, lead independent director, stepped in as executive chairman and interim CEO and Aaron Halfacre joined as chief investment officer.

 

In late April, Campus Crest retained Alvarez & Marsal, a management consulting firm, “to improve operational efficiency, drive profitable growth and deliver maximum shareholder value.” Two Alvarez & Marsal managing directors were also named to the Campus Crest board.

 

Halfacre told Commercial Property Executive earlier this year the goal is to exit Canada or at least significantly reduce the firm’s exposure in the Evo properties. “If I was there, I would never have made the deal because it’s not a good investment.”

 

Source: http://renx.ca/student-housing-reit-trouble-montreal/

[SkahHigh]

J'espère qu'on sera pas pris avec deux gratte-ciels abandonnés quand EVO va se retirer...

[vrioux]

J'espère qu'on sera pas pris avec deux gratte-ciels abandonnés quand EVO va se retirer...

 

Les condos Delta, c'est pour bientôt!

[orages lointains]

that building on sherbrooke, the old holiday inn, will easily sell. it's in super prime location and was substantially renovated back in 2006-2008. should be a short turnaround. given its recent renovation for student residence, mcgill might be tempted to pick that one up too, depending on the price (it's next to their newest residence hall, "the citadel"). then again, if evo keeps one of their montreal properties, it'd be that one.