Quebec-based seniors housing developer Reseau Selection has created a new division and launched a $900-million residential project in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne targeting a new mix of intergenerational residents.
Construction started in late November on District Union, a project by the new REZ Real Estate that could eventually reach 4,000 units in size. The new community, to be built over 10 years and aimed at young people, families and empty nesters, is situated at the crossroads of Highways 40 and 640 and offers commutes south to downtown Montreal from the Terrebonne Train de l’Est commuter station.
But Herbert Nunes, REZ and Reseau Selection’s vice-president of real estate development in Quebec, said District Union isn’t envisaged as a bedroom community. Rather, it will become an independent hub on its own with recreational, social, educational and entertainment amenities within easy access. The area has experienced a 65-per-cent increase in employment over the last five years, with over 27,000 of the jobs created within 15 minutes travel time of the project.
“Fifty per cent of people living in Terrebonne are working in Terrebonne,” said Nunes.
“Everything is there, services, the train, already a lot of commercial, one-million square feet, a school, swimming pool, a library. We are bringing an urban lifestyle to that area.”
With a long track record of developing lifestyle communities for seniors with a staff of 4,500 and 10,000 units built or under construction in 38 retirement complexes, Reseau Selection has committed more than $500 million in investments for its new REZ division over the next three years. For District Union, the firm’s lifestyle planning expertise was bolstered by a feasibility study conducted by BC2 economist Francois Fortin.
Nunes said modern families come in many forms and his firm’s modular housing, developed in-house with architects Sid Lee and ACDF, permit transformations such as when grandparents need to move in or children switch homes.
“We are not talking about old-fashioned families of two parents and two children,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are separated. The idea is to have a product where someone can do an evolution within the same product.”
Units will be created for purchase or rental. The first phase of District Union offers three types of housing with 364 total units.
Kubica, for families, will be composed of modular blocks that create private indoor and outdoor living spaces that will also be integrated into shared community spaces.
Quartier Select, designed for empty nesters aged over 55, will have 10,0000 square feet of common areas, a culinary workshop, gym, yoga, indoor pool, spa, lounge and sports bar.
YIMBY — for Yes in My Backyard — is for young people, “very intelligent,” said Nunes, compact, with modular spacing, common areas, a lounge, co-op kitchen, work areas, connected areas, a gym, pool and bike repair shop.
Construction is underway on Quartier Select and it will rise to 16 storeys with 172 units. In the new year, said Nunes, work will start on Kubica, with 80 units. Phase one will also include 35 YIMBY units.
Rental costs for YIMBY units start at $700, said Nunes. The average price of a two-bedroom Kubica condo is $240,000.
Sustainability elements will include green roofs and reduction of heat islands.
The project is designed to encourage active modes of transportation such as walking and cycling and the development is billed as transit-oriented with inter-modality encouraged by wider sidewalks and other features. A “green avenue” will link the woods bordering Highway 640 to the north to Ruisseau de Feu park to the south. There will be pedestrian and bike paths, wooded areas and cross-country ski trails.
Other professionals working on the design and build besides REZ’s in-house construction firm CH2015 include Jean-Jacques Binoux, landscape architect, and Dupras Ledoux, mechanical and electrical.
REZ has created an app to further help generations integrate. Using a barter system, the app will bring residents together for consulting, assistance and recreational purposes, said Nunes, such as when a start-up firm might need help from a semi-retired empty nester who was an accountant.
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