Le Havre du Richelieu Will Change the Face of Downtown Saint-Jean
( Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, April 24, 2012) – A groundbreaking ceremony was held today to mark the start of work on Le Havre du Richelieu, a residential condominium project in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. On hand for the event were the city’s mayor, Gilles Dolbec, Groupe Lobato president José Lobato, the president and CEO of Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ, Normand Bélanger, and various dignitaries and guests. The roughly $30 million project is financed by a partnership between a consortium composed of José Lobato, Mario Viens and Jean Hénault, and Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ.
The upscale Le Havre du Richelieu will be built along the Richelieu River, next to a marina. The 87-unit project will consist of two phases, the first encompassing 36 units. With its prime location on the old Kraft Paper mill site, Le Havre du Richelieu will transform the face of the downtown core of the regional capital of Haut-Richelieu, in Montérégie. In fact, the groundbreaking coincides with an announcement by the municipality of a large-scale revitalization project for this part of the city.
The project will consist of two buildings of four-and-a-half stories each, with the last level reserved for penthouses. Units will vary in size from 765 to 2,500 square feet and most of the parking spaces will be underground. The common areas will feature an outdoor pool, an exercise room, a reception room and a living room with a fireplace and library. Approximately 60% of Phase 1 has already been sold.
Indoor garden
“Every unit will be custom built to the owner’s taste, with quality materials. Special attention will be paid to soundproofing and insulation,” explained José Lobato, president of Groupe Lobato and Constructions Corel (2005) Inc., the company in charge of construction. “The units will have large windows offering views of the water, and 25% of the lot has been set aside for an indoor garden that will front on the river. This project is dear to my heart since this is where I got my start in Québec, in Sainte-Brigide-d’Iberville and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu,” added Mr. Lobato.
“Groupe Lobato is a long-standing partner of Fonds immobilier, and we are pleased to add Le Havre du Richelieu to the list of projects we’ve carried out with them. Once again, the Lobato team has chosen a prime location and is giving buyers real added-value, not to mention outstanding customer service, which by the way, has earned them certification from the APCHQ,” affirmed Normand Bélanger, president and CEO of Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ.
A preliminary phase has already been completed, with a portion of the abandoned industrial building converted to make way for a commercial area on the ground floor and four residential units, including a model condo. The other parts of the paper mill have been demolished. A mural depicting the old mill as it appeared back in the day when Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu was a manufacturing hub is visible in the lobby of 81 Richelieu Street, where the first units now stand.
Targeting baby-boomers, Le Havre du Richelieu sits in a natural setting, a stone’s throw from the Route verte and in the immediate vicinity of the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu with its diverse recreational and cultural amenities, good restaurants and first-rate health services.
About Groupe Lobato
Both a developer and general contractor, Groupe Lobato has been active in real estate for over 20 years, mainly in the Estrie and Montérégie regions. Groupe Lobato is behind the impressive Saint-Bruno sur le lac project, currently under construction in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville. This environmentally friendly complex has earned the company extensive recognition, namely several Domus awards from the Association provinciale des constructeurs d’habitations du Québec, Montréal region.
About the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ
Created in 1991 by the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ promotes economic growth and employment in Québec by strategically investing in profitable and socially responsible real estate projects, in partnership with other industry leaders. Over the last 20 years, the Fonds immobilier has invested upwards of $1 billion in 300 such projects, creating and preserving some 26,300 in Québec. For more information, visit www.fondsimmobilierftq.com
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Source :
Communications Elizabeth Boileau
Tel. 450-653-0712