Beaver Hall & Viger - Altoria Condo Complex

A new massive condo/office complex, the Altoria, will rise where these building are (or were), on Beaver Hall and Viger. I'm ambivalent about this one. I'm probably the only one who actually liked this corner. First, I love old red brick buildings and they are an endangered species in downtown Montreal. It's not a beautiful building per se but it shows the type that was built back in the day and there's something just solid about that you have to admire. Second, I love the look of the adjoining building, which will also be demolished, the way it rests on the inclination. It has a retro sleek design to it that you don't find much in Montreal and it will be history. The value of the land in the area doomed them to oblivion. Third, the open space feel of the area will be greatly diminished too. The building is set to be 33 storeys high and will change the general  outlook of Square Victoria, making it more closed in than it need be. But of all the new projects rising in Montreal, I have to admit that this is the one that I find with the greatest value. The view from inside the condos, or even the offices, will simply be amazing.

I used to work in the area for 3 years and during that time I walked down Beaver Hall every day and ate at Victory Hot Dogs every other day, for a quick lunch.

A mix of 35mm and digital photos.

This is where Victory Hot Dog used to be. They claimed they made the best hot dogs in town.

(image: google streetview)

Carwash/Eco Condo - Verdun

A former carwash was torn down to make way for a small condo complex in Verdun, at the busy intersection of Lasalle Blvd, Strathmore and Rushbrooke. I took these photos in May and it looked like the project had been on hold then as it looked exactly the same as it did when I saw it back in February. I haven't visited it since then. You can see the carwash in the screengrabs from Google streetview (link). There's another condo project next to it and you can see in the third photo the solar panels on the rooftop. The panels are held by a massive beam structure that surrounds the building (this can only be viewed from the back). Pretty cool. No one will miss the (ugly) carwash but I don't know who would want to live at that busy intersection.

The former carwash. Images: Google streetview

New Projects on Ottawa St - Griffintown

Two new projects are going up on Ottawa St, between De La Montagne and Peel St. The first project, on the corner of Murray and Ottawa, is almost completed where a parking lot used to be. The second project is on the corner of De La Montagne and Ottawa, where a business used to be (the white building seen in the second to last picture). There used to be a small empty lot/parking lot there too where the leafy overgrowth used to be. This is where I photographed the Teddy of Griffintown two summers ago. Straddled in between those two projects are two cute houses and in between those two houses is a large yard where horses/ponies used to live. The two photos with the animals were taken 2 years ago as well. When I was there last week, I didn't see any horses or ponies (fifth photo).

image: google streetview

The sale office for the condos is situated in this building. A beautiful red brick building, renovated to its former glory a few years ago and is a great example of keeping the old instead of destroying it.

Where are the horses and ponies?

I took these two photos two summers ago.

New Project on De la Montagne, where a business used to be. The parking lot behind it will be part of the new project.

The white building is gone, making way for new project on De La Montagne and Ottawa.

Old Building vs New on Rue Montfort

Startling contrast of Old Montreal vs New Emerging Montreal. This old building is on rue Montfort (google) and it's surrounded by the massive Lowney condo projects. Kudos to those who decided to preserve it as is. The old building is connected with an all-glass building which, in turn, is connected to a gorgeous Art Deco building on Notre-Dame Ouest (google). Thumbs up!

Lowney Condos

Contruction for another phase of the neverending Lowney Condo project is slowly going up. The last three photos were taken back in February 2011 and the first 5 photos were snapped yesterday. As you can see, they demolished part of the building in the background, with half of it left hanging. I have photos of the main Lowney buildings before they were transformed into condos and I'll upload them one day.

The Small Houses of Montreal

Montreal is dotted with many small quirky old houses that go against the grain of the surrounding architecture that's made up of mostly duplexes and triplexes. They are always fun to find and I've been collecting a bunch of photos of such houses and I will be posting them from time to time. I took these two yesterday in Verdun. These houses are quickly disappearing (see the following post below) and are being replaced with condos/apartments building as these houses have larger than usual lawns and entrances, which makes it just right for new projects looking for much sought-after land on the island.

Before & After - Small house vs condos on Joseph - Verdun

One of those small quirky old houses you see here and there around Montreal was demolished for condos. It's on Joseph street in Verdun.

The before images were taken from google streetview (link) vs the photos I took yesterday.

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Before & After - Porte et Fenetre Verdun - Verdun

A screengrab taken from google streetview vs photo taken yesterday.

I posted about this a few months ago.

St. Raphael the Archangel Church - Outremont

According to this article from The Gazette, the St. Raphael the Archangel Church in Outremont, which closed in 2008, will be converted into a Palliative Care residence if fundraising gathers enough money for renovations and startup budget. Cool idea.

images: google streetview

Le Seville condominiums

The Seville condominium project is slowly being built. It's seems it's been ongoing for some time now. Unlike the Hôtel Marriott Courtyard construction site, the workers at the Seville chantier didn't mind being photographed. That part of the neighborhood on Ste-Catherine is still pretty much rundown. Hopefully, this belated condo project will reinvigorate the area.

I already posted a some photos about this one year ago. Click here to see it.