2. interaction 2
SPACE UTILIZATION AND OPPORTUNITIES
ON BOULEVARD SAINT-LAURENT
Rooted in the people and their experiences of poverty and
prosperity, Boulevard Saint-Laurent lives and changes along
with the people it has seen come and go. It is often described
by local residents and merchants today as a commercial street
with a mixture of business types and sizes which offer a variety
of products and services that go hand-in-hand with its cultural
diversity.
While it is no longer the bustling commercial neighbourhood of
lightindustryandmomandpopshopsthatwereoncefrequented
by the surrounding immigrant families, the boulevard continues
to offer a variety of products and services – some of which
you wouldn’t expect! The following pages provide an overview
of the market in terms of existing businesses, recruitment and
expansion opportunities and suggested space utilization.
3. interaction 3
Largely developed from 1886 to the early 20th century, the
part of Boulevard Saint-Laurent between Sherbrooke to Mont-
Royal mainly consists of two to four story buildings with narrow
street frontages of 25-feet. They are similar in age and general
massing with an overall street pattern that is a very regular
orthogonal gridiron. Nevertheless, the architectural uniformity
along the boulevard is just about the only common aspect along
the street!
There are also larger buildings, including converted garment
factories, which are between 8 to 10 stories high.
Commercial Property Cost
Several buildings on Boulevard Saint-Laurent have undergone
restorations and renovations in order to be used as it is today.
Consequently,landlordshaveincreasedrentpricestorecuperate
these expenses.
The average cost for a ground-floor retail unit is approximately
$35 per square foot and the average cost for commercial office
space is between $20-25 per square foot – depending on tenant
improvements and renovations.
Current real estate market
4. interaction 4
The boulevard boasts a collection of business including: places to eat, general food stores, services,
creative companies, retail shopping stores, etc. The types of businesses range from multimedia
companies and professional services to bars and restaurants to furniture stores and beauty care.
The diversity in product/service and quality is an attraction as well as a possible challenge in
terms of store-finding and setting a shopper’s expectations.
In general, located on the ground-floor are new and established retail fashion stores such as
clothing boutiques and jewellers, convenience stores such as pharmacies and banks, stores selling
food products like ethnic gourmet and general grocery stores, as well as food services such as
restaurants and cafes. Boulevard Saint-Laurent is recognized for its well-priced foods – particularly
for lunch-time – and its assortment of ethnic dishes.
While the buildings may be regular, some tenants are anything but ordinary. Unique long-time
businesses are visible on the ground-floor such as the funeral home, Alfred Dallaire and the
prominent monument manufacturer, L. Berson & Sons.
Smaller buildings between two to four storeys use the above floors residential and/or commercial
office space.
For the taller buildings above eight stories, the unit styles vary to attract traditional offices, creative
businesses for the loft style commercial units and even small live-work style residential units.
Diversity of Businesses
5. interaction 5
The Boulevard Saint-Laurent is largely a commercial street
today with but a few residential units appropriate for singles or
couples without children (see Demographic Snapshot). Unlike in
the past, businesses along the boulevard can no longer depend
on the surrounding residents to support them. Aside from that,
problems and challenges in the area that affect the prosperity
of businesses include:
»» Unregular day-time activity
»» Increasing rent prices and gentrification
»» Many lofts are vacant due to high rent to recuperate
renovation cost and/or unwillingness to divide units
»» Limited parking
»» Lack of street furniture for visitors
»» Noise complaints from residents
»» Lack of street cleaning
»» Perception of low-quality products
»» Confusing business placement
Market Challenges
Vineberg Building/Berman Building:
4060 Boulevard Saint-Laurent residential loft
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Potential target market
Upon reviewing the current business offering and demographics of the area as well as case
studies of other commercial districts, it is clear that commercial and residential lofts require higher
occupancy. The target market of the Boulevard Saint-Laurent should be expanded to the following
segments in order to fill these vacancies and increase day-time activity:
Lifestyle of Target Residential Tenant
»» Live-work-play
»» Flexible during the day with active
evenings
»» Enjoy and benefit from interaction,
busy environment
»» Active within the community
»» Willingness to adapt to noise or
financial ability to renovate with
sound-proof walls
»» Not car dependant
Profile of Target Resident
»» Affluent, young adult to middle-aged
»» Workers in the area
»» Entrepreneurs, consultants, professional
artists
»» Affluent older residents/baby boomers who
are downsizing
»» Former residents
»» Graduate students
»» Families should be encouraged to live in
the neighbourhoods of multiplexes and row
housing to the east and west of Boulevard
Saint-Laurent
7. interaction 7
Lifestyle of Target Commercial Tenant
»» Encourage home, work and play
»» Benefit from interaction and open-concept design of
offices
»» Attracts 24/7 coming and going of people and clients
»» Environmentally conscious practices
Business-Offering of Target Commercial Tenant
»» Schools: cooking, music, language, fashion, dance,
painting, sculpture (courses offered during various times
depending on target customer)
»» Co-working spaces for entrepreneurs and community
groups (like Station C on 5359 Saint-Laurent)
»» Successful local businesses with existing consumer
appeal (i.e. Montreal success stories)
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STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLACEMENT
The businesses along Boulevard Saint-Laurent are all mixed
together – there is no obvious clustering or placement of
complementary businesses to create market synergies that are
beneficial to shoppers and businesses alike.
Compatible Uses & Placement Considerations
For all business districts, it is important to consider how its
different businesses and uses interact with one another and
whether or not they are compatible. For example, residential
and convenience retail are compatible and thus should be
placed near each other to meet the needs of their common
clients. Furthermore, in condo buildings that have a mixture of
residential and commercial lofts, such as the Berman Building
on 4060 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, the residential units should
be situated further away from the busy street – whether it is at
the top floors or at the rear of the building – in order to reduce
disruptive noises. Office spaces should be located nearby bars,
restaurants and cafes and accommodations to create strong
supporting markets.
9. interaction 9
Anchor stores are generally well-known and more prominently located – often at the ground-floor
corners or ends of a pedestrian walkway – to attract people who are then encouraged to patronize
the other surrounding shops. Currently, the anchor stores on the boulevard which attract activity
are food-related businesses such as Schwartz, Moishes Steak House, la Vielle Europe, Restaurant
de la Main and the new Juliette et Chocolat; and Pharmaprix. Unfortunately, these establishments
are located in the middle of the commercial strip near the intersections of Saint-Cuthbert, Napoleon
and Bagg with Boulevard Saint-Laurent. Consequently, exposure for less well-known businesses
is less than ideal.
In order to increase day-time activity, it is suggested that a focus be placed on attracting ground
floor anchor tenants that are local merchants and entrepreneurs with proven business models and
wide-spread public appeal. They do not necessarily need to have a large store footprint but rather
good advertising and brand recognition. Some recognizable businesses could include restaurants
such as Chez Cora, Baton Rouge and Amir; retail stores like Archambault, Point Zero and Parasuco;
as well as art stores like DeSerres which would be complementary to existing creative businesses
and residents.
Anchor stores and/or traffic generators (like bixi stations) should be situated along the intersections
of Boulevard Saint-Laurent to force pedestrians to pass smaller businesses along the way and
generate additional activity.
Anchor Stores & Traffic Generators
10. interaction 10
The accessibility requirements of convenience-based stores are
also a consideration. For short visits that require quick access
such as convenience stores, grocery stores, dry-cleaners,
pharmacies, and banking services, they should be placed nearby
public parking lots or have on-street short-term parking and
bicycle racks in order to accommodate people just stopping
by. Two public parking lots on the boulevard are located just
south of Prince-Arthur.
Conversely, there are stores that are destination-type businesses
that do not benefit from a large amount of pedestrian traffic
since they are purpose trips. This includes furniture stores
such as those further up north on Boulevard Saint-Laurent.
Consequently, these businesses – including professional
services or creative businesses – do not require a high ground-
floor visibility and some could even be located on upper floors.
Convenience-Based & Destination
Stores
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Business Clustering Considerations
Currently along Saint-Laurent there are few obvious or advertised clusters. Observations show
that businesses on both ends of the strip – at Sherbrooke and Mont-Royal – generally cater to
a more upscale clientele (e.g. Macaroni Bar, Med Grill and Buananotte). Furthermore, there are
pockets of Portuguese-run businesses as well as high-end furniture and housing décor stores
north of Duluth. As previously mentioned, the independent long-standing ethnic delicatessens
and restaurants are located in the middle of the strip nearby Bagg, Napoleon and Saint-Cuthbert.
The idea of clustering businesses is applied in some commercial and technological districts in
order to take advantage of individual businesses that serve the same or overlapping segments of
the market or those that address similar needs or preferences of consumers.
With the appropriate business mix, a careful placement of product or service offerings can either
be complementary or compatible in serving the needs of the prospective customer while also
increasing spontaneous buying of complementary goods.
For example, by forming comparison clusters in which similar goods that appeal to the same
markets are alongside one another on given block, it helps these businesses advertise themselves
better (i.e. the store is located within the jewellery district between x and y streets) and define the
expectations of the shopper better in terms of product, quality and even pricing. To complement
this cluster, it can be located beside a block that has remained a mixture of stores in order to
create that interesting diversity that is renowned of Boulevard Saint-Laurent while also organizing
the street.
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Businesses and residents located along Boulevard Saint-Laurent have the benefit of belonging to
a centralized organization with a management role – la Societe de developpement du boulevard
Saint-Laurent (SDBSL).
The SDBSL can help to organize a business placement committee or retail management group
consisting of property owners, managers and real estate groups that collectively determine the
most appropriate locations for prospective merchants who are approaching the group to setup
along the boulevard – particularly on the ground floor. This will help gain a degree of control over
the tenant mix and its placement
Similarly, this group may coordinate leasing plans and efforts to fill vacancies and actively attract
certain tenants. A leasing plan could even involve allowing the SDBSL to have the right of first
refusal for new tenants. In this case, the building owners could allow the SDBSL to market and
promote the property for a certain period of time – which spares the building owner efforts of
finding a tenant while also allowing the boulevard to fulfill a greater long-term vision of businesses
and their location along the boulevard.
A NEW ROLE FOR THE SDBSL
