More potential for APR Converting automobile dealerships
The LaSalle site isn’t the only automobile dealership proposed to be converted to multi-residential use by HD Groupe or others.
HD Groupe, with financial partners Kastello Immobilier and Socit Financire Bourgie, acquired the site of the Fortier Ford dealership at 7000 Louis-H.-La Fontaine Blvd. in the Montreal borough of Anjou earlier this year.
It’s proposing to develop almost 1,000 residential units on that site, which is less than 250 metres from the terminus of the Montreal Metro's Blue Line extension that’s under construction.
Leader Lane Developments recently acquired 1156 The Queensway in Etobicoke, Ont. (Toronto), a site which housed a Mercedes-Benz dealership. It plans to build a nine-storey purpose-built rental apartment and five stacked townhouses, creating from 213 to 220 units, on the property.
An affiliate of Dilawri, Automotive Properties Real Estate Investment Trust’s largest shareholder, is in the process of acquiring the six-acre Markham Honda dealership site in Markham, Ont. from the REIT for $54 million. It’s considered a prime future multi-family redevelopment site.
“It's not the vocation of the business that makes a lot attractive, but rather its location,” Drolet wrote when asked what makes automobile dealerships good candidates for conversion to residential uses.
“Each opportunity is evaluated based on various criteria to determine if the site has interesting real estate potential. Location, zoning and density potential are among the elements studied during the site evaluation.”