{"id":5549,"date":"2026-03-19T15:43:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2026-03-20T09:50:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T13:50:01","slug":"investors-plan-to-convert-sherbrooke-st-office-tower-into-residential-units","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/investors-plan-to-convert-sherbrooke-st-office-tower-into-residential-units\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors plan to convert Sherbrooke St. office tower into residential units"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Investors plan to convert Sherbrooke St. office tower into residential units<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Built in 1961, the downtown Montreal highrise housed insurer Standard Life\u2019s Canadian head office from 1962 until 2015.<\/p>

Author of the article:By Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Tomesco
Published Jul 06, 2023<\/p>

https:\/\/montrealgazette.com\/business\/local-business\/real-estate\/investors-plan-to-convert-montreal-office-tower-into-residential-units<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Sam and George Armoyan Jr., left to right, are seen outside the former Standard Life office tower at 1245 Sherbrooke St. W. in Montreal on Friday June 30, 2023.<\/span>\u00a0Photo by Dave Sidaway<\/span>\u00a0\/Montreal Gazette<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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A historic Golden Square Mile property could soon have a new vocation at a time when the\u00a0housing crisis<\/a>\u00a0in Quebec\u2019s biggest city shows no sign of ebbing.<\/p><\/div><\/section>

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NexArm Investments, a Nova Scotia-based corporation controlled by Canada\u2019s wealthy\u00a0Armoyan<\/a>\u00a0family, acquired the former Standard Life tower at 1245 Sherbrooke St. W. from Toronto-based insurer Manulife last week, the Montreal Gazette has learned. Financial terms of the transaction weren\u2019t disclosed.<\/p>

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The goal of the new owners is to convert the 21-storey office building into a rental apartments property, said George Armoyan Jr., who oversees the family\u2019s real-estate assets and projects in Quebec, such as Mascouche\u2019s Station G condominium complex. Demolition and transformation permits will be sought from the city as soon as possible, he said.<\/p>

Built in 1961, the tower housed insurer Standard Life\u2019s Canadian head office from 1962 until 2015. It was one of the first skyscrapers built in Montreal that was designed entirely by a local architecture firm. The building\u2019s historical value is partly due to its lasting association with the U.K.-based insurance company, which set up shop in Canada in 1833. Manulife bought Standard Life\u2019s Canadian assets in 2015.<\/p>

\u201cThis is the type of asset you want to hold for the long term,\u201d Armoyan Jr. said in an interview with the Gazette. \u201cYou can\u2019t beat the location, and the views are incredible. Our goal is to convert this building right away. We want to use it almost as a laboratory and figure out a recipe for doing conversions, because we see office-to-residential conversions as a sector that has a huge potential.\u201d<\/p><\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Armoyan Jr. said his family paid more than the $33-million valuation listed in the latest property assessment roll. He wouldn\u2019t provide specifics.<\/p>

Once converted, the building would probably include 200 to 250 residential units, and its granite exterior would remain unchanged, Armoyan Jr. said. One floor would be reserved for NexArm\u2019s offices.<\/p>

\u201cOur goal is to do minimal changes,\u201d said the investor, who lives within walking distance of the skyscraper. \u201cThe city has mentioned that since our intention is to keep the external structure, they believe that they will be able to fast-track the project for us.<\/p>

\u201cAll we are going to do is interior work. There are going to be surprises \u2014 there always are in construction. There will be costs, but we think this is going to be a good opportunity to learn. We\u2019re opportunistic investors. We never shy away from things that have a bit of a challenge.\u201d<\/p>

Armoyan Jr. sees the proposed redevelopment as a chance to raise his family\u2019s local profile. Besides Station G, the Armoyans are involved in residential projects in LaSalle and St-Jovite as well as Le George, a 700-unit apartment building next to the Bell Centre.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re fairly low-key, but this project will be a good opportunity to plant the flag,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re actively looking for other deals. We\u2019ve been touring other assets to see where there are some redevelopment opportunities.\u201d<\/p>

Although turning office buildings into residential properties is no easy task, 1245 Sherbrooke\u2019s dimensions make it ideal for a conversion, Armoyan Jr. says. Key features include large windows and floor sizes of about 12,500 square feet (1,160 square metres), he said.<\/p>

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Plans are for the former Standard Life office building, centre, at 1245 Sherbrooke St. W. in Montreal to be converted into rental apartments. Photo by Dave Sidaway \/Montreal Gazette<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\u201cWindows determine how your units can be laid out, and the windows here are massive \u2014 over three feet wide, floor to ceiling,\u201d he said. \u201cThe units are very bright because of the window size. The size of the floor plate is quite adequate for residential, and all the services are in the central space. The building has a lot of the criteria for a conversion.\u201d<\/section>


Asked about timing, Armoyan Jr. said he\u2019s hoping tenants can start moving in about 18 months after construction begins.<\/p>

\u201cObviously, the biggest X factor is going to be the city and their willingness to give the approvals on the project,\u201d he said. \u201cPreliminary conversations have been positive, and hopefully that is maintained.\u201d<\/p>

B\u00e9atrice Saulnier-Yelle, a spokesperson for Mayor Val\u00e9rie Plante, said the Ville-Marie borough will \u201cwork with the owner\u201d to evaluate the project proposal.<\/p>

\u201cWe look favourably on landlords seeking to occupy and revitalize downtown buildings,\u201d she said Wednesday via text message.<\/p><\/div><\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Investors plan to convert Sherbrooke St. office tower into residential units Built in 1961, the downtown Montreal highrise housed insurer Standard Life\u2019s Canadian head office from 1962 until 2015. Author of the article:By Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric TomescoPublished Jul 06, 2023 https:\/\/montrealgazette.com\/business\/local-business\/real-estate\/investors-plan-to-convert-montreal-office-tower-into-residential-units Sam and George Armoyan Jr., left to right, are seen outside the former Standard Life office […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classifiee"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5549"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5587,"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions\/5587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesamuel.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}