A venture led by Capital Square plans to spend more than $500 million to build a multi-phased primarily residential transit-oriented development in Montreal’s Anjou borough after acquiring a 200,000-square-foot property from First Capital REIT.

First Capital sold the site to Capital Square for approximately $33 million in an off-market deal.

“We love the property because it’s right across the street from the future metro station of Anjou, so this has tremendous value in our point of view,” says Martin Lacharité, partner and vice-president, acquisitions and business development at Montreal-based Capital Square. 

The metro station, part of an extension of the Blue Line, is scheduled to open in 2031.

“We like TOD projects and we like the 15-minute city concept, and this project fills in both criteria.”

Capital Square hopes to begin construction by summer 2026 of the first phase, which would include two multifamily residential buildings with 460 units. It will be Capital Square’s biggest project to date.

Other phases of the seven-phase development could take eight to 10 years to complete.

Rental apartments planned for Anjou property

Current plans call for the residential development to be entirely rentals but “if the condo market picks up, maybe we would transform some phases into condos. We remain flexible,” Lacharité says. The total number of units has not been determined.

Lacharité says the borough will likely ask for ground-level retail, but that has not yet been decided. A Toys R Us store at 7200 Louis H. La Fontaine Blvd. covers a large part of the existing site, which is also bounded by des Roseraies Blvd. and Saint-Zotique E. St.

He says the borough would like to have social housing on the site and “that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with them.” The development will also include affordable housing along with market rentals.

Green spaces are also planned, which Lacharité says would “create a real living environment” that differentiates the development from other nearby projects. 

Capital Square completed the transaction with First Capital in partnership with Randev Holdings, the private real estate investment company of investor and developer Randall Ettinger. 

Montreal-based Randev focuses on strategic acquisitions, real estate development, and value-added property investments across Canada and the U.S.

“We’ve known Randev for awhile and we have a shared vision of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Lacharité says.

There are other investors in the Anjou site who do not wish to be named, he says. “We’re not the majority partner but we’re the general partner.”

Capital Square's history

Capital Square was founded by Daniel Blanchette in 2008 but acted as a consulting firm for its first 12 years. Partners Blanchette, Lacharité and Francis Desrosiers have been doing residential development since 2020.

In March, Capital Square delivered Latti, a 268-unit residential rental development at 30 de Seto St. in Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River from Ottawa. It has begun construction, about 50 metres away from that site, of another rental development that will have 289 units. Completion is slated for May 2027.

The Gatineau projects have received financing from the Fonds de solidarité FTQ.

In Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal borough, the company is developing Hus, a 17-unit townhouse development for which it obtained financing from Claridge Inc.

Capital Square is also partnering with other developers, who do not wish to be named, for projects that are at the pre-development stage. 

The company has an overall portfolio of more than 2,200 residential units built or under development in Montreal and Gatineau.

Capital Square seeking new project sites

Capital Square acted as the consultant developer of the Destination V shopping centre on Vanier Rd. in Gatineau, which the company does not own. The consultant developer aspect of the company “is a business we’re trying to grow.”

The company manages its own residential developments. It also manages Espaces Waverly, an office building of about 120,000 square feet at 7236 Waverly St. in Montreal’s Mile End area, which is best known for having a skating rink on the roof in the winter months and multi-sports facility the rest of the year.

Lacharité says Capital Square is looking to acquire retail developments in the Montreal area, Gatineau, and Quebec City that it can then densify with residential. 

“We always try to stay in TOD areas,” he says. “We like that model because it’s easy for people to move around and not have cars or limit the number of cars. That’s where we think the future is.”