La Machinerie

In 1880, the Canadian Illustrated News ran an engraving of the new Williams Manufacturing Company factory in Saint-Henri, set along the railway. Sewing machines were made here. Nearly a century and a half later, the factory still stands at the corner of rue Saint-Jacques and rue Bourget. Today it goes by La Machinerie.

Built in 1879 between rue Bourget and rue Rose-de-Lima, it gained a storey in 1890 and was enlarged in 1916. According to Constructo magazine, textile work took over from 1929, followed by offices in the 1980s. The City of Montreal now recognizes it as a building of heritage and architectural interest.

In 2012, Bourget Capital began its conversion, to plans by Mohsen Bishai & Associé. The declaration of co-ownership, signed in 2014, created 48 lofts and one commercial unit over four storeys. The choice was clear from the start: leave the brick and stone bare rather than insulate over them. Your eye follows those walls up to ceilings of about 10 feet, and close to 11 feet on the ground floor, where some units keep their wood beams and extend down to a second level. Lofts range from 570 sq ft to 1,739 sq ft.

At the top, the building opens onto a shared rooftop terrace with an urban chalet and a common BBQ, and some top-floor units have a terrace of their own. A gym, a courtyard and bike storage round out daily life.

Outside is Saint-Henri. Lionel-Groulx metro, where the Green and Orange lines meet, is a 5-minute walk. The restaurants of rue Notre-Dame Ouest and Atwater Market are within walking distance, and further south lies the Lachine Canal bike path.

La Machinerie speaks to people who want to live inside the walls of a real 19th-century factory, in a building of about fifty neighbours, with the metro at the end of the street.

Every loft has a story. La Machinerie's begins in a sewing machine factory beside the Saint-Henri railway. Our job is to help you find the one that becomes yours. Olivier Mailloux and Amélie Flanagan, real estate brokers, follow the Saint-Henri loft market closely and work with buyers and sellers across Montreal.