Le Nordelec Phase 1

The Northern Electric complex grew in stages between 1913 and 1948 until it filled the entire block bounded by Richmond, Richardson, Shearer and Saint-Patrick streets. Cables, wire and electronic equipment were made here, and at its 1941 peak this industrial city within the city employed 4,686 people. Architect William John Carmichael is associated with the original construction, Joseph Onésime Despatie with some of the later phases, and E. G. M. Cape and Company with the building work.

In 2003, the El-Ad group bought the building and first turned it into office space. In 2014, Elad Canada and Groupe IBI-CHBA, formerly Cardinal Hardy, converted floors 6 through 8 into residential lofts, with interiors by HUMÀ design. A later addition to the complex became Phase 2, a separate project.

Inside, the conversion kept the original industrial structure: 14-foot arched concrete ceilings on all three floors, columns, exposed brick walls in the units and large factory windows. Units range from about 467 to 2,165 square feet. On the 8th floor, most units span three levels, with a mezzanine, a rooftop room and a private terrace, and a double-height living room where the ceiling reaches 17 feet. Other units also come with a private terrace or indoor parking.

Phase 1 has its own condo syndicate. That syndicate is also a member of a horizontal syndicate, alongside Phase 2 and the complex's majority owner, which manages certain shared components of the Nordelec, including the common areas: the urban chalet, the gym, the rooftop terrace with BBQ and the heated pool.

The building sits near Centre Street and its neighbourhood shops, steps from the Lachine Canal, with Atwater Market across the water. Charlevoix metro is about a 12-minute walk, Georges-Vanier about twenty.

Every loft has a story. The Nordelec's starts in a cable factory. Espace Loft follows the Pointe-Saint-Charles loft market and knows the area's industrial conversions, Nordelec included. Olivier Mailloux and Amélie Flanagan, real estate brokers, work with buyers and sellers on this kind of property across Montreal.