Les Lofts Impérial

For much of the 20th century, Saint-Henri rolled its cigarettes here. Between rue Bourget, rue Saint-Antoine, rue Rose-de-Lima and rue Irène stood the Imperial Tobacco factories, and the neighbourhood walked over for each shift. The concrete columns that once carried the machines are still standing. Today they carry Les Lofts Impérial.

The factory went up in the early 20th century, and a paper from McGill's School of Architecture counts it among Montreal's early reinforced concrete buildings. In 2006, the developer Prével bought the Imperial Tobacco buildings and transformed them phase by phase, with the architecture firm Cardinal Hardy. From 2008 to 2012, six phases turned the factory buildings into lofts; in 2011 and 2013, two new concrete buildings completed the ensemble. Eight phases in all, 636 units.

In the factory buildings, the concrete stays bare: ceilings, beams and columns. Picture your eye rising to 14 feet in most lofts at 790 Rose-de-Lima, and up to 15 feet in some. Elsewhere, ceilings run from 10 to 14 feet depending on the unit, and many lofts make the most of that height with a mezzanine, the kind of space that becomes a home office. Factory windows reach up to 12 feet. In the new phases, the concrete stays exposed overhead at 8 or 10 feet, with floor-to-ceiling windows in some units. According to our information, units range from 380 sq ft to 1,122 sq ft, from studios to two-bedroom corner lofts.

Each phase has its own character. At 765 Bourget, Phases 1 and 2 gather 150 lofts around an inner courtyard. At 790 Rose-de-Lima, Phase 3 keeps eight live-work lofts with their own street door. At 729 Bourget, Phase 4 has 45 lofts, the most intimate of the lot. At 3700 Saint-Antoine, Phase 5 lines up 141 lofts under 12- to 14-foot ceilings. At 855 rue Irène, Phase 6 is a new building with a green roof. At 3810 Saint-Antoine, Phase 7 occupies the reinforced concrete factory McGill dates to the early 1910s. At 738 Bourget, Phase 8 closed the loop in 2013 with its rooftop terraces.

All eight phases share a sports centre: a gym, a yoga studio and an indoor basketball court. Depending on the phase, a shared rooftop terrace with BBQs, an urban chalet, an indoor garage and storage lockers round things out.

Outside is Saint-Henri. Lionel-Groulx metro, where the Green and Orange lines meet, is a 7- to 10-minute walk depending on the phase, and Place-Saint-Henri 8 to 10 minutes. Atwater Market, the cafés and restaurants of rue Notre-Dame Ouest and the Lachine Canal bike path are all within walking distance.

Les Lofts Impérial speak to people who want the concrete of a real factory, from a first loft to a two-bedroom corner unit, with the amenities of a large complex and the metro a few streets away.

Every loft has a story. Les Lofts Impérial's begins in a Saint-Henri tobacco factory. 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.