Canada’s best managed: MONTONI earns status 20th year in a row, making it the longest-standing Québec real estate development company with this distinction
Record number of projects on order
Laval, May 5, 2021 – For the 20th year in a row, Montoni Group has been named one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies in recognition of its overall business performance and sustained growth, making it the longest-standing Québec real estate development company with this distinction. In this, its 25th-anniversary year, MONTONI has once again set a new performance record and currently has more projects on order than at any point in its history. For two decades now, the Group has succeeded in maintaining durable growth while setting the pace in its industry through an unconditional commitment to ensuring sustainability and enhancing quality of life for the individuals and organizations it serves.
“True to our end-to-end sustainability pledge, MONTONI designs and develops real estate projects meeting the most stringent standards for architecture, engineering, technology performance and occupant wellness,” says Dario Montoni, founding President of Montoni Group. “We seek to be a benchmark provider in smart planning, through creation of buildings and living environments that guarantee value for future generations. Our vision is to leave a sustainable built heritage for Québec.”
What do Canada’s Best Managed companies in 2021 have in common? Among other things, they have implemented remote work, made employee health and wellness a top priority, been increasingly driven by a sense of social purpose and responsibility, and maintained a keener focus on cash flows.
Now in its 28th year, the Best Managed program has witnessed a stark shift in business sentiment since its inception, and simply focusing on the bottom line is no longer a recipe for success. Continued winners of the program are increasingly showing a meaningful commitment to their people and purpose. Their determined focus has not only led them to remain competitive on the world stage—particularly during these turbulent times—but to fostering more holistic organizations, united towards achieving a common goal.
Flagship projects
With signature projects including the major Molson, Ericsson Corporate Campus and Espace Montmorency developments, ventures in the heart of urban markets such as Beaumont Street in Montréal, as well as the VSL Logistics Hub in Saint-Laurent, the Structube Distribution Centre along Highway 13, and the high-profile CentrOparc business district in Mascouche, MONTONI has decisively asserted its position as a leader in Québec property development.
VSL Logistics Hub
The VSL Logistics Hub is MONTONI’s innovative repurposing of the former Sears distribution centre on Thimens Boulevard in Saint-Laurent. The project, on a scale rarely seen, attracted attention for the spontaneous, keen interest it sparked, which translated to 100% occupancy in 2019 with prestige tenants Anixter, Mitchell Lincoln, Brighton Best, Lufa and Ové. This major project extends over a 2.4 million ft2 footprint, including a 2 million ft2 building. The mixed-use VSL Logistics Hub also includes multiple vacant lots ready for future development.
Structube Distribution Centre
The Structube Distribution Centre, completed over the course of one year, comprises a 700,000 ft2 building constructed at a cost of $45 million on a 1 million ft2 lot valued at $18 million. The project involved the relocation of Structube’s Saint-Laurent distribution centre, which MONTONI had originally built in 2006 and enlarged in 2013. It is the latest in a long line of projects orchestrated by MONTONI for Structube over the years.
CentrOparc, Mascouche
Among the highest-profile projects in MONTONI’s history, CentrOparc in Mascouche will see a vast industrial and commercial district developed on 2.6 million ft2 of land formerly occupied by the Mascouche airport. The project got off to a spectacular start with six occupants—EEGT, Desjardins, St-Hubert, EMJ Metals, Blanchelle Laundry and Jacmar—signing on almost immediately, demonstrating the strong regional interest in the concept. Located at the junction of highways 25 and 640, CentrOparc is a $50-million project that is impressive in scale and will feature a striking, harmonious blend of green spaces and environmentally friendly industrial buildings.
Saint-Laurent Data Centre
In 2019, MONTONI consolidated its standing as a major player in the emerging high-tech market for data centres, with construction of a second facility of this type in Ville Saint-Laurent, following completion the previous year of its first data centre in the Varennes Novoparc. That three-phase project on 1.5 million ft2 of land purchased from Hydro-Québec by Montoni Group began with construction of a 155,000 ft2 armoured, hurricane-proof building. MONTONI is decisively positioned in this new field, for which it has created a fully dedicated division.
About MONTONI
A leader in real estate development in Québec, MONTONI has a portfolio of more than 500 projects representing more than 20 million ft2 of industrial, commercial, institutional and residential construction, 30 head offices and another 22 million ft2 under development. Proud holder of the Canada’s Best-Managed Companies designation for 20 years and a Platinum Club member since 2007, Montoni Group has secured itself a prime position holding large land portfolios in the Greater Montréal region. The company distinguishes itself by offering a full range of services covering development, construction—from excavation to interior design—and property management. A LEED-accredited member of the Canada Green Building Council, MONTONI is committed to building a sustainable heritage based on leading-edge expertise. The Group has more than 4 million ft2 of LEED-certified buildings. To learn more, visit www.groupemontoni.com.
About Canada’s Best Managed Companies
Canada’s Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $25 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on four levels: 1) Canada’s Best Managed Companies new winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Canada’s Best Managed Companies winner (award recipients that have re-applied and successfully retained their Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (after three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully retained their award for four to six consecutive years); 4) Platinum Club member (winners that have maintained their Best Managed status for seven years or more). Program sponsors are CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group. For more information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca.