1. MARKET OBSERVATIONS
SPACE UTILIZATION AND OPPORTUNITIES ON BOULEVARD
SAINT-LAURENT

2. Rooted in the people and their
experiences of poverty and prosperity,
Boulevard Saint-Laurent lives and changes
along with the people it has seen come
and go. It is often described by local
residents and merchants today as a
commercial street with a mixture of
business types and sizes which offer a
variety of products and services that go
hand-in-hand with its cultural diversity.
While it is no longer the bustling
commercial neighbourhood of light
industry and mom and pop shops that
were once frequented by the surrounding
immigrant families, the boulevard
continues to offer a variety of products
and services – some of which you
wouldn’t expect! The following pages
provide an overview of the market in
terms of existing businesses, recruitment
and expansion opportunities and
suggested space utilization.
CURRENT REAL ESTATE MARKET
Largely developed from 1886 to the early
20th
century, the part of Boulevard Saint-
Laurent between Sherbrooke to Mont-
Royal mainly consists of two to four story
buildings with narrow street frontages of
25-feet. They are similar in age and

3. general massing with an overall street
pattern that is a very regular orthogonal
gridiron. Nevertheless, the architectural
uniformity along the boulevard is just
about the only common aspect along the
street!
There are also larger buildings, including
converted garment factories, which are
between 8 to 10 stories high.
Commercial Property Cost
Several buildings on Boulevard Saint-
Laurent have undergone restorations and
renovations in order to be used as it is
today. Consequently, landlords have
increased rent prices to recuperate these
expenses.
The average cost for a ground-floor retail
unit is approximately $35 per square foot
and the average cost for commercial office
space is between $20-25 per square foot –

4. depending on tenant improvements and
renovations.
Diversity of Businesses
When grouped into the North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS)
, the boulevard boasts a collection of
business within the following sectors:
• Professional, Scientific, Technical
Services (182 businesses, 34%)
• Retail Trade - includes foods and
beverage, goods (144 businesses, 27%)
• Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
(69 businesses, 13%)
• Accommodation and Food Services
(68 businesses, 13%)
• Other (13%)
In general, the boulevard consists of what
one would expect along a commercial
street, but it is the unexpected mix of
different businesses side-by-side that
makes it stand out. This is both attractive
as well as a challenge in terms of store-
finding and setting a shopper’s
expectations.
In general, located on the ground-floor
are new and established retail fashion

5. stores such as clothing boutiques and
jewellers, convenience stores such as
pharmacies and banks, stores selling food
products like ethnic gourmet and general
grocery stores, as well as food services
such as restaurants and cafes. Boulevard
Saint-Laurent is recognized for its well-
priced foods – particularly for lunch-time
– and its assortment of ethnic dishes.
While the buildings may be regular, some
tenants are anything but ordinary. Unique
long-time businesses are visible on the
ground-floor such as the funeral home,
Alfred Dallaire and the prominent
monument manufacturer, L. Berson &
Sons.
Smaller buildings between two to four
storeys use the above floors residential
and/or commercial office space.
For the taller buildings above eight
stories, the unit styles vary to attract
traditional offices, creative businesses for
the loft style commercial units and even
small live-work style residential units.
!
Vineberg Building/Berman Building: 4060 Boulevard Saint-
Laurent residential loft

6. Market Challenges
Problems and challenges in the area that
affect the prosperity of businesses include:
• Irregular day-time activity
• Increasing rent prices and
gentrification
• Vacancies due to high rent
• Limited parking
• Lack of street furniture for visitors
• Noise complaints from residents
• Lack of street cleaning
• Perception of low-quality products
• Confusing business placement
POTENTIAL TARGET MARKET
Upon reviewing the current business
offering, visitor profiles, demographics of
the area as well as case studies of other
commercial districts, it is recommended
that the target visitor and business-
offering on the Boulevard Saint-Laurent
should be expanded to the following to fill
commercial vacancies and increase day-
time activity:
Lifestyle of Target Visitor
• Enjoys live-work-learn-play
environment

7. • Flexible day with active evenings
• Enjoys and benefits from interaction,
busy environment
• Spends disposable income on fashion,
food and entertainment
• Active within the community
• Not car dependant
Socio-Demographic Profile of Target Visitor
• Affluent, young adult to middle-aged
• Affluent baby boomers
• Workers in the area
• Mature students
Culture of Target Business
• Encourage home-work-play lifestyle
• Benefit from interaction and open-
concept design (for commercial
lofts)
• Attracts 24/7 coming and going of
people and clients
• Environmentally conscious practices
• Encourages convenient shopping (for
workers in the area)
Product/Service Offering of Target Business
• Art schools: cooking, music, fashion,
dance, painting, sculpture, language
• Co-working spaces for entrepreneurs
and community groups (like Station
C on 5359 Saint-Laurent)
• Successful local businesses

8. • Neighbourhood amenities (e.g.
Adonis Market)
STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLACEMENT
The businesses along Boulevard Saint-
Laurent are all mixed together – there is
no obvious clustering or placement of
complementary businesses to create
market synergies that are beneficial to
shoppers and businesses alike.
Compatible Uses & Placement Considerations
For all business districts, it is important to
consider how its different businesses and
uses interact with one another and
whether or not they are compatible. For
example, residential and convenience
retail are compatible and thus should be
placed near each other to meet the needs
of their common clients. Furthermore, in
condo buildings that have a mixture of
residential and commercial lofts, such as
the Berman Building on 4060 Boulevard
Saint-Laurent, the residential units should
be situated further away from the busy
street – whether it is at the top floors or
at the rear of the building – in order to
reduce disruptive noises. Office spaces
should be located nearby bars, restaurants
and cafes and accommodations to create
strong supporting markets.

9. Anchor Stores & Traffic Generators
Anchor stores are generally well-known
and more prominently located – often at
the ground-floor corners or ends of a
pedestrian walkway – to attract people
who are then encouraged to patronize the
other surrounding shops. Currently, the
anchor stores on the boulevard which
attract activity are food-related businesses
such as Schwartz, Moishes Steak House, la
Vielle Europe, Restaurant de la Main and
the new Juliette et Chocolat; and
Pharmaprix. Unfortunately, these
establishments are located in the middle
of the commercial strip near the
intersections of Saint-Cuthbert, Napoleon
and Bagg with Boulevard Saint-Laurent.
Consequently, exposure for less well-
known businesses is less than ideal.
In order to increase day-time activity, it is
suggested that a focus be placed on
attracting ground floor anchor tenants
that are local merchants and
entrepreneurs with proven business

10. models and wide-spread public appeal.
They do not necessarily need to have a
large store footprint but rather good
advertising and brand recognition. Some
recognizable businesses could include
restaurants such as Chez Cora, Baton
Rouge and Amir; retail stores like
Archambault, Point Zero and Parasuco; as
well as art stores like DeSerres which
would be complementary to existing
creative businesses and residents.
Anchor stores and/or traffic generators
(like bixi stations) should be situated
along the intersections of Boulevard Saint-
Laurent to force pedestrians to pass
smaller businesses along the way and
generate additional activity.
Convenience-Based & Destination Stores
The accessibility requirements of
convenience-based stores are also a
consideration. For short visits that require
quick access such as convenience stores,
grocery stores, dry-cleaners, pharmacies,
and banking services, they should be

11. placed nearby public parking lots or have
on-street short-term parking and bicycle
racks in order to accommodate people
just stopping by. Two public parking lots
on the boulevard are located just south of
Prince-Arthur.
Conversely, there are stores that are
destination-type businesses that do not
benefit from a large amount of pedestrian
traffic since they are purpose trips. This
includes furniture stores such as those
further up north on Boulevard Saint-
Laurent. Consequently, these businesses –
including professional services or creative
businesses – do not require a high ground-
floor visibility and some could even be
located on upper floors.
Business Clustering Considerations
Currently along Saint-Laurent there are
few obvious or advertised clusters.
Observations show that businesses on
both ends of the strip – at Sherbrooke and
Mont-Royal – generally cater to a more

12. upscale clientele (e.g. Macaroni Bar, Med
Grill and Buananotte). Furthermore,
there are pockets of Portuguese-run
businesses as well as high-end furniture
and housing décor stores north of Duluth.
As previously mentioned, the
independent long-standing ethnic
delicatessens and restaurants are located
in the middle of the strip nearby Bagg,
Napoleon and Saint-Cuthbert.
The idea of clustering businesses is applied
in some commercial and technological
districts in order to take advantage of
individual businesses that serve the same
or overlapping segments of the market or
those that address similar needs or
preferences of consumers.
With the appropriate business mix, a
careful placement of product or service
offerings can either be complementary or
compatible in serving the needs of the
prospective customer while also
increasing spontaneous buying of
complementary goods.
For example, by forming comparison
clusters in which similar goods that appeal
to the same markets are alongside one
another on given block, it helps these
businesses advertise themselves better
(i.e. the store is located within the

13. jewellery district between x and y streets)
and define the expectations of the shopper
better in terms of product, quality and
even pricing. To complement this cluster,
it can be located beside a block that has
remained a mixture of stores in order to
create that interesting diversity that is
renowned of Boulevard Saint-Laurent
while also organizing the street.
A NEW ROLE FOR THE SDBSL
Businesses and residents located along
Boulevard Saint-Laurent have the benefit
of belonging to a centralized organization
with a management role – la Societe de
developpement du boulevard Saint-
Laurent (SDBSL).
The SDBSL can help to organize a
business placement committee or retail
management group consisting of property
owners, managers and real estate groups
that collectively determine the most
appropriate locations for prospective
merchants who are approaching the group
to setup along the boulevard –
particularly on the ground floor. This will
help gain a degree of control over the
tenant mix and its placement
Similarly, this group may coordinate
leasing plans and efforts to fill vacancies

14. and actively attract certain tenants. A
leasing plan could even involve allowing
the SDBSL to have the right of first refusal
for new tenants. In this case, the building
owners could allow the SDBSL to market
and promote the property for a certain
period of time – which spares the building
owner efforts of finding a tenant while
also allowing the boulevard to fulfill a
greater long-term vision of businesses and
their location along the boulevard.
Other related options may include
business competitions to win a ground-
floor retail unit free of rent or win free
advertising – for a given period of time. In
addition, the boulevard may consider
allowing interested and potential new
businesses to temporarily open up a stall
during a street festival. These are
initiatives that would require coordination
by the SDBSL.