A new tenant is packing up and moving in to Montreal’s Olympic Tower-- the monolith building’s first occupants in 30 years.
Caisse Desjardins has reportedly signed a lease on the tower for the next 20 years, moving in approximately 1000 bank employees, and giving the tower’s façade a much-needed facelift.
The building has stood vacant since its construction finished in 1986.
Cedric Essiminy, a spokesperson for the Olympic park, said that the project is an important development for the site.
Olympic Park officials issued a call to potential tenants in 2015, offering a lease of 15 years with possibility of three additional five year renewals.
Caisse Desjardins have signed a twenty year lease on the space – which is expected to be move-in ready by the end of the year.
The new tenants will take over seven of the tower's 12 floors, and are expected to move in officially next summer.
The project is moving along steadily, and has not exceeded its $143 million dollar budget, Essiminy said.
Despite the tower’s current weathered exterior – riddled with pock marks, plywood patches and construction workers scaling its sides—officials believe that the newly renovated tower will sparkle and be illuminated from the inside.
Funnily enough, the huge crane visible through the stadium's roof is currently the tallest crane in Canada.
“People who pass by will be able to see all the structure that was hidden before—now it will be open for all to see,” Essiminy explained.
Today, the Olympic Park committee debuted images of an open, windowed tower that boasts a distinctly modern feel.
“We had to go with the design and show it to a committee who was responsible to keep the spirit—the design of the tower—to its original concept,” Essiminy said.
The original call for tenders yielded a number construction estimates much higher than what was originally anticipated by the project’s supervisors.
Eventually Pomerleau -- the contracting company already doing work on the stadium-- agreed to take on the project for the cost of $14 million.
Although taxpayers will be fronting the cost of the renovations, officials believe that the cost will be paid off in spades due to the steady revenue stream foreseen for the next 15 years.
However, the revitalization efforts are expected to generate new revenue for the stadium through events and lease payments.
The influx of new employees will also prompt parking revenue and bolster local businesses nearby.
