The Canadiens “are now in the condo business,” as team President & CEO Geoff Molson yesterday announced a C$175M “skyscraper that is to be built on what currently serves as the team’s Centennial Plaza,” according to Sean Gordon of the GLOBE & MAIL. The new building “will have 500-odd units and at 48 storeys will be the tallest residential building on the island of Montreal when completed.” The Canadiens are “partnering with Cadillac-Fairview, which owns most of the land surrounding the Bell Centre.” With the “cheapest units” going for C$250,000, the team is “clearly taking advantage of an opportunity to add revenues” (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/17). In Montreal, Allison Lampert notes the Tour des Canadiens condo project has been "sized down from 700 to 500 units, in part to accommodate the two-storey sports bar, modeled on Toronto’s Real Sports bar and grill, and nine stories of indoor parking" (MONTREALGAZETTE.com, 7/16). Also in Montreal, Mike Boone notes the development "is going to be constructed at the southwest corner" of Ave des Canadiens-de-Montreal and De la Montagne St. The west side of the condo tower "is decorated with the familiar CH." The Tour des Canadiens logo "is symmetrical red and blue hockey sticks arrayed to represent the peak of a tower" (Montreal GAZETTE, 7/17).
