The Globe and Mail - 27.03.2020

H6 HOMEOFTHEWEEK O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| FRIDAY,MARCH27,2020

THEBACKSTORY

Selling a high-end loft in the en-
trepreneurial hot-bed of Mon-
treal’s Mile End should be as easy
as falling off a log. And in any oth-
er market it would be, but it’s not
a done deal yet and the timing
has Jeff Lee of Engel & Völkers
worrying over whether this is the
last transaction he’ll record in
2020 as the coronavirus pandem-
ic crashes into every sector of the
economy.
“The deals we’re securing right
now are probably our money for
the spring into the summer,” he
said. The hope is the virus will be
under control in the fall. Until
then, he’ll sweat even sure bets
such as the 1,800-square-foot
loft that is one of only 31 apart-
ments at Lofts de Gaspé, a four-
storey former textile factory con-
verted to housing about eight
years ago.
When the sellers, Francis Gos-
selin and Gabrielle Madé, moved
here three years ago it was love at
first sight. “We weren’t really
looking for a place ... we visited
only this on, and made an offer
the same day,” said Mr. Gosselin,
an economist and consultant
who was working in Mile End at
the time.
“We travel quite a lot for work
and we think it’s one of the cool-
est places to live. It’s mostly offic-
es for technology, [video-game gi-
ant] Ubisoft has more than 3,000
workers on the street. It’s the No. 1
street for guys walking around in
T-shirts with six-digit salaries,”
Mr. Gosselin said.
“The zone where it’s residen-
tial has artists and small bou-
tiques, there are not any brands
in the neighbourhood: not one
MacDonald’s or Tim’s. Only
places like Café Olimpico that are
all pretending to be the best
at their craft. It’s a short walk to
St. Viateur or Fairmont [famed ri-
val Montreal bagel shops] de-
pending on which church you
pray too.”
“Mile End has been raging for
years now,” Mr. Lee said. “Mon-
treal is still the best kept secret in
North America: It’s a real city, but
still very cheap to live in.”

THEHOUSETODAY

The loft is essentially a long rect-

angle that has been subdivided

into as few separate spaces as pos-

sible. From the door you can see

in a straight line to the windows

at the opposite end that fills the

space with light, bouncing off the

polished concrete floor.

Closest to the door are storage

closets and the laundry space, but

just beyond that is a vast kitchen

• 27 feet long – separated from
  the hall by a long white island
  with double sink and a glass-
  topped electric range. The origi-
  nal owners, a duo of graphic de-
  signers who bought it from plans,
  opted not to have a builder kitch-
  en and had a custom one in-

stalled once they moved in. A full

wall of cabinets on both ends of

the space – one a pantry and wine

storage and the other side with

fridge and wall-mounted oven

and microwave – bracket a wide

expanse of the exposed concrete

wall that has nothing but decora-

tive storage shelving. There is an-

other unique feature on that wall:

a sort of tapestry of tea towels, a

concept the couple copied from

the original owners by having all

their housewarming guests bring

a piece of jacquard fabric as a gift.

Opposite the kitchen is an of-

fice space that is tucked away be-

hind a custom bookshelf, not

walled off but see-through. A

huge steel support beam adds to

the factory feel in what could be a

second bedroom with some cre-

ative fixes. The bookshelf, made

by a local woodworking artisan,

comes with the loft: “It weighs

800 pounds, and our next place

could not fit it,” Mr. Gosselin said.

Around the bookcase is the liv-

ing/dining room, which is 34 feet

long and really sells that loft feel-

ing.

“It’s a huge place per Montreal

standards, in square footage and

the ceilings are 12 feet high,” Mr.

Gosselin said. “We have had sev-

eral thematic parties, like May the

Fourth, for Star Wars – we had

more than 100 people in the

room. We had an art show with

Olicorno, he used our apartment

for a full day – invited some of his

buyers and enthusiasts – he sold

them all in one day.”

Along one wall is a vast collec-

tion of books, colour-coded but

definitely read by these bibli-

ophiles. But even with that the

space almost feels underfur-

nished even with a sectional

couch, a dining room and a few

modernist chairs spread about.

The wall of square-paned win-

dows frames the room, and the

loft, and looks across to more bu-

sy urban life.

Ms. Madé was until recently a

talent manager for online influ-

encers and the Instagram-worthy

loft and neighbourhood have of-

ten served as a backdrop in her

clients’ content: videos, photosh-

oots, even a TV show about tech-

nology.

FAVOURITESPACE

“I became a Lush addict because

This1,800-square-footloftat5265Ave.DeGaspéinMontrealisoneof31unitsinafour-storeybuildingthatwasconvertedfromafactoryintohousingeightyearsago.
Theunitisessentiallyonelongrectanglesubdividedintoafewseparatespaces.PHOTOSBYALEXANDRECHARLEBOIS

Atextile-factoryloftweavesinnewandold

InMontreal’sMileEnd

neighbourhoodliesa

stylish,light-filledunit

withhighceilings

andhugepotential

SHANEDINGMAN
REALESTATEREPORTER

5265Ave.DeGaspé,apt.203
MONTREAL

AskingPrice:$895,000
Taxes:$4,672(Municipal,2020);
$765(School,2019)
Monthlymaintenancefees:$486
Size:1,800squarefeet
Agents:JeffLeeandMarie-Claude
Bergeron,Engel&VölkersMontréal

Thestand-alonebathtub

isthefavouriteofowner

GabrielleMadé,who

workedasatalent

managerforonline

influencers.Ms.Madé’s

clientRosalieLessard,

left,evendida

photoshootinthetub,

fillingitwithmilkand

FrootLoops,then

divingin.

LEFT:EAGL.PHOTOGRAPHY

It’stheNo.1street

forguyswalking

aroundinT-shirts

withsix-digit

salaries.

FRANCISGOSSELIN

HOMEOWNER