Montrealers had high hopes when the Bell Centre opened in 1996.

The new home of the Montreal Canadiens was supposed to act as a magnet, attracting developers to a neighbourhood south of downtown known for its vacant land and vast parking lots. Fifteen years later, the immediate area is still largely derelict — and the Canadiens have yet to win a Stanley Cup at the Bell Centre.

Now, things seem to be looking up. Although only the most ardent fans expect the Canadiens to get far in the playoffs this season, on the real estate front a major player is skating to the rescue of the neighbourhood — part of an emerging trend that is pushing Montreal’s downtown southward.

In late March, Toronto-based Cadillac Fairview Corp. announced plans to invest $400 million in building an office and condo complex around the Bell Centre. Along with future phases, Cadillac Fairview expects to invest more than $1 billion on a residential, office and commercial development over the next 10 to 15 years. Three buildings — twin 44-storey towers and a 25-storey one — are planned. The 710 condos will be connected to the underground city and to a subway station and a train station. In a hockey-crazy town, having the Habs as neighbours could lure in buyers.

Montreal is experiencing a condo building boom, thanks to soaring demand fuelled by low interest rates. Private office developments, however, have been rare in recent years. Cadillac Fairview’s planned new office skyscraper, which could be occupied as early as mid-2014, would be the first privately financed office highrise built in the city in two decades.

Cadillac Fairview says it’s counting on the fact that many large tenants in Montreal that can’t expand in their current locations will be deciding on new office space in the coming year or so. Cushman & Wakefield, a real-estate advisory firm, expects Montreal’s office market vacancy rate to fall to just 3% by 2014 (from the current 6%), driving up demand for new office space. Cadillac Fairview, owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, is one of several firms wooing Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan Inc., which is looking for about 200,000 square feet of office space.

Several other residential/office/commercial projects are underway or close to starting in the same general vicinity, all south of downtown. The nearby École de technologie supérieure engineering school is also expanding, and the city is promising to reintroduce tramways, including one that would ferry people south of downtown via Peel St.

Cadillac Fairview’s plan has been hailed by Gérald Tremblay, the city’s mayor. Says Tremblay: “It’s a sign that things are moving in Montreal.” IE