National Hockey League legend Serge Savard's development company is moving forward with a project to bring 854 homes to Saint Basile le Grand located 30 kilometres east of downtown Montreal, the city where he once outplayed competitors from throughout North America.
Savard, 78, is considered Quebec royalty due to his lengthy career as a professional hockey player and executive that earned him a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986. Savard, whose evasive hockey maneuvers inspired the term Savardian Spinorama, is also a leader of Messier, Savard and Associates.
That's the company that intends to construct six buildings of two to six floors in a project at the site that will include commercial space and 100,000 square feet of public space.
The project, Saint Basile sur le parc, is classified as a transit-oriented development because of its location near a commuter transit line on a property next to a shopping facility. The new development would require demolition of the former Maison Éthier furniture store that sat empty after the chain went bankrupt in June 2019.
The demolition of the retail outlet was delayed several times but is now expected to proceed shortly with construction expected to begin next year.
Saint Basile le Grand authorities, led by Yves Lessard, elected mayor in 2017, approved the housing project in early 2021 and ordered that the new structures not totally obscure views to nearby Mont Saint Bruno, the mountain that dominates the horizon from 11 kilometres to the east.
Serge Savard became active in real estate from the earliest years of his NHL hockey career that began with the Montreal Canadiens in 1967 and ended in 1981. He later led the team as general manager from 1983 to 1995.
Savard's real estate projects include the purchase of the Le Mirage Golf Club from singer Céline Dion in late 2020. Savard's company also once owned a stake in the 611-room Chateau Champlain hotel across from the Bell Centre hockey arena, along with his company partners Mario Messer and fellow former Canadien José Théodore. Savard's company sold its interest in the hotel to Ocean Properties in 2005 and the hotel is now owned by local real estate firm Tidan, according to CoStar data.
Representatives of Messier, Savard and Associates did not return phone and email messages requesting comment on the Saint Basile le Grand project.