Developer Jeremy Savoie is aiming to complete a real estate project that he hopes will be easier than running from Montreal to Quebec City during bitterly cold temperatures in a blizzard.
Savoie, the 22-year-old founder of Futur Immobilier, is getting ready to add dozens of apartments atop a building in Terrebonne, Quebec. In facing the development challenge of adding a floor to an existing building, he thinks back to running in a heavy snowfall last February and enduring negative 30-degree Celsius temperatures to complete a 318-kilometre solo run from Montreal to Quebec City, all to raise money for charity.
“That run left a mark on my body. I’m still recovering,” Savoie said with a laugh in an interview with CoStar News.
Savoie said he has no regrets about making the long-distance run that raised $32,000 for the Enfant Soleil charity for sick children. The endurance trek took over twice the amount of time he aimed for when he set off in the snow from Mount Royal in the heart of Montreal to the Chateau Frontenac Hotel in Quebec.
Lately, the young entrepreneur, who still runs up to two hours a day, has focused on expanding the building his company purchased in November at 650 Langlois in Terrebonne, Quebec.
Savoie is set to build 43 apartments above the existing structure and expand its base by 30,000 square feet. With the project, he seeks to create value and generate returns, but, as with his running, he takes a longer view.
Long-term vision
Savoie said his age confers a natural advantage because it enables him to think of projects over a longer timeline.
“I’m a young investor, so when I do a project, I think long term. I am aware that in this market, construction costs have gone up, land acquisition has gone up, and construction is tighter than it was. The returns are getting lighter,” he said. “Value is created in the long term, when you keep a property for 10 or 20 years. That’s the vision I have in real estate.”
The notion of adding a third floor to the building, a project still awaiting final permissions from local authorities, came about after Savoie and his team looked at the costs associated with a long list of upgrades needed to the structure's roof and facade. Zoning rules in the area are favourable to such extensions, and Savoie said local municipal authorities, thus far, appear eager to welcome the extra housing.
Once done, the structure would also contain a head office for his company and its six employees who manage the company’s growing portfolio of eight properties.
When Savoie spoke this year at a panel at the Montreal Real Estate Forum, he advised real estate developers to keep abreast of municipal zoning changes that often fall under the radar. Keeping track of municipal rule changes can lead to new opportunities, he said.
Futur Immobilier's custom of monitoring such affairs has opened the door to opportunities overlooked by others, he said. His company is now shopping for industrial properties in another Montreal-area suburban municipality that has quietly opted to encourage developers to transform warehouses and factories into housing.
Savoie, who also played junior hockey at an elite level, seeks to become one of the first developers in Canada and the United States to become a wellness real estate company, a concept that he says is “booming” in Europe and Asia but remains little-known here.
“We want to give knowledge and ability to people to take their health and wellness to the next level. For me, that means adding four pillars to every project: mental health, physical health, biological health and biophilia, with a focus on on-site environment and nature," he said. "We will have plant walls, a meditation room, gyms with coaches, training sessions for tenants, and we will partner with wellness brands, giving knowledge on how to improve their health.”
Savoie said he also seeks to lead running clubs for his building's tenants.
"I'm a freak about everything related to longevity," he said.