Windsor Station has been many things since Bruce Price designed it in 1889: a railway hub that helped build a city, a grand civic room that fell out of the public's awareness, and for the last several decades, a heritage office building largely frequented by tenants and their employees.

A new ownership group wants to change that last part: Group Society, controlled by the Cheaib family—the family that co-founded Marché Adonis before selling to Metro Inc. in 2011—and Laurier Capital, a Montreal real estate firm founded just three months ago, have acquired Windsor Station from Cadillac Fairview. The transaction closed, with La Presse reporting the deal at $62 million; the buyers have not publicly confirmed the figure.

The purchase gives the consortium control of approximately 326,000 square feet of office and retail space at the corner of Peel and Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, directly adjacent to the Bell Centre. Laurier Capital co-founders Guillaume Jacob and Laurent Dionne-Legendre—both veterans of Montreal's commercial real estate industry, having come out of CBRE and Groupe Mach respectively—have been moving quickly since launching the firm in February. Windsor Station is their fifth acquisition in under three months, pushing Laurier's portfolio past $100 million in assets.

The bet they're making is that Montreal's office market is sharply divided right now: vacancy across actively marketed office buildings sits at around 20%, while newer Class A buildings are running closer to 8%. Windsor Station is firmly in the second category, and that the premium end of the market has more room to run. Office space in the building is currently about 90% leased, with tenants including Coveo, OneSpan, and Rio Tinto. Roughly 118,000 square feet remains available.

"Despite the concerns often raised about the office market, we believe strongly in the potential of institutional-grade real estate assets such as Windsor Station," Jacob said in the announcement. The previous owner, Cadillac Fairview, invested $84 million into the building over the last decade; this work helped its office floors reach Class A status, and it's work the new owners are inheriting.

Windsor Station has been many things since Bruce Price designed it in 1889: a railway hub that helped build a city, a grand civic room that fell out of the public's awareness, and for the last several decades, a heritage office building largely frequented by tenants and their employees.

A new ownership group wants to change that last part: Group Society, controlled by the Cheaib family—the family that co-founded Marché Adonis before selling to Metro Inc. in 2011—and Laurier Capital, a Montreal real estate firm founded just three months ago, have acquired Windsor Station from Cadillac Fairview. The transaction closed, with La Presse reporting the deal at $62 million; the buyers have not publicly confirmed the figure.

The purchase gives the consortium control of approximately 326,000 square feet of office and retail space at the corner of Peel and Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, directly adjacent to the Bell Centre. Laurier Capital co-founders Guillaume Jacob and Laurent Dionne-Legendre—both veterans of Montreal's commercial real estate industry, having come out of CBRE and Groupe Mach respectively—have been moving quickly since launching the firm in February. Windsor Station is their fifth acquisition in under three months, pushing Laurier's portfolio past $100 million in assets.

The bet they're making is that Montreal's office market is sharply divided right now: vacancy across actively marketed office buildings sits at around 20%, while newer Class A buildings are running closer to 8%. Windsor Station is firmly in the second category, and that the premium end of the market has more room to run. Office space in the building is currently about 90% leased, with tenants including Coveo, OneSpan, and Rio Tinto. Roughly 118,000 square feet remains available.

"Despite the concerns often raised about the office market, we believe strongly in the potential of institutional-grade real estate assets such as Windsor Station," Jacob said in the announcement. The previous owner, Cadillac Fairview, invested $84 million into the building over the last decade; this work helped its office floors reach Class A status, and it's work the new owners are inheriting.