The Lofts St James was formerly a commercial building in Montreal's old fur district. It takes its name from the presbytarian church of St James accross the street. The Lofts St James street address is 1449 St Alexandre but it is located on the corner with Mayor Street. It is one of seveal buildings to be located on St Alexandre Steet, all of which happen to be conversions from turn-of-the-century buildings. The Lofts St James holds an important role in Montreal condo construction. The fur district back in 2000 wasn't a nice part of Montreal and was the westernmost extent of the city's famous red light district. It was instrumental in pushing the boundaries of the downtown core east of the Place des Arts. The arrival of a high-end lofts building in the area brought several new developments on Sherbrooke street such as 320 Sherbrooke, La Deauversiere at 256 Sherbrooke in 2005, Le Concorde at 441 President Kennedy in 2007. Then the Louis Boheme in 2009, the Lofts St Alexandre in 2010, Rythm at 366 Mayor in 2013 and finally Le Peterson in 2016. The sequence of construction is important as it shows the Lofts St James right at the beginning. This building has recently had its corridors and gym completely revamped and has purchased new terrace furniture. Today's buyers are usually considering renovating the units and even flipping them as the average size of the one bedroom lofts in the Lofts St James si around 800sf and most properties are on the market for under $350,000 which puts the average value per square foot a little over $400. Le Peterson sells for well over $700... enough said. The neighbourhood is excellent for Downtown living. There are dozens of restaurants, bars and cafes all within a 10 minute walk. The Old Port is a mere 15 minutes walk and McGill University is just over 5 minutes. The underground city can be reached in a couple of minutes, just like the nearest subway on the green line. As its name suggests, the condos in the Lofts St James were originally designed as open plan industrial lofts with concrete 14ft ceilings and concrete pillars. However some units had a separate bedroom put in when practical, and some owners closed off several parts of the larger condos to created one or even two bedroom units inside the 850-900 square feet units. One of the particularities of the Lofts St James is that there are three sides with two distinct values. On the court side and Mayor street side, the units re-sell around $400 a square foot. On the St Alexandre side, which has views over the St James Church and is South West facing, the units sell for closer to $500 per square foot. The average size per unit is larger for those facing the church with 1100, 1200 and 1500 square foot units which sell for $600,000 to $800,000 which is almost twice the budgets for the rest of the building. As the photos show, the Lofts St James has a gym and a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of the surroundings. It also has a security guard who works at night and a concierge during the day. PROS: Excellent soundproofind and insulation, nice rooftop terrace, large units at a reasonable price, great location, building ageing gracefully, foward looking administration. CONS: Street isn't particularly inviting and is difficult to get to by car. Some issues and repairs can be expected over the coming years due to the age of the building. Most units for sale will require some upgrading to maximise value for resale.