The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 19

lii.njmi wniuium-Jliu' iju.iii'iu.n iibi. mm T-ywjWB mini 1 1 mm tli mw.w 'RMJ Mm. iww. mi iiuini 1111111 itm wmiiuiwu') I TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2011 I EDITOR: JEFF BLOND I 514 987 2512 jblondmontrealgazette.com SECTION I B6 Business Observer E18 Obituaries B20 Weather DOLLAR COLD 104.29 0.50 $95.93 $1.31 $1,602.40 PRIME $12.30 3 MAY 31 aierie Anjou gets makeover THE CAZETTE I MONTREAL rev xf DOWT 12,385.16 new two-level Simons store, a completely redone Bay and a Target store to replace the existing Zellers. The 50-50 joint owners, Toronto-based Cadillac Fairview Corp.

Ltd. and Ivanhoe Cambridge, a EXPANSION PEGGED AT $86 MILLION Facelift will feature two-level Simons, redone Bay, Target instead of Zellers big as Fairview Pointe Claire, and comparable with Les Promenades St. Bruno and Carrefour Laval the four are known as the "Montreal Fashion Centres" and together they make up a network of 926 stores. The Galeries d'Anjou, originally built in 1968 by Cadillac and investors later absorbed by the Caisse, is located at the intersection of Highways 40 and 25 and already has annual traffic of 8 million shoppers. are all the Quebec niiUionaires? NASDAQ 94.57 2,765.11 24.69 property arm of pension fund manager the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, said Monday the Simons store with 100,000 square feet of selling space will open late in 2013 and the Target store slightly earlier in 2013.

The construction and finishing work will be done in phases starting this fall and extending over the next two years. The program will bring Galeries d'Anjou's total floor space to 1.14 million square feet, or almost as Quebec compared with 6.3 per cent in Ontario, according to 2008 revenue department statistics, which are the most recent available. The ranks of the truly moneyed are even thinner. A hangover of its cultural history and values, today that J- Montreal's economy loses a step i JAY BRYAN on city's outlook "Happily, though, it's still far from being something worth worrying about." Montreal is losing economic momentum, says a new report, which is certainly something worth watching. Happily, though, it's still far from being something worth worrying about.

We know this thanks to Benjamin Tal, an economist at CIBC World Markets who has devised a yardstick to measure which urban economies in Canada are speeding up and which are slowing. Montreal was accelerating so robustly late last year that it ranked No. 1 of the 25 large cities in Tal's index. But as of this year's first quarter, it was bumped from this perch by Toronto, which enjoyed a surge of job growth early this year, Montreal is now ranked No. 5, still growing at a healthy rate, but having decelerated a bit because of a slowing in Canada's manufacturing sector, Tal said yesterday This reflects a weakening growth pattern for manufacturing across Canada, influenced by a slowing U.S.

economy and a high-valued Canadian dollar that makes it harder for some exporters to compete. Among Canada's biggest cities, this phenomenon affects Montreal more than Toronto, Tal said. Growth in Toronto, a major centre for finance and business services, is simply less dependent on factory output. Please see BRYAN, Page B2 J9 fcj li '-i "The new project will boost this with more shoppers coming in from fast-growth towns such as Mascouche, Repen-tigny and Terrebonne, besides east-end Montreal, and transportation access is rapidly improving," said Normand Blouin, senior vice-president of Cadillac's Eastern Canada Portfolio and the centre's manager. "The $86 million is evidence of our confidence in Quebec's future growth." Please see FACELIFT, Page B2 a 1 province will slowly slip into what Montreal writer Alain Dubuc calls "quiet mediocrity" a kind of non-ambitious lethargy that will hurt not only itself but the rest of the country Please see WEALTH, Page B2 ROBERT CIBBENS SPECIAL TO THE CAZETTE The landmark Galeries d'Anjou shopping centre in east-end Montreal is getting an $86-million expansion and remake that will include a Where Sale bares province's 'quiet mediocrity' NICOLAS VAN PRAET FINANCIAL POST As private lakefront properties go, John Hooper's mansion nestled in the trees of Hudson should have been an easy sell.

Eight bedrooms on 5.4 acres of land; two-storey indoor pool and spa; guest house; geothermal heating and cooling; even a charming, if cli-ched, secret passage behind a bookcase. So when the founder of Phoenix International Life Sciences Inc. put the estate up for sale three years ago for $6.9 million, he wasn't ready for the shock he got. There were no takers. Some people blame the asking price, saying it was set far too high and wasn't sufficiently reduced.

Others note the location scared away buyers owning a property off the island of Montreal is frequently a commuting nightmare as traffic congestion rises. Hooper finally sold his home last week for $3.4 million, resorting to a rare open auction with no minimum bid. The whole ordeal laid bare a naked truth: There simply aren't a lot of people ill, Quebec with the means to afford a mansion. In fact, i "if i I 'V i John Hooper sold for $3.4 million in a rare open auction with ago for $6.9 million and received no offer on the home, which GRAND ESTATES AUaiON COMPANY no minimum bid after he put his estate up for sale three years has eight bedrooms and sits on 5.4 acres. lack of affluence is also one of the starkest symptoms of a larger problem.

Many Que-becers have a deep distrust of wealth and wealthy people. And some of Quebec's leading business leaders warn that if that doesn't change, Canada's second-largest there simply aren't a lot of people in Quebec with the means to afford half a mansion. Per capita, there are far fewer rich people in this province than in Ontario. Barely 3.9 per cent of taxpayers earn more than $100,000 a year in 0 Tly from Montreal. 3 times a week.

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