Francis Charron is bullish on downsizing baby boomers who don’t want to live in regular multi-residential developments, but also aren’t seeking conventional seniors homes.

In July, the president of EMD-Batimo Group kicked off construction of the $76-million Lib Vaudreuil-Dorion intended for young retirees and semi-retirees 55 and over, who want to sell their current residence but aren’t yet ready for seniors’ homes. 

The 14-storey development at 1435 Émile-Bouchard St. in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montreal, will feature 187 rental units, ranging from one to three bedrooms and from 600 to 1,200 square feet. Construction will take 22 months.

Rents include five appliances, as well as electricity, hot water, air conditioning, cable and high-speed internet. 

“The good thing with the baby boomers is they know what they want, and they really know what they don’t want,” Charron said.

Active baby boomers the target demographic

In focus groups, baby boomers said “We need amenities but we’re still young. We don’t want any people taking care of us.”

Baby boomers want to live together and have amenities to socialize in, but don’t want staff tending to their needs as in seniors’ residences. “They said ‘We’re really too young to go live in seniors housing.' ” 

Rather than having lots of staff on hand, active baby boomers said in focus groups that they’d rather have amenities like exercise rooms and full kitchens and pay à la carte to arrange for fitness trainers or for chefs, for example, to give sushi-making lessons. 

“It’s kind of a multires but with a lot more amenities,” Charron says of the Lib concept. Rents also include five appliances. 

Amenities at Lib Vaudreuil-Dorion include a culinary space, gym, swimming pool, a lounge with views, an outdoor courtyard with barbecues and a billiards room. 

EMD-Batimo's Lib brand

EMD-Batimo has built three Lib developments but has sold two of them, leaving only one remaining, the Lib Aylmer in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company sold its Lib projects in Boisbriand on Montreal’s North Shore (1900 des Francs-Bourgeois St.) and Pointe-Claire in Montreal’s West Island (329 Hymus Blvd.) to Realstar. They’re now called La Voile Boisbriand and La Voile Pointe-Claire. 

“We had an offer we could not refuse,” Charron said of the sales. “But now we’re in a different position and we’re keeping all our projects long-term.”

Several other projects under the Lib banner are planned or under construction, including in Saint-Hubert on Montreal’s South Shore, Quebec City and the Kanata neighbourhood in Ottawa.

Despite the 55-plus concept, Charron said the average age of tenants at Libs to date has been 68. “It’s more 65 than 55,” but people see themselves as being younger than they are, he said. “That’s why we call it 55-plus.” 

With the future Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital slated for opening in 2027, the neighbourhood surrounding Lib Vaudreuil-Dorion is “booming like crazy and we can see it.” Statistics Canada data from the 2021 census, adjusted to 2024 market forecasts, shows that 30.7 per cent of Vaudreuil-Dorion and the surrounding area is aged 65 and over. 

EMD-Batimo and Chartwell partnership

The Lib Vaudreuil-Dorion is being built adjacent to the Chartwell Le Prescott retirement residence, Phase 2 of which is being developed in collaboration with EMD-Batimo. 

The 12-storey, 248-unit Phase 2 of Chartwell Le Prescott will be completed in 2026, bringing more than 600 units to the conventional retirement residence.

EMD-Batimo and Chartwell have been partners since July 2014 in what Charron calls an alignment of interests in seniors’ homes. 

Chartwell is not only the largest seniors’ residence operator in Canada but “they’re really, really good operators,” he said. “Seniors’ housing is not easy to operate. It’s like a hotel. We like their expertise, and the partnership gives us a big leverage to build and develop and be owners with them and be really successful as a partnership. It’s a win-win situation big time.”

Charron says EMD-Batimo has done $1.1 billion in projects with Chartwell since the partnership began.

The company's other developments

Along with 55-plus multiresidential complexes and retirement homes, EMD-Batimo builds traditional multifamily and social and affordable housing. 

Among its current projects is District Union in Terrebonne, north of Montreal, with affordable housing for families and seniors. 

Another project on Chambly Blvd. next to Saint-Hubert airport on the South Shore will provide 385 units of multiresidential housing in two phases and 178 units of affordable housing. Construction is to start in September.

Established in 1994, EMD-Batimo has more than 10,000 units built or under development. 

“Our target is to build 15 projects a year and 3,000 doors-ish a year,” Charron said, noting the company is on track this year to reach its target. “The last few years was really tough to make the numbers work because of the interest rates (but) now we’re working really hard to get the numbers to work and we’re pretty successful.”

As EMD-Batimo is vertically integrated and acts as a developer, builder and operator, “we can control the entire process so that gives us the agility to make the numbers work because right now, the toughest thing is to make numbers work.”