Groupe Medway is taking its mixed-use concept that combines medical clinics and multifamily residential rental to new heights with its Complexe Medway Faro development in Lévis, Que. 

The company is spending $150 million to develop a 15-storey building at 1015 du Sault Rd. with 289 residential units and 77,000 square feet of commercial space on four floors. Ninety per cent of the commercial space will be leased for health-related uses, with the remainder going to financial professionals.

It’s the company’s biggest multifamily and medical clinic project to date, according to Yan Boudreau, president and founder of Groupe Medway.

Boudreau told RENX there is a strong need for residential apartments and medical clinics not only in Quebec but around the world, and the “two sectors co-habitate well.” He noted medical clinics in his developments are open during office hours, when most tenants work, and closed at night when tenants are home.

Medway's strategy focuses on medical, multifamily

Lévis, Que.-based Groupe Medway has about two dozen projects in Quebec that either combine medical uses and multifamily residential, or that house stand-alone medical clinics. Its projects are primarily in the Quebec City area, Chaudière-Appalaches, Rivière-du-Loup and Trois-Rivières. 

Construction of Complexe Medway Faro on the South Shore of Quebec City began in January 2024 and is about 40 per cent complete. 

The commercial section, which is set for delivery in December, is already 92 per cent rented, primarily to family medicine groups. Leasing has not yet begun for the residential component which is to be completed in spring 2027.

Most of the financing is coming from CDPQ (the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec pension fund) and Equitable Bank.

Fiera Real Estate is providing second-ranking financing to help support construction costs. The Fiera funding represents about five per cent of the financing and marks the first time Fera has invested in a Medway project, Boudreau said.

The residential component of Complexe Medway Faro, ranging from studios to three-bedrooms and penthouses, will include affordable units.

The building’s amenities will include a swimming pool, fitness centre and a multi-purpose room along with underground parking.

Plans to expand within, and outside Quebec

The Faro name for the project takes its inspiration from the fact the property offers views of the St. Lawrence River. Faro means lighthouse in Spanish.

Boudreau notes the project is one of the last to begin construction before the city of Lévis launched a moratorium on new developments last fall citing a lack of infrastructure, including a water treatment plant that is at full capacity. Lévis has experienced some of the biggest growth among Quebec cities in recent years.

Medway would like to expand its presence by launching projects in Montreal or the Montreal area within two or three years. 

Boudreau said cities are greatly in favour of mixed-used projects that combine commercial and residential components and that his multifamily residential and medical office model is a good fit with Canada’s healthcare system. The medical clinics in Medway projects are in the public system.

He’d also like to see Medway expand into Atlantic Canada in the next three to five years. Expansion to Ontario could come later.

Medway to deliver four other projects this year

Four other Medway projects will be delivered in 2025, including the $75-million Complexe Santé Rivière Saint-Charles, at 1075 Wilfrid-Hamel Blvd. in Quebec City.

The 210,000-square-foot, six-storey development on Wilfrid-Hamel includes 197 multires units and 70,000 square feet of space for medical uses.

The medical/commercial component is 96 per cent leased and opened in March, while the residential component will be completed in June. 

Medway’s other projects slated for completion this year are:

• the $75-million Complexe Santé Rivière-du-Loup in Rivière-du-Loup with 154 units;
• the $50-million Le Kali, on Charest Blvd. E. in Quebec City with 65 units;
• and the $50-million Le Taniata commercial building in the Saint-Jean-Chrysostome sector of Lévis.

The company manages its own buildings, and Boudreau said the residential vacancy rate averages around four per cent for completed projects.

Boudreau said Medway has been building consistently since its founding in 2012 both in strong and weak economies.

“If you’re in real estate, you’ve got to do it in good and in bad times.”