René Lépine

René G. Lépine (born October 23, 1929 – April 18, 2012) was a Canadian real estate developer and philanthropist. Lépine was the chairman of Groupe Lépine, a real estate development and investment firm he founded in 1953. He also owned a portfolio of multifamily and retail properties in Montreal and Ottawa. Lépine developed many buildings considered landmarks in Montreal, including the Olympic Village and Le Sanctuaire du Mont-Royal. Lépine is also credited with having developed the first condominiums in Montreal in 1981.

Early life and education Lépine was born and raised in Ville-Émard, a working-class neighborhood of Montreal, in a family of 10 children. In 1971, Lépine and Webster wanted to purchase the Van Horne Mansion, adjacent to Le Cartier, and were planning a $7 million office building development.

In 1974, he, Joseph Zappia, Gerald Robinson and Andrew Gaty, were appointed by Jean Drapeau to build the Olympic Village for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

He was the chairman of real estate for MD Financial and bought over $1 billion worth of properties for the MD Realty Fund.

Since the 1960s, he built more than 1,500 houses in Montreal's Hampstead, Westmount and Côte Saint-Luc areas, In 1980, Lépine also purchased The Berkshire at 1775 South Ocean Boulevard in Delray Beach, Florida, the first time share in Palm Beach County. The project was later approved for over 925 apartments, with added commercial zoning for retail. The parcel of land measured nearly 1.1 million square feet. The project also directly created 2,000 jobs.

In late November 1981, Lépine started the development of Le Sanctuaire du Mont-Royal, a five building, 925-unit condominium, retail and athletic complex in Outremont, Quebec, the biggest project of his career. He announced his intention to develop a 67-unit apartment building on the property, originally named Le Cartier II, later changed to Sir Robert Peel, at a cost of $15 million. The move by the appeals court to grant a demolition permit on three historic buildings to Lépine was highly controversial and angered Heritage Montreal and Phyllis Lambert. The project was completed in 1990.

In 1989, Lépine was the lead contender in a $100 million deal to purchase Blue Bonnets, a 146 acre property, from Campeau Corporation. Lépine planned to build a $2 billion mixed use project consisting of apartments, office and retail space on the site, which received partial pre-approval by the city of Montreal. He was also planning a development called Canada Place, a 1,200-unit apartment project inspired by Le Sanctuaire du Mont-Royal in Moscow that was estimated to cost up to $700 million. However, Lépine's projects in Russia were never completed due to a variety of operational and political difficulties. Lépine was financially backed by the Government of Canada, as well as from the Caisse de dépôts et placement du Québec and tenants who had secured office leases, including Samsung. He purchased a low income, 208-unit apartment building known as Rideau-Chapel Towers at 160 Chapel Street in Ottawa, Ontario, on the corner of Rideau Street. Lépine gave $65,000 to the city of Ottawa to help relocate the displaced tenants to new homes. The property was built on land owned by the National Capital Commission, who signed a 66-year leasehold with Lépine. The project was part of a deal with the city of Montreal and the Montreal YMCA to revamp the area, which had fallen into disrepair.

In 1997, Lépine entered public tender negotiations with the Canadian Department of National Defence to acquire a property they owned on Atwater Avenue, on the side of Mount Royal adjacent to Westmount, Quebec. The same year, the federal government offered the city of Montreal the chance to purchase the property for conservation, but Montreal city officials declined the offer in an official July 1997 correspondence.

In April 1999, Lépine acquired the property for $4 million, which was the highest offer obtained by the public tender. As soon as Lépine closed on the property, some estimated its market value with new residential zoning at $20 million. The main building on the property, which was formerly the Canadian Armed Forces main headquarters for Quebec, was classified as a federal historic monument, which Lépine preserved by keeping the original structure and converting it to condominiums as part of the deal. Lépine paid for public utilities on the property, costing $2 million.

Personal life Since his early 70s, Lépine spent his time between work in Montreal and his other home in Palm Beach, Florida.