Royalmount, Montreal’s ambitious upscale shopping and lifestyle development, is celebrating its first anniversary on September 5. The $7 billion project from developer Carbonleo has quickly established itself as a destination for both international brands and Montrealers seeking a blend of retail, dining, culture, and entertainment.
At the one-year mark, the centre has reached a significant milestone: more than 150 stores are now open, with occupancy at 87 percent and leasing commitments surpassing 90 percent. The pace of tenant additions, cultural events, and sustained traffic is fueling optimism for Royalmount’s future.
“We opened last September with 57 stores, and today we are over 150,” said Michael Stroll, Senior Vice President and Partner at Carbonleo. “We are building strong momentum, weekends are proving especially busy, and sales continue to climb steadily. We are very pleased with where we are one year in.”
Luxury Retail at the Core
Royalmount has quickly attracted a concentration of luxury retail unmatched in Quebec. Montblanc marked the anniversary by opening its boutique this week, with Tudor scheduled to launch on Saturday. Later this year, Tiffany & Co. will unveil its flagship and Rolex will open what Stroll calls “the largest Rolex store in North America.”
The first year also brought Quebec debuts for Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Balenciaga. RH launched its first Quebec gallery, a 50,000-square-foot showroom that includes a rooftop restaurant. “The RH restaurant has been a hot ticket since day one,” said Stroll. “It is performing among the best in Montreal.”
The project’s luxury wing is nearly full. Stroll confirmed that two of the three remaining prime spaces are out for signature and likely to be finalized in the coming days. “We are probably oversubscribed in terms of demand for level one,” he said. “That speaks to both the appeal of the project and the performance we are seeing from tenants.”
Expanding Tenant Mix
While luxury anchors the centre, Royalmount also integrates accessible global brands such as Zara, H&M, Mango, Sephora, and Nike. Alo Yoga, Veronica Beard, Anine Bing, and Longchamp add variety, ensuring the project appeals to a broader audience beyond just high-end shoppers.
This positioning fills a long-standing gap in Montreal’s retail landscape. “Montreal has less retail per capita than Toronto or Vancouver, and the caliber of that retail is significantly lower,” said Stroll. “Royalmount was needed to raise the bar, and we are delivering on that vision.”
The tenant mix also emphasizes experiential concepts. The multi-brand beauty hall René, exclusive to Royalmount, is the first of its kind globally. “Beauty is one of the categories that continues to see growth,” Stroll explained. “Rennai provides a holistic approach, layering experiences and services onto products in a way that does not currently exist in Canada.”
Food, Dining, and Social Life
Dining has become a core draw at Royalmount. Its food hall, branded Le Fou Fou, offers 12 dining options and four bars. Unlike many malls where food courts are hidden in lower levels, Royalmount’s is positioned at the centre of the project, fully glazed with views of the piazza. “It really comes to life,” Stroll noted.
Restaurants are thriving as well. Italian restaurant Siamo Noi is earning critical acclaim, while other venues are reporting numbers among the best in Montreal. “The restaurant offering is very strong,” Stroll said. “It has quickly become part of the city’s dining circuit.”
Events and Community Engagement
Royalmount has embraced cultural programming as a cornerstone of its brand. More than 50 events have been hosted in its first year, ranging from family activities to large-scale festivals.
“We welcomed over 5,000 people per weekend during our mural festivals and over 30,000 people to our Asian night market,” said Stroll. “Next year will be even better. We are expanding the cultural calendar with everything from festivals to weekly wellness and music programming.”
This approach reinforces Royalmount’s identity as more than a mall. Stroll describes it as “a place where Montrealers and visitors can come together to shop, dine, connect, and celebrate.”
Connectivity and Sustainability
A key feature of Royalmount is its accessibility. The project connects directly to Montreal’s De la Savane metro station via a 200-metre skybridge, a decision that has proven vital. “About a third of our footfall is coming through the skybridge from the metro,” Stroll confirmed. “It validates our belief that transit connectivity would be a major driver.”
Montreal’s metro system is heavily used, ranking second in per-capita ridership in North America after New York City. “People have really embraced the metro connection,” said Stroll. “It also aligns with our sustainability values.”
Carbonleo is one of the few B Corp-certified developers, underscoring a commitment to responsible development. The project targets LEED Gold, features geothermal systems, and integrates significant green space. Four hours of free parking further balances accessibility for drivers while preventing the lot from being used as an airport terminal.
A Broader Vision Beyond Retail
The first retail phase represents just a fraction of Royalmount’s long-term vision. Stroll notes that only about one-fifteenth of the site’s total permitted density has been built.
“Royalmount is designed as a mixed-use cultural hub,” he explained. “Future phases will integrate hotel, office, residential, arts, and entertainment, all alongside retail and dining. We are already in pre-development on hotel and office components, and working through residential.”
This broader plan situates Royalmount as more than a shopping destination, but rather as a new urban district for Montreal.
A Measured View of Success
Stroll emphasizes patience when judging projects of this scale. “If you study large new developments in any city, they rarely open at full strength,” he said. “CF Carrefour Laval and CF Promenades St-Bruno both had slow starts. Even Westfield London, which is now one of the best malls in the world, opened without immediate success. You need vision and patience.”
That perspective is particularly relevant given the challenging economic climate, with rising capital costs and a slowdown in luxury spending globally. Yet Royalmount has surpassed expectations, drawing both local and international tenants while delivering steady traffic growth.
Royalmount’s Role in Montreal’s Retail Landscape
Montreal has long been underserved by luxury retail. Beyond downtown’s Holt Renfrew Ogilvy, Harry Rosen, and a scattering of boutiques, the city lacked a cohesive hub for high-end shopping. “Royalmount fills that void,” Stroll said. “It is bringing brands and experiences that simply were not present before.”
The centre also arrives at a time of transition for department stores. The Hudson’s Bay Company has shuttered, leaving a gap now partly addressed by Rennai. Department stores once defined malls in Canada, but the role of anchors has diminished.
“Today’s traffic drivers are different,” said Stroll. “Restaurants, Apple stores, RH galleries, and flagship boutiques can generate more meaningful footfall than department stores. That was part of our design from the beginning.”
For Stroll and his team, the first anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on what has been accomplished and to look ahead. “It has been a pedal-to-the-metal year,” he said. “The wins need to be celebrated, especially in this environment. We are optimistic about what comes next.”
After a year, Royalmount seems to have established a foothold in Montreal’s retail ecosystem. I was concerned about the effect it would have on existing upmarket retailing in Centre-Ville and elsewhere on the island, but perhaps a co-existing synergy might be established similar to what one sees in Toronto between Bloor/Yorkville and Yorkdale. Montreal has long had a scattering of high end specialty boutiques downtown, in Westmount on Sherbrooke, Vieux Montréal, and Avenue Laurier in Outremont, but no concentrated district of the scale in Toronto’s Yorkville or Vancouver’s Alberni Street district. Though, Montreal still doesn’t have this level of street oriented retail, Royalmount has created a concentration that has previously not existed in Canada’s second largest CMA.
Predictably, it has had the most deleterious effect on nearby Rockland Centre at the other end of Town of Mount Royal. But retail seems to be humming along in the rest of the city. More unpredictably, the introduction at Royalmount of luxury retailers new to the Quebec market could alter the perception of what succeeds in Montreal. This factor alone could spur investment in other parts of the city creating the synergy I mentioned earlier. Another unpredictable factor would be how the remaining components of the development, specifically housing , fall into place. Andrew Lufty, Carbonleo’s CEO seems willing to await a change in T.M.R.’s administration in anticipation of a friendlier planning policy that will permit him to build those high rise condominiums he intended from the start. Fulfillment of the residential portion would go a long way toward establishing the mixed use aspect that characterized the developers conception of Royalmount as a whole. Time will tell.