As the owner of McGill Real Estate, one of the largest real estate agencies specialised in new development in the province, and Engel & Völkers Montréal/Québec, one of the world’s leading companies specialised in the brokerage of premium residential properties, it’s fair to say that Patrice Groleau’s life revolves around real estate.

He founded McGill Real Estate in 2004 with his wife, Debby Doktorczyk, and the pair went on to establish Engel & Völkers’presence in Quebec in 2015. They also have three children and together manage a team of nearly 175 people.

“It’s the key to our continued success and marriage,” said Groleau, who launched 20 new projects or project phases this year, despite the pandemic.“The fact that we love what we do and we love each other.”  

Since its founding, McGill Real Estate has sold over 11,000 condos worth more than $4 billion. It currently has 33 new developments for sale, which represents about one-quarter of the total market in Quebec. It’s also behind some of the city’s most iconic projects.

“One of our most significant projects that completely redefined Montreal was District Griffin; in fact, we’re responsible for the sale of 70 per cent of all new condos in Griffintown,” said Groleau, who received a graduate degree in real estate management from Harvard University.

“In terms of upscale projects, it’s definitely the Four Seasons, which is the first extreme luxury project of international calibre to emerge out of Quebec.”

As the year comes to a close, this is what Groleau had to say about 2020’s challenges and what to expect in 2021.

2020 in review

Even though projections for 2020 were dire due to the global pandemic, by September, Engel & Völkers matched its 2019 numbers with three months left in the year and McGill Real Estate is not slowing down. What was supposed to be a difficult year ended up generating a housing boom.