History of Place Alexis Nihon
Alexis Nihon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1902, and came to Canada at the age of 18. After the Second World War, he acquired several tracts of land on the Island of Montreal which he rented to developers. One of the tracts was on the corner of Ste-Catherine and Atwater Streets, a choice location on which two companies, Atwater-Western and Montrad, successively strove to develop a large-scale complex. This is how Place Alexis Nihon became a part of the Montreal landscape.

From the start, the architects, Harold Ship and Stanley King, imagined Place Alexis Nihon as a multi-purpose complex, consisting of a shopping centre, office towers, residential facilities and even a medical centre. Opened in 1967 as a unique shopping centre, Place Alexis Nihon expanded in 1970, with the addition of a first office tower and a residential tower (Plaza Tower). In 1983, the Nihon family took over the complex and completed the construction in keeping with the architects’ original vision. They added a second office tower in 1986, but decided not to build the medical centre.

Since that time, Place Alexis Nihon has consolidated all its assets, with over 100 stores and boutiques, forty + tenants in the office towers and of course, the many residents of Plaza Tower who occupy its 426 apartments.

The Present Owner
The Nihon Group held Place Alexis Nihon until 2002, when the Alexis Nihon Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) was created. Four years later, in April 2007, Homburg Invest Inc. acquired Alexis Nihon REIT and thereby officially took ownership of Place Alexis Nihon.

Homburg Invest Inc. was established in 2000. Originally based in the Netherlands, the company bears the name of its founder and current President and CEO, Richard Homburg. Since the creation of his first company in 1969 in the import/export field, Mr. Homburg has become a highly respected real estate developer, with many property acquisitions in Canada, the United States and Europe. He is particularly well known in the Maritimes, where he sits on numerous boards of directors and where St. Mary’s University and the University of Prince Edward Island have awarded him honorary doctorate degrees.

Described as an entrepreneur and developer, Mr. Homburg has expanded his company through the acquisition, management and development of a diversified portfolio of quality real estate. Place Alexis Nihon, a vital part of downtown Montreal and vibrant hub for the 28,000 visitors, workers, students and residents who flock there daily, fits the profile of the properties Homburg Invest Inc. seeks to own.

Websites of our other properties – Quebec
www.centrelaval.com
www.laplazadelamauricie.com

Website of Homburg Invest Inc.
www.homburginvestinc.com