Originally from Sudbury, Ontario, Larry and Benjamin Charbonneau are property owners and have restored and flipped properties in the past. What made their newest project unique for the brothers was that it was their first building they decided to restore in a location they were unfamiliar with.

It all started when Benjamin contacted his brother Larry about a possible new property he was . . .

interested in restoring. Little did Larry know, but his brother had other plans. Upon arriving at what used to be Hotel Davidson in Fort Coulonge, Benjamin surprised his brother with the news that rather than just showing him the property, he had bought it and he wanted it to be their next project. Without hesitation, Larry was on board.

The old building they bought had been a bar, a Chinese restaurant and convenience store. Over the years it lived many lives and now it is being turned into apartments.

Because the building was abandoned for several years, when they started the renovations, they had to tear apart walls. There was water damage and drywall that was no longer there. “It was really bad,” said Larry.

They bought Hotel Davidson in October of 2020, and for the first six to eight months, Larry and his brother did all the restoration efforts together and brought the place back to its former glory.

Initially, the brothers wanted Hotel Davidson to be a family property where they could meet during summers and holidays, a place they could all come away from their busy lives. “Our goal was to have a place for our family, we decided we’ll find a spot that’s in the middle because we got a lot of family from Quebec, and so that’s how this happened,” he said.

But once they were in the Pontiac they quickly saw a need for rental properties and it shifted their plans for the building. “When people found out that we had bought this property, everybody kept stopping or driving by.” We didn’t know what we’re gonna do with it, but about halfway in we found out how much of a shortage there was of apartments,” said Larry.

Through word of mouth, they had a whole list of renters interested. As word got around, more properties came their way through locals and with a need for rentals in the area they saw it as a great investment opportunity. “At first, when we started this project we wanted to go with used material, and that’s the route we were heading and then we decided you know what, we’ll do this right we’ll go with new material this way it’ll extend its life,” said Larry.

Although they have their own respective jobs, when these projects started they created a company called Charbonneau Brothers Restoration.

Larry has always been in the restoration profession and had his own company where he did work on many different things when he was living in Sudbury. Although he still travels back to see his family, for the past year restoration efforts in Fort Coulonge and Davidson have been his life. His brother Benjamin on the other hand works in the corporate world, and is currently the CEO of a company in Singapore, Larry told THE EQUITY.

Both are very driven and solution-oriented and have always worked together on different projects.

When they first arrived in the region, they were blown away by nature and the waterfront and enjoyed the serenity the place offered, pointed out Larry. “So we kind of got attached to the area just as much because we got attached to the people. Well, I most certainly did. Because I’ve been here for a year and a half. And I’ve kind of built relationships with local stores and hardware stores,” he said.

And that is how one building snowballed into more. Hotel Davidson was the first of four other properties the brothers went on to buy within the first year of being in the Pontiac. The most recent one they purchased was with two other investors who were interested in what they were doing.

“We can only do so much and so much money to put into these, so if we have more investors, more money to put in, we can create more units, more buildings, more opportunities,” said Larry.

What their plans are

After being involved in some council meetings and being new in town people were starting to wonder what they were doing here, and Larry said he wanted to provide the town with what it needed. That’s what pushed them to purchase the Pearson building and the one across the street from it. Both are located on Rue Baume in Fort Coulonge.

“Because if we had not purchased [Hotel Davidson], we wouldn’t have met all these people,” said Larry.

Although they have been working tirelessly on the buildings, one of the most challenging aspects was not knowing the state of the walls when they tore into them, noted Larry. And dealing with delays that came with starting renovations in the midst of the pandemic did not make things easier.

A new challenge was connecting with community members and building relationships in the region. “So the challenge is making people understand that we’re not regular investors and that we’re not just going to buy something and take off. We’re not like that.”

“We basically just want to provide as many apartments as possible for the region. Because being here now a year and a half, after multiple buildings, we’ve been able to provide some apartments and what’s happened here, we’ve kind of put our name in the community,” said Larry.

For him, the most fulfilling aspect of working on these buildings is all the connections he has made with the locals. “Just having those people come here and share their stories and come with pictures of what it used to look like, for me that’s what it has been, and working with my brother on a project.”

Currently, he is restoring the Pearson building, which will provide 15 apartments, and the blue building right across the street from it. With five people working on the two units to get them up to code for rentals.

The other properties also got fully restored, from restoring roofs to tiling to replacing bathrooms. The apartments currently range from $900 to $1,100 depending on the square footage but he highlighted that hydro and heat is included. The old post office is fully rented, the house was restored and now has tenants, as well as Hotel Davidson.

Given that a lot of the work was done by them, the brothers feel very attached to the work that they have done as it is a culmination of all the days and nights they have spent on it.

“Seeing people into these units that we completed is the biggest thing for me, it’s looking at your work after it’s all been put together and seeing people happy to move into the new units. They haven’t seen that here in a long time,” said Larry.

Larry is currently managing everything on-site and for more information, people can reach out to him at Larry-Charbonneau1@hotmail.com.

The Pearson building is currently under renovations, and will be able to yield 15 apartments for the community, pointed out Larry Charbonneau.

The blue building was abandoned until Larry Charbonneau and his brother decided to buy with the help of two other investors.

The Davidson Hotel was one of the first properties the brothers bought, which was quickly rented out.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!