When Len Montreal ’83 and Regina Riccardi Montreal ’83 think back about their time at SUNY Morrisville, they fondly remember the friendly, supportive environment, the small-town atmosphere, the close-knit community and the access to nature and the outdoors.
It’s easy for them to get sentimental and nostalgic.
“I remember the smallness and the quaintness of the beautiful campus surrounded by scenery,’’ Regina said. “And, of course, it’s the place where I met the love of my life.’’ (And her future business partner.)
More than 40 years after their time on campus, Len and Regina credit their education at SUNY Morrisville for giving them a solid foundation to build successful, multi-faceted careers in business.
Len, 62, is the founder and president of the Montreal Company, a commercial real estate development firm with more than $40 million in completed projects and a focus on the Lakefront/Inner Harbor area of Syracuse. Regina, 62, is the company’s chief operating officer. The company has headquarters on Plum Street in Syracuse, New York, about a mile from Destiny USA mall.
To say the Montreals have made their mark in Central New York — ever since meeting in an accounting class at Morrisville and earning degrees in business administration — is an understatement. To date, the Montreal Company has acquired about 50 former industrial and commercial buildings, many of them neglected or abandoned eyesores, and given them a new life as offices, apartments, restaurants and retail storefronts.
Take a drive through the Lakefront area and you’ll see their work and vision. There’s the old trucking terminal on North Geddes Street that’s now a sleek-looking office building. There’s the former factory building on Spencer Street that, after a $3.5 million transformation, is now home to retail space and more than a dozen upscale apartments.
When the owners of Syracuse Salt Co. were looking for a place to harvest brine from deep beneath the earth to produce their gourmet salts, they called Len Montreal. Their storefront and production facility are headquartered in a building on Pulaski Street owned by the Montreals. Well-known Montreal rehabilitation projects include The Gem Diner and The Preserve at 405, both on Spencer Street. The Montreals own the buildings and members of the LaLone family own and operate the restaurants.
“We recycle, remodel and repurpose,’’ Len said. “We know how to build; we know how to do the construction. We’re always eyeing the next project. There’s a couple more in this area we would love to get.’’
“We saw the potential in the area,’’ Len added, “and things grew from there.’’
I remember the smallness and the quaintness of the beautiful campus surrounded by scenery, and, of course, it’s the place where I met the love of my life.
Both are from humble backgrounds and modest means: Len is from Solvay, near Syracuse, New York, and attended local schools. Regina is from Henrietta, near Rochester, New York. One of six children of Italian immigrants, she said her parents worked tirelessly to put her through college. She lived in Cayuga Hall and stays in touch with a roommate and some of her dorm mates. Len lived in Stuart Hall before moving off campus.
If you said Len looked like the actor Tony Danza (of “Who’s the Boss’’ and “Taxi’’ fame) back then, you wouldn’t be the first. He was a member of the wrestling team and worked nights at a now-defunct bar called The Theater.
The couple knew they wanted to work in business and entrepreneurship, but they didn’t know where their degrees would take them. After graduation, Regina returned to Rochester, where she worked in customer service for Bausch + Lomb. Len worked as a contractor for a window company, installing windows in schools and large commercial buildings. Around the same time, he bought a house on Catherine Street in Syracuse for $25,000 and rehabbed it, selling it three years later for $70,000 and getting his first taste of the potential for real estate to deliver a return on investment.
The Montreals married in 1985 and Regina moved to Syracuse, landing a job with computer company NYNEX Business Centers. She remained with the company until 1998 when their twin daughters were born.
By that time, Len had started his own business as an independent contractor. The Montreal Company was established around 1990. “We were small in the beginning, very small, and basically worked for a lot of general contractors,’’ Len recalled. “Now we are the general contractor.’’
Regina stayed at home with the girls, helping with the business and working on projects remotely. She joined the company full time in 2009. Flash forward more than a decade and the Montreal Company brings three businesses together under one roof.
In addition to projects in the Syracuse Lakefront area, Montreal Construction does ongoing design-build work for companies like Price Chopper, Tops and Kinney Drugs. The company has completed more than 150 retail construction and remodeling projects throughout Central New York and in the New England and mid-Atlantic states.
Salt City Enterprises is the real estate development arm and Allegiance Realty is their brokerage company. Both Len and Regina and their daughter, Mia, who works in the office with them, have expertise in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate development, including site selection, planning and design, construction, leasing and governmental relations. Regina and the couple’s three daughters all hold real estate licenses.
“It has always been a family affair,’’ Regina said.
The Montreals live in the Onondaga Hill area, just outside Syracuse. Their work life is rooted in Central New York, but they make time for travel and relaxation. They have a second home in Marco Island, Florida, and get there as often as possible, sometimes with their daughters (Marisa and twins Mia and Alana), the girls’ spouses and their grandchildren.
They also escape to Aruba in February, and this year decided to celebrate their 40th anniversary early, on Valentine’s Day, with renewal of their wedding vows. “Sixty of our family and friends joined us in the celebration that was unforgettable,’’ Regina said.
To stay connected to Morrisville, the couple hosts an event each summer for alumni attending The Great New York State Fair. The gathering, held at one of their favorite restaurants, Strada Mia, on Geddes Street in Syracuse, brings together alumni for food, drinks and conversation. They welcomed about 25 guests in 2024 and plan to host the meet-up again this year.
It’s a small gesture of their love for their alma mater and their desire to facilitate alumni networking. Not long ago, Len had a Price Chopper renovation job in Norwich, New York, to check out and took a drive through campus. He was reminded of his roots, got to thinking about his wrestling team (ranked No. 5 in the country at one point) and how you can start out “on a rough road,” work hard and build a successful business.
“What inspires us to give back is not coming from much, knowing what it takes to succeed and appreciating everything that we have,’’ Regina said.
Len said they would like to connect with Morrisville students who are interested in careers in business, construction and real estate development. “We’d love to put some of these guys and gals to work,’’ he said. “We haven’t been able to crack into that yet.’’
