Montreal readies to turn east-end mall into densified neighbourhood with green space
Place Versailles redevelopment project promises to have 6,000 apartments, school, hotel and parks
Montreal's city council has approved a major redevelopment project for Place Versailles, a 62-year-old indoor shopping mall in the east end.
The $2.2 billion project is expected to take up to 25 years to complete, eventually replacing the mall and parking lot with a school, a hotel, two 25-storey towers and thousands of housing units.
In total, there will be about 6,000 apartments on site, including 1,000 social housing units.
While the city council has given the project the green light, some neighbours are worried about its impact on the area. For example, some say the Radisson Metro station, located steps away from Place Versailles, is already packed.
"It's one of the busiest stations," said resident Daniel Deschamps. "Adding 6,000 people, of which 20 per cent will take the Metro, it's going to be hard."
There have also been concerns about the height of the buildings — much higher than the current two storeys.
In response, the city has indicated that the building heights along the residential streets of Pierre Corneille and du Trianon will be adjusted to eight and six floors, respectively. Additionally, one of the planned 25-storey buildings will be set back further from existing homes.
Neighbours, opposition concerned
However, a concern among some residents is the potential loss of access to the small businesses currently operating within the mall.
"I guess it will be beneficial for some people, but I like the Place Versailles the way it is," said Yanis Mameri, who lives near the indoor mall — the first of its kind in the city.
Guy Barbier, also a resident, said neighbours can easily walk to the mall, accessing the supermarket and all the stores.
But the mayor of the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough remains confident. Pierre Lessard-Blais recently told Radio-Canada that he thinks "in 25 years, we will pass by here and say that it was a good move."
The plan is to gradually redevelop the shopping mall and parking lot over a series of phases. The owners of Place Versailles declined to comment Tuesday. The project is slated to start next year, but the city and developer have said there will be a slow transition, allowing shopping to continue.
Ensemble Montréal's Julien Hénault-Ratelle, a city councillor in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, offered qualified support for the Place Versailles redevelopment project during Monday night's city council meeting, just before the project was approved.
"While there are positive elements in this redevelopment, numerous recommendations stemming from citizen consultations have been disregarded, notably concerning building heights and the preservation of local commerce," Hénault-Ratelle said.
"Furthermore, the absence of the crucial development agreement before this vote forces us to rely solely on assurances, undermining transparency for both elected officials and the concerned citizens."
He said there are positive aspects, such as increased green space and social housing targets. However, several recommendations from the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), based on citizen input, have been ignored.
For example, there's a request for more collaboration with public health, he said, and that's been ignored.
"And although it was not among the OCPM's recommendations, I would like to mention once again that the issue of universal accessibility is absolutely not taken into account in the project," Hénault-Ratelle said. "There is no housing that will be adapted or adaptable, which in our opinion, is a miss."
Borough mayor says project has 'strong vision'
Blais, who is with Projet Montréal, spoke strongly in support of the project during the meeting. He described it as a necessary shift away from decades of car-dependent urban sprawl that has harmed agricultural land, increased traffic and hindered efficient public transit.
He highlighted the project's strong green vision, including significant park space and tree planting, that will replace the massive one-to-two-storey shopping mall and its 4,000-space parking lot that is currently a heat island. He said parking will largely be underground in the new development.
Residents will be encouraged to reduce reliance on cars through cycling infrastructure and the close proximity to public transit, he said. It will be a mixed-use development with 20 per cent social housing in each phase.
He said there was an extensive consultation process, including the OCPM, and he said a significant portion of existing commercial space will be preserved in the initial phase. He said there are even efforts to retain heritage artwork on site. Over the course of the phases, businesses will be able to move into the ground floors of the residential buildings, preserving the commercial vocation of the location.
"What we are proposing tonight with the vote on article 89 is, in fact, the master plan that will guide the major developments of Place Versailles for the next 25 years," he said.
"It is a project that has a very strong vision for the future and fits exactly within Montreal's urban development plan."
Jean-Philippe Meloche, an urban planning and landscape architecture professor at the Université de Montréal, said the project reflects what the city is today and it maximizes use of the Radisson Metro station.
"It is the bungalow that is outdated, not the proposed development," he said.
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With files from CBC's Mélissa François and Radio-Canada's Marie-Josée Paquette-Comeau