The mayor of Montreal said she was enthusiastic about the “extremely positive” project to replace Place Versailles with a neighborhood of 5,000 housing units on Tuesday, while a first image of the project was made public.
Reacting to the idea for the first time, Valérie Plante stressed that the location lends itself particularly well to residential development.
“I like it,” said M.me Plante, on the sidelines of a press briefing. “We need housing. All kinds are needed. »
“It’s extremely positive, especially when we know that this area, for the moment, is a large parking lot, and therefore a heat island. We will be able to build housing there. There is a metro station,” she continued. “I understand that there is an attachment to Place Versailles, I too have been there a few times. I want to reassure everyone: this is a project that will meet so many needs and there will be an interesting commercial offer. »
The Press revealed on Saturday that the mall’s owners were preparing a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the 17-hectare site, located near the Radisson metro station. The current buildings will gradually be demolished to make way for a neighborhood including 5,200 housing units, a school, a hotel and parks, according to the vision proposed to the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Two 25-story towers would be integrated into the project.
“Very interesting” proposal
Monday evening, local elected officials voted to send the file to the Montreal city council and the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) for further steps.
The day after this decision, the local mayor reiterated that he welcomed the proposal, but now wanted to hear from his citizens.
“It’s a very interesting proposal, which is consistent with our various City plans” whether in terms of mobility, environment or housing, said Pierre Lessard-Blais in a telephone interview. “We meet several criteria of the City’s vision, so it is a very interesting proposal that deserves to be analyzed. It is comprehensive enough to provide relevant and detailed comments from citizens. »
Furthermore, the borough has made public a sketch of what the future district could look like, once completed. The image focuses on a large central, green park. The 25-story towers are not shown.