The land where a building of 170 social housing units was to be built on the site of the former Radio-Canada tower, to the east of downtown, will be ceded to the City of Montreal, the latter not having access to sufficient funding to allow the realization of this project, learned The duty.
In June 2021, the borough announced with great fanfare that it had reached an agreement with Groupe Mach to provide for the inclusion of 482 social housing units and 245 affordable units on the former Radio-Canada site, intended to accommodate an imposing development. mixed real estate.
The construction of this social housing was planned in three phases, in as many buildings. The first called for the construction of a 170-unit building, which was to be erected at the intersection of boulevard René-Lévesque Est and rue Alexandre-DeSève, in the Centre-Sud district. This so-called “turnkey” project was piloted by Groupe Mach and the organization Interloge, which specializes in the development and management of social housing.
According to our information, the overall bill for the realization of the project amounted to 58 million dollars.
Not enough funding
However, a gap of several million dollars has widened between the amount planned by the promoters of this social housing building, faced with rising construction costs, and the amount that the City was able to obtain from the AccèsLogis program. to finance these units. Result: this project fell through for financial reasons, we learned.
“We have never been able to come to an agreement with the City to ultimately sell them a building once it has been built, according to their standards for social housing. So we told the city that we couldn’t build social housing for them—that building at least—and we started the process to give them the land. So, it is the City that will eventually build social housing in this place itself”, confirms to the To have to Mach Group’s vice-president of real estate development, Cédric Constantin.
The latter specifies that the plans for this building were ready. The project was well advanced. The City’s press release from last summer regarding the inclusion of social housing on the site of the former Radio-Canada tower stated that construction of some of them could begin as early as fall 2022. project was developing really quickly,” said Interloge’s general manager, Louis-Philippe Myre, by e-mail.
However, we will now have to wait until the end of 2023, simply to complete the process of selling the land which was to accommodate 170 social housing units. The office of Mayor Valérie Plante also assures that it then intends to carry out the “planned social housing project” on this site, but it will still have to have the capacity to finance it.
“It’s difficult for us and it’s difficult for the City. […] Unfortunately, we are all victims” of the lack of funding dedicated to social housing, sighs Mr. Constantin of Groupe Mach. In writing, the cabinet of the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, also blamed the “tags” of the AccèsLogis program and the lack of “sums currently available” in this program to justify this situation.
“We are continuing our efforts with the governments of Canada and Quebec in order to accelerate and succeed in the mixed development of this sector,” adds the firm, which insists that the social housing projects planned on this site are “essential”.
In the meantime, the coordinator of the Ville-Marie Housing Committee, Éric Michaud, points out that the needs for social housing are particularly great in the Centre-Sud district, where low-income tenants are suffering from “accelerated” gentrification. “Many households are going to have to shop for accommodation, we don’t know where in the greater Montreal area,” he laments.
Cédric Constantin, for his part, remains confident that the two other social housing buildings planned for this site will be able to be carried out. “It’s still possible for others,” he says. But for Mr. Michaud, hope is slim. “As long as there is life, there is hope. But judging by the actions of the current government, it’s quite hopeless,” he said.
Lack of funds
During pre-budget consultations, the City had asked for $265 million to build by 2025 the some 2,000 AccèsLogis units promised in recent years for Montreal, but which have still not been delivered. She finally raised 30 million in the 2022 budget of the Legault government, which concentrated its investments in a new program aimed at accelerating the construction of affordable housing in Quebec.
“While Quebec and Ottawa discuss commas on forms, families [des quartiers] Sainte-Marie and Saint-Jacques who are looking for accommodation that respects their ability to pay pays the price,” laments Louis-Philippe Myre. The latter thus urges Quebec and Ottawa to agree on the financing of social housing so that the promised funds “go down to the municipalities as quickly as possible”.
The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, was not available to comment on this file on Friday.