The rejected project | Press

Benoit Berthiaume read my column * on the Canada Malting and Silo n land development projects^o 5. It brought back some really bad memories. The businessman called me and emptied his heart.

He told me how he invested time and money to develop a revitalization project in the Pointe-du-Moulin and Silo n sector.^o 5 and how this project was rejected out of hand by the Canada Lands Company (CLC), owner of the premises, when everything seemed to indicate that it was in the pocket.

About twenty meetings were held with the SIC during the development of this mega-project called Parc Origine and Quartier Five Roses. At that time, things were clear: the CLC remained the owner of the land at Pointe-du-Moulin and the silo buildings, while Benoit Berthiaume and his partners undertook to transform and operate the premises.

However, we intended to acquire the land in the Mill sector so that a developer could develop it. My role was above all to exploit the recreational tourism aspect of the project.

For four years, Benoit Berthiaume worked with many partners, including the architect Pierre Thibault, to develop this creative “park-hotel-neighborhood” project where bridges were to constitute a historical circuit and an observation pole in order to offer unique views of Montreal. There was also a museum space that would have hosted permanent and temporary exhibitions.

In February 2019, the federal Minister of Tourism, Mélanie Joly, the Quebec minister responsible for the Metropolis, Chantal Rouleau, and the mayor Valérie Plante announced that the CLC is launching a call for proposals. Benoit Berthiaume then has the feeling of being in a leading position.

But a surprise awaits him: the SIC has changed its expectations. The promoter who will be chosen must present a project that will involve the complete acquisition of the site and buildings. “For us, that changed everything,” he says. This is not what we had been working on for four years. ”

Bidders had approximately four weeks to complete a project. It is that of Devimco (information that still refuses to confirm the SIC) which was chosen in July of the same year. Since then, the project has slowly passed through the various bureaucratic stages.

As for the project of Benoit Berthiaume, it was cavalierly dismissed.

What could have happened at SIC that suddenly decided to part with the entire site? I tried to get an interview with a spokesperson for the organization so that my questions could be answered. I was sent a terse response in which I was told that “they will be happy to speak to me when the matter is more advanced”.

“They want to make a money pass,” says Benoit Berthiaume. But it is an immense industrial heritage. It’s impossible to buy that with huge maintenance and structural costs. This is why no project succeeds with this type of heritage. ”

This is not the first time that CLC has issued a call for proposals. We did this exercise in 2011 by promising a “conversion” for 2017, the year of 375^e Montreal anniversary.

“It’s difficult to know exactly what the SIC wants,” adds Benoit Berthiaume. During one of our press events, when she knew our intentions very well, we learned that she was trying to set up a project with Amazon. It makes no sense. At some point, the government will have to put on its pants. Where we renovate the Silo n^o 5, or knocked down. ”

I also tried to know the maintenance and insurance costs of the site which are paid annually by the CLC. My request was completely ignored. But in an article published in 2010, Press wrote that at that time they amounted to $ 500,000.

Two years after this setback, Benoit Berthiaume retains a certain bitterness. He still takes the blow. He estimates the sum invested out of his pocket in this adventure at more than $ 300,000.

Whoever created the C2 Montreal event is used to being successful. He was severely shaken by this failure. He tries to forget this episode with new projects like that of a spa that he will create in a popular place located not far from Montreal.

“You might think I’m a utopian, but in fact I’m a visionary,” he says. I don’t build shopping centers, I design living environments that will bring cities to life. And that’s what the Silo n project was^o 5. ”