The Ville-Marie district intends to change its regulations next year in order to reduce the fees it imposes on social housing projects under construction, we have learned. The duty. A decision which comes at a time when the construction of a building intended to house homeless people undergoing social reintegration near the Village is delayed by requirements from the district, which also inflate the bill.
A building of 32 social housing units dedicated to welcoming people experiencing homelessness was to open in December 2023 on rue Sainte-Catherine Est, but this project will not come to fruition before September 2024, if all goes well, confided to the Duty the architect Antonin Labossière, from the firm Rayside Labossière, commissioned as part of this project.
“When we help people experiencing homelessness, every day we receive calls from vulnerable people asking for shelter, and it’s really sad to have to say no to them,” sighs Valérie Méplon, general director of the organization. Le Sac à dos, which is at the origin of this social housing project. The building must include housing on three floors as well as a day center on the ground floor, in an area where “there is a lot to do” to meet the needs of the homeless, she notes.
Daily fees
With a view to creating 32 social housing units, Le Sac à dos acquired the building on rue Sainte-Catherine Est in 2017, previously used for commercial purposes. However, the decision of the Ville-Marie district to impose the conservation of the building’s attic delayed the completion of the project.
The organization had to install an imposing metal structure to preserve this part of the building, currently suspended, while waiting for the social housing project, estimated at $16 million, to come to fruition. In the meantime, for more than a year, he has been paying the borough daily fees for occupying the public domain due to the presence of this metal structure, which is nevertheless required… by the borough.
“It’s a bit paradoxical that the City asks you to preserve an attic, but then makes you pay a big price to have an installation above the sidewalk,” says Mr. Labossière, who notes that the borough thus contributed to delaying this project, in addition to inflating the bill. “We think it’s logical and defensible that social housing can help protect heritage, but if there is an additional cost associated with that, we need to be helped to cover it. »
Because the costs of occupying public property can have a significant financial impact for non-profit organizations, notes the general director of the Association of Technical Resource Groups of Quebec, Éric Cimon. “Even if it’s not huge, these are additional costs for organizations that are not rich. »
Regulatory changes
Joined by The dutythe municipal councilor of the Saint-Jacques district and responsible for urban planning on the executive committee, Robert Beaudry, ensures that the administration is holding discussions with the organization Le Sac à dos in order to reduce the financial repercussions of the requirements of the district in connection with the construction of this social housing building.
“We are looking to see if we are able to reimburse, or otherwise not charge the costs of occupying the public domain, which would make a big difference for the organization,” indicates the elected representative from Projet Montréal.
At the start of next year, the district will also consider a proposed regulatory change which would allow real estate projects with a social vocation on its territory to be exempt from certain costs, particularly with regard to the occupation of public property. has learned The duty.
“The fact that the borough wants to assume certain costs for social housing projects, we find that interesting,” says the coordinator of the Ville-Marie Housing Committee, Éric Michaud. The district, which is struggling to bring social housing out of the ground, should however go further by also adopting a “more flexible” regulatory approach in order to accelerate the construction of this type of project, he believes.
“We must review the referendum approval processes, and we should ensure that there is accelerated processing, in all municipalities, of non-profit projects,” indicates the spokesperson for the Front d. popular action in urban redevelopment, Véronique Laflamme. The opposition group at city hall, Ensemble Montréal, is calling for the creation of a one-stop shop that would support community organizations dedicated to the development of social housing.
“Having a single point of contact instead of dealing with several administrative units of the City would be common sense and would facilitate procedures,” says the opposition party’s housing spokesperson, Julien Hénault-Ratelle. .
Questioned last week as part of a press conference, Mayor Valérie Plante, for her part, cited the lack of funding from Quebec as the main cause of the delays experienced by several social housing projects in the metropolis.
“Maybe permits are 10% of the problem, but the big problem is funding,” she said during a recent press briefing at city hall.