Densify Bridge-Bonaventure | The Press

A new neighborhood will soon emerge in Montreal, between Old Montreal and Pointe-Saint-Charles.

It is called Bridge-Bonaventure. This is where we find the iconic flour mill Farine Five Roses and Mel’s studios. There, too, that we wanted to build a baseball stadium which will obviously not be done.

The city now wants to develop parks and a promenade along the river. We are discussing having the REM stop there, which will cross the sector. And of course we want to build houses there.

How much ? The question was the subject of a tug of war this week between real estate developers and the City.

The City has already announced its intention to authorize 3,800 housing units there. Promoters claim to be able to squeeze in… from 12,000 to 15,000. The gap is so huge that it raises questions. And, in the midst of a housing crisis, we need answers.

The City is right to say that its role is to work for citizens and not for real estate developers. It is up to her to articulate a vision for this sector, not to the condo builders.

That said, we cannot ignore the figures put forward by the promoters, even if their exit this week clearly lacked diplomacy.

The whole country, as we know, lacks housing. This is particularly striking in Montreal, where prices are exploding.

Added to this housing crisis is an ecological crisis. We must review our lifestyles and curb urban sprawl. We must build housing in neighborhoods that allow people to go to work and do their shopping without a car.

It is an intelligent densification of the city that we must aim for. It’s not simple. In existing central neighborhoods, the addition of additional housing often causes residents to become angry. Not in my yard!

When the rare opportunity to develop a neighborhood from an almost blank slate presents itself, we therefore have no choice but to think about densification. This is even more true when you are in the city center, as is the case of Bridge-Bonaventure.

Could the developers really build 12,000 homes on this complex site which has industries, railroads, a Costco and port activities? It is up to them to prove it.

But what is clear is that the demand for housing is very strong. By refusing the proposed units, the City would interfere between supply and demand. It can obviously do this for several legitimate reasons: to ensure that mobility remains fluid, to preserve the urban fabric and the quality of life of citizens, to ensure that the city is built in a coherent way.

Except that each time we intervene in this way to curb supply, we must be aware that we are unbalancing the market. An already highly unbalanced market, in which aspiring owners are fighting against counter-offers and tenants are struggling to find housing at a reasonable price.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we have to give in to all the promoters’ demands. Unlike Griffintown, where they were left to do what they wanted before thinking about urban planning, Valérie Plante’s administration is proceeding with order in Bridge-Bonaventure.

But we can still ask questions. The City explained to us that it wanted to limit the height of buildings to eight stories everywhere in Bridge-Bonaventure. Yes, public consultations have shown a desire to preserve city views and heritage buildings. But does such a standard really need to be applied wall-to-wall, industry-wide?

The plan also provides for reserving 45 hectares (that’s half the area of ​​Maisonneuve Park) for new industrial and commercial buildings in order to triple the number of workers in the sector. Could some of these spaces be reserved for residential? Can we think of fewer workers and more residents?

In his vision for Bridge-Bonaventure, we feel the city’s concerns to protect industrial heritage and to build a neighborhood “on a human scale”. It is to be welcomed. But neighborhoods that are both dense and pleasant do exist. The City must push the intelligent densification exercise to the end. Not to please the promoters. For the interest of the citizens.