The office tower project overlooking the La Baie store, in downtown Montreal, will ultimately be reduced by around twenty meters in height, to respond to the concerns of citizens expressed before the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM). .
HBC, the promoter of the project, wanted to build a building 120 meters (25 floors) above the northern part of the La Baie store, but the project was reduced to 102 meters (20 floors).
These few meters less will protect the views of the river from the Mont-Royal belvedere, and better harmonize the new tower with the surrounding buildings and with the spire of Christ Church Cathedral, next to the store, argues the City. from Montreal.
“We had a good collaboration, to end up with a profitable project [pour le promoteur] which allows the preservation of a Montreal icon, and we keep the views of Mount Royal, ”says Robert Beaudry, city councilor responsible for town planning on the executive committee.
Remember that the height limit authorized in the sector is 65 meters. HBC must therefore still obtain an exemption from the City for its new construction.
HBC’s plan is to preserve the front part of the La Baie building, called Colonial House, and to restore the original facade.
On the other hand, the rear part, overlooking Boulevard de Maisonneuve, which is a brutalist-style extension dating from 1962, will be demolished to make way for a 102-meter glass tower.
The complex also includes three roof terraces and a terrace café accessible to the public.
Following public consultations on the project, the OCPM asked the City to stop granting piecemeal exemptions to developers who want to build ever higher buildings downtown. It “recommends that the City determine the limits of a planning sector for the city center and immediately proceed with its planning as a whole or impose a moratorium on any new request for exemption until the Plan is revised. of town planning ”.
The old urban plan dates from 2004, recalls Robert Beaudry. “A consultation is coming on the city project with the aim of having an urban planning and mobility plan, so these questions will be integrated into this major consultation, this major reflection,” he underlines.