It will still be necessary to wait before the private sector brings up housing on the site of the old racetrack in Montreal.
Call to sell land to build 60% affordable condos has not elicited any bids from private developers, learned The Press.
“For your information, the City of Montreal has not received any tender for the acquisition of the lot”, is it written in an email sent by the building service to the promoters who requested a copy of the call book. The purpose of the communication was to find out why the promoters had not responded to the call.
The fate of the hippodrome is important, because it is a vast land belonging to the City of Montreal and largely uncontaminated. It was Quebec that graciously ceded the land to Montreal in 2017, after five years of negotiation. The two partners must share the proceeds from the sale of the land. Horse races were held at the racecourse from 1907 to 2009.
In the context of the housing crisis, the City has all the levers in this sector to build approximately 6,000 housing units, which would help rebalance the market for the benefit of Montrealers looking for a roof at a reasonable cost.
For ten years, the City of Montreal has announced without follow-up the subdivision of the former grounds of the hippodrome in the northwest of the city, near boulevard Décarie, at the height of the Namur metro station.
Last August and October, the Plante administration launched the first two calls for tenders for this vast 43-hectare site. The two lots represent approximately 4% of the total area.
The first call for tenders in September 2022 was reserved for NPOs. It sought the sale of land for $4.5 million in exchange for a commitment to build 200 affordable rental units in a building of up to 8 stories. The City is in the process of analyzing the bids received.
Too many criteria, not enough information
The October tender was open to all and involved the sale of 4,208 square meters of land at a minimum price of 10 million in exchange for the construction of condominium units, 60% of which had to qualify as affordable housing for 30 years.
“The City asked for 10 million or $55 per buildable square foot, which is not cheap in this sector of the city, explains on the phone a promoter, who does not want to be named so as not to harm his relations with the authorities. . The details of the overall plan for the sector and its timetable for completion are not known, which poses the risk that the building will be isolated for a long time. In addition, the City is asking for huge financial guarantees to protect the affordability of housing. No wonder no promoters have signaled their interest. »
“I’m not really surprised at the lack of interest from private developers,” comments Danielle Pilette, professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), a specialist in urban development issues.
This administration has an ambiguous attitude towards private development. Yes, she says she wants private development. If it works, great. But my hypothesis is that the City of Montreal is much more interested in social housing.
Danielle Pilette, professor at UQAM specializing in municipal management
The academic, who read the call book, noted the many constraints that the City imposed on private developers in a difficult economic context with rising interest rates. It gives as an example the prohibition of outdoor parking spaces and the obligation to reserve one parking space out of three for car sharing.
“Given the reluctance of the private sector in the current economic context, the time is right for governments to invest in community housing,” adds Édith Cyr, CEO of the technical resource group Bâtir son quartier.
On the side of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec (IDU), lobby of the developers, we had heard that the conditions required by the City in this file did not make it possible to reach an agreement.
“There is no development vision for the remaining 96% of the area. To be honest, maybe that’s partly one of the problems with his selling proposition,” he told The Press its CEO Jean-Marc Fournier.
The boss of the IDU suggests that Montreal and Quebec team up to enhance the grounds of the racecourse. The province would pay for the infrastructure first and Montreal would reimburse part of the bill with the property taxes collected later.
Political reactions
“The goal [de l’appel d’offres destiné au privé] was to test the industry’s response to this new way of marketing City land. We plan to survey our partners to identify the reasons behind this lack of interest. This experimental mode of operation came with risks, but we were ready to accept them in order to be able to identify the best strategies to accelerate the development of the rest of the sector and elsewhere in Montreal, ”reacted the executive committee of the City, in an email sent. at The Press.
The opposition is asking the Plante administration to unveil its overall vision for the sector.
“Unfortunately, the many barriers and conditions put in place by the Plante administration to develop affordable housing in Montreal are scaring away developers. It is not with piecemeal projects that Projet Montréal will promote the development of the area of the former racetrack. For the will of our partners to be met, the administration must give them the right facts about the project and present them with an overall vision that includes affordable housing, public transit service and urban agriculture,” said Aref Salem, Leader of the Official Opposition.
Ten years later, still nothing
October 2009
End of horse racing
March 2012
Mayor Gérald Tremblay announces the transfer of the site by Quebec to the City of Montreal.
October 2012
The City announces the redevelopment of the site in 5 phases from 2017 to 2026, between 5000 and 8000 housing units are planned.
October 2014
Mayor Denis Coderre reveals that the agreement between Quebec and Montreal regarding the transfer of the land has not yet been signed.
June 2017
The transfer agreement is finally signed. Montreal plans to build 5,000 housing units, 30% of which will be affordable housing.
October 2017
Projet Montréal wants to make it a family neighborhood, with 60% 3-bedroom units.
2018
Demolition of buildings on site
August 2019
Mayor Valérie Plante announces a green and avant-garde project of 8,000 housing units.
October 2019
The ambitions of the City are reduced to 6000 housing units, the future district will be carbon neutral.
October 2020
The report of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal questions the viability of the project, in particular because of road congestion in the area.
October 2021
Montreal is targeting the hippodrome lands as one of four future carbon-neutral eco-districts. It must have 7,500 housing units, including 2,000 social and 2,000 affordable. Development is planned over two to five years.
August 22, 2022
Launch of a first call for tenders reserved for NPOs for the construction of 200 100% affordable housing units. About 6,000 homes are planned. The results have not yet been released.
October 17, 2022
Launch of a second call for tenders for the sale of land at a minimum price of 10 million in return for the construction of a minimum of 60% affordable housing for 30 years. The offer did not elicit any bids.