Montreal is preparing to launch a call for projects for the construction of affordable housing on a first plot of land on the site of the former Montreal racecourse, in Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. This transaction will allow just over 200 housing units to be built in the east of the site in 2025.
According to the head of housing on the executive committee, Benoit Dorais, Montreal had until October 2023 to sell a first plot, failing which the government reserved the right to repossess the site. He believes that the call for projects will allow the City to respect the agreement concluded in 2017 with Quebec.
In 2019, Mayor Valérie Plante announced her administration’s intention to develop the site so that it accommodates 6,000 housing units, including at least 20% social housing and 20% affordable housing, as well as family housing. The City intends to develop a carbon-neutral eco-district, which means that the buildings that will be built there will have to meet ecological certification criteria and will have to be efficient in terms of energy saving.
The first lot to be sold is located to the east of the Namur-Hippodrome site where the underground infrastructure is already present, which is not the case for the rest of the site. A formal call for projects including specifications will be launched at the end of September and non-profit organizations active in the field of Housing will be invited to submit their proposal. The City intends to sell the lot at a price below the market. The construction of these first housing units on the Namur-Hippodrome site is scheduled for 2025. Benoit Dorais considers the allocation of this first plot of land to be “experimental”. “This kind of project could see the light of day elsewhere, perhaps along the blue line or in the east,” he said.
As for the overall plan of the vast 95-hectare site, it should be ready for 2024.
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