The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project, which accelerates economic and real estate development in the suburbs of Montreal, raises the concerns of several residents, who fear that their neighborhood will be transformed after this project, for better or for worse. . Third and last text in our series.
The light rail of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will not come into operation until spring 2024 in the west of the island of Montreal, but already, high-rise real estate projects abound in this sector, which is currently poorly served in public transport. To the point of making it an electoral issue, especially in Pointe-Claire, a linked city of about 31,300 inhabitants which is experiencing a real real estate boom.
“We are becoming Mississauga [en Ontario] or Griffintown. We are growing much too quickly for our transport network and our space, ”worries the candidate for mayor of Pointe-Claire Tim Thomas, who faces the outgoing mayor, John Belvedere, in the municipal race that is coming to an end. The municipality, whose residential neighborhoods are mainly made up of medium-sized suburban houses, now finds itself struggling with high-rise residential projects that want to maximize the available space, which is becoming increasingly scarce.
“Development should adapt to citizens, and this is not the case,” laments Mr. Thomas, who fears that these real estate projects will increase road congestion and pollution in the linked city in addition to limiting the presence there. Green spaces.
Several residents are also worried about the future that awaits the Fairview forest, which belongs to the private developer Cadillac Fairview. The latter, who already owns a shopping center to the east of this forest, wishes to develop a huge residential and commercial real estate project in this sector, which could include up to 5,000 homes. The promoter did not respond to questions from To have to in the last days about the future of this forest, which several residents consider threatened by the real estate effervescence in Pointe-Claire.
“We are not against development, but we are against development on the green spaces that remain,” explains Geneviève Lussier, spokesperson for the citizens’ group Sauvons la forêt Fairview.
Respond to the request
The potential arrival of thousands of new residents in Pointe-Claire, where a separate real estate project of more than 700 apartments on Frontenac Avenue was also approved in mid-September, among many others, also raises concerns. concerns about the City’s ability to provide adequate basic services to so many people. “I have a hard time finding day camps for my children in the summer. You have to line up because there are too many people, ”already notes Mariève Paradis, a resident of Pointe-Claire, who is also worried about the lack of affordable housing in this area, where prices are increasing on the market. estate market.
“Everything that is done in Pointe-Claire is monstrous houses costing more than a million dollars,” underlines Mr. Thomas, who also fears that residential projects in the municipality will encroach on commercial areas, which can already be seen in the city center of the municipality. “I want to prevent this. “
For his part, the outgoing mayor, John Belvedere, does not take a dim view of the real estate effervescence underway in the municipality he has led since 2017. He recognizes, however, that it must be better supervised.
“We cannot completely stop developments, but we can control them,” he argues, while stressing the importance, in particular, of finding a “balance” between the different types of housing that will be built, so that ‘There are not only condominiums, but also rental apartments and retirement homes, among others. The mayoral candidate also promises, if he is re-elected, to hold a public consultation from January 2022 as part of the process of creating the new urban plan for the City of Pointe-Claire, in order to better define his development.
“There are a lot of things that have changed with the REM. There are already a lot of projects under construction now, ”he admits. The City is also working on the creation of a municipal fund for the development of affordable housing to which real estate developers will contribute through financial compensation, he says.
“A change of lifestyle”
In the neighboring town of Kirkland, a municipality of just over 20,000 inhabitants, the real estate boom is also being felt a few years after the arrival of the REM, which will have a station there. It is also near this future light rail stop that real estate developers Broccolini and RioCan intend to transform a shopping center into a set of new buildings that will include offices, shops and at least 1,000 new housing units.
“It’s really to create a new community”, explains the president of Broccolini, Roger Plamondon, in an interview with the To have to. The arrival of dense real estate projects in Kirkland, however, raises “multiple challenges” for this municipality, which will have to adapt its services and road infrastructure accordingly, believes Mr. Plamondon.
“It is a fairly significant change in lifestyle compared to what we currently see in Kirkland” which awaits the residents of this municipality, foresees the promoter. Mr. Plamondon believes, however, that the construction of condominium residences in Kirkland will ultimately help prevent young families from “leaving” this municipality to settle elsewhere, for lack of the means to buy a house there.
“The arrival of new residents, new projects, that does not mean that they will be negative projects”, recalls Mr. Plamondon, who is aware that it will undoubtedly not be easy to rally residents around. of these new developments. He also recalls that the REM will correct an important “gap” in the West Island of Montreal: the absence of a structuring public transport network.