Moderna came close to settling on land owned by the real estate giant Broccolini, in the borough of Saint-Laurent, before announcing Thursday, the same day that the administrative procedures ended in Montreal, that it will rather settle in Laval, learned The duty.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante was not straying when she said in late April that the pharmaceutical giant would set up its factory “in Montreal” – not in the region. metropolitan. Several sources familiar with the matter confirm to the To have to that the only option which was then studied by Moderna in the region was a huge piece of land belonging to Broccolini on the site of the Technoparc, in the borough of Saint-Laurent.
“For us, the Montreal region was the Technoparc”, illustrates To have to the head of economic development at the City of Montreal, Luc Rabouin.
This vacant lot, with an industrial vocation, is located near a future station of the Metropolitan Express Network, a hotel in the area and Highway 40.
“All of this ensured that the site met Moderna’s objectives,” said the president of the Broccolini real estate group, Roger Plamondon, in an interview.
Concerns were then raised with the City by Montreal International, the borough and Moderna that this factory project could require modifications to the City’s urban plan, involving a delay of up to six months, indicate our sources.
However, this option was not an option for the pharmaceutical giant, which wanted to start construction of this plant on September 1. The site would have been led by Broccolini after the latter sold his land to Moderna, we learned.
The City then went out of its way to get the urban planning department to study this file urgently. Result: 48 hours later, the project was deemed to be in conformity with the urban plan and could move on to the next stages. “There was no more stake,” recalls Mr. Rabouin.
“Everyone was very happy that we had unblocked that and that the project was progressing very very well for the Technoparc”, he underlines.
Race against time
The file was then transferred to the borough, which handles permit applications and zoning-related files. It has also been busy in recent weeks to quickly adopt the Moderna project by its elected officials. A notice of motion was first approved on June 28 by local elected officials. The project was then submitted in July to the Borough’s Urban Planning Advisory Committee, which submitted its recommendations to local elected officials, before the latter unanimously approved the Moderna factory project at second reading, on 3 august.
“We assured the client not only that we are interested, but that secondly, we will make efforts so that regulatory and architectural issues are not an issue” for Moderna’s installation in Saint-Laurent, affirms the mayor of Saint-Laurent, Alan DeSousa, who has worked “all summer” in this direction.
The last stage of regulatory adoption, after which a building permit could have been issued in this case, was also scheduled for Thursday evening. This extraordinary meeting of the borough council was however canceled when its members learned, in the media, that Moderna had finally opted for Laval to build a manufacturing plant for vaccines.
“On the regulatory side, we were ready as early as yesterday to ensure that all the regulatory aspects had all been met,” noted Mr. DeSousa.
But it was too late, laments Luc Rabouin, who blames the borough of Saint-Laurent for having been slow, according to him, to approve the Moderna project as it is after having first tried to impose modifications on it. However, the pharmaceutical giant is used to building a generic factory model wherever it sets up shop and was not open to these modifications, according to our information.
“If there is a reason that Moderna is not in Montreal, it is because the borough alone, without ever consulting or notifying us, has set requirements for the Moderna project in the Technoparc “says Mr. Rabouin, visibly irritated. Words rejected by Alan DeSousa.
“For all practical purposes, both in the acceptance of the project and in the regulatory changes, the elected members of the council [d’arrondissement] voted unanimously and in a record time” of a month and a half, replies the mayor of Saint-Laurent.
Roger Plamondon, of Broccolini, ensures for his part that the sale price of the land to Moderna in the Technoparc sector – which is the subject of confidential agreements – was “not an issue” for the multinational. “What was necessary was to obtain the necessary permits and authorizations for the project,” adds the promoter. The latter thus believes that reflection is needed to improve communication between the City and its boroughs to prevent other major projects from slipping into the hands of the metropolis.
The promoter Broccolini intends to take part in the call for proposals in the hope of becoming responsible for the construction of the Moderna plant in Laval, learned The duty.
The pharmaceutical giant did not respond to our questions on Friday.