The City of Montreal announced Wednesday that it had invested $6.3 million in an affordable student housing tower intended to see the light of day in time for the start of the 2026 school year in the heart of downtown.
The defunct performance hall of the Katacombes coop, which closed its doors in 2019, will be replaced within three years by a 13-storey tower which will include 170 accommodations capable of accommodating 281 students, foresees the Work Unit for the implementation student accommodation (UTILE).
“It was a collective project, the Katacombes, and it would have been infinitely sad to see it replaced by a completely private project”, reacted Wednesday Robert Beaudry, the councilor of the district of Saint-Jacques, in Ville-Marie , during a press conference held in the morning on Wednesday. The elected official was delighted that it was rather a non-profit project intended for students with modest incomes which would see the light of day on this site.
The organization, which is not its first project of its kind in the metropolis, obtained a grant of $6.3 million from the City to finance the construction of this building, which will see the light of day in a strategic sector of the city center, in the Quartier des spectacles. The project also benefited from an envelope of 1.5 million from the Student Association of McGill University and a loan of 8.2 million granted by the FTQ Real Estate Solidarity Fund to help UTILE to buy this land and to finance the construction of a building there.
“Thus, Montreal will be able to welcome more students into the metropolis without taking away housing for families,” rejoiced the head of housing on the executive committee, Benoit Dorais. The elected official then recalled the results of a study conducted by UTILE published in August according to which Montreal student tenants suffered a 20% increase in their rent in two years. The average rent for Montreal students was then $1,175 per month, although half of them earned less than $20,000 per year.
“Do the math: it doesn’t swing that much,” said Mr. Dorais. In this context, “improving the supply of student housing is essential for Montreal to maintain its vitality, maintain its inclusive character and maintain its diversity,” argued the elected representative from Projet Montréal.
The Ville-Marie district has also granted an exemption to this project in order to allow the construction of a 45-meter building on this land, located on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, even if the town planning regulations normally limit the height permitted at this location is 25 meters.
“Initially, the urban plan did not allow for a project of this type. Nevertheless, we saw, as an administration, both at the local and central level, the benefits that it could bring to the Montreal community,” explained Mr. Beaudry. “We arrive with a leverage project which shows that it is possible in this sector, even if it is central, to carry out emblematic projects and that we can do them quickly because the need is there,” he said. he continued.