At the top of the Saint-Jacques cliff, opposite the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, the construction of the Le Bosco residential rental complex marks the beginning of the revitalization of the Crowley/Décarie sector.
Philippe Bernard and Yann Lapointe, co-presidents of Pur Immobilia, looked beyond the boarded-up buildings along Décarie Boulevard and saw the potential of the site. They will instead build two separate buildings of 6 and 12 storeys, which will include 231 rental units and 4 businesses.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Philippe Bernard and Yann Lapointe, co-presidents of Pur Immobilia
“The views of Mount Royal and southwest Montreal will be incredible,” says Philippe Bernard. “They will remain unobstructed because we are across from the MUHC, whose very large storefront will never be developed. The infrastructure of the Vendôme metro station and the nearby train station are not expected to change. The proximity of Highway 15 and the MUHC is another asset.”
People like living in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Yann Lapointe also points out. “The name Bosco, which means forest in Italian, evokes peace and tranquility,” he says. “We want to pay tribute to NDG, which is peaceful and has lots of trees. We want to bring that spirit to this area, which needs love.”
3D RENDERING PROVIDED BY PUR IMMOBILIA
The Bosco will consist of two separate buildings, each with its own entrance hall.
The duo began discussions with the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough five years ago. They purchased their first plot of land three years ago and have just acquired a 13ealong Décarie Boulevard, between Crowley Avenue and the Mazda Gabriel dealership.
This allows us to really do something good. We know that on the other side of Crowley Avenue, there will also be development. This whole area, in five or six years, will be completely redone. It will be beautiful.
Yann Lapointe, co-president of Pur Immobilia
Respect for the local population
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Two residential real estate projects, located on either side of Crowley Avenue, along Décarie Boulevard, will help transform the area.
When Pur Immobilia and other developers expressed interest in land facing the MUHC, the Urban Planning and Mobility Department of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough took the opportunity to plan the revitalization of the Crowley/Décarie sector as it wished, by developing an architectural implementation and integration plan (PIIA).
“We didn’t want to be in tow of the various projects and authorize them piecemeal,” says Sébastien Manseau, head of the urban planning division. “We needed to provide guidance so that the projects would speak to each other and also be beneficial for the residents who live on Prud’homme Avenue, at the back, which has a nice atmosphere and whose quality needs to be preserved.”
According to the urban planner, the objectives of the PIIA are based around the ecological and social transition, also for the benefit of the residents of the sector.
We wanted the new populations, who were going to settle near public transport and the MUHC, which is a major employment centre, to integrate into the local population to create a community.
Sébastien Manseau, head of the urban planning division of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough
A series of objectives and criteria have been established, targeting, among other things, landscaping, architecture, sustainable building construction and active mobility.
3D RENDERING PROVIDED BY PUR IMMOBILIA
A carriage entrance will be integrated into the six-story Bosco building to maintain the pedestrian link that already exists between Prud’homme Avenue and Décarie Boulevard.
With respect to Le Bosco, the application of these criteria will ensure that the underground parking will have a smaller footprint than that of the two buildings, in order to allow the planting of trees in the open ground and promote their long-term growth.
A carriage entrance will also be integrated into the six-storey building, at the location of an alleyway linking Prud’homme Avenue and Décarie Boulevard. Pur Immobilia purchased the alleyway and will maintain it in a new form, for the benefit of residents in the area. Two other right-of-way easements will also be established, among other things to facilitate access to Crowley Avenue.
It wasn’t easy to tick all the boxes, admits Mark Chalhoub of Atelier Chaloub Architectes.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Architect Mark Chalhoub worked with Pur Immobilia and the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough to reconcile their respective objectives.
As the project is part of an overall plan, the challenge was to arrive at a project that meets both the objectives of the City and those of the developer, so that it is feasible, of high architectural and urban quality, according to the economic constraints that we are currently experiencing.
Mark Chalhoub, architect
Urban planner Sébastien Manseau is keen to highlight Pur Immobilia’s concern to leave a legacy to the neighborhood.
“The developer took his time to acquire as much land as possible, to give meaning to all of this,” he said. “He could have stopped before reaching the alley, which opens onto Décarie. That would have resulted in a half-finished project, which would have been done more quickly. But he went all the way to create a project that was aligned with the city’s objectives.”
The purchase of the land and the construction of Bosco, carried out by Pur Immobilia, in partnership with Claridge and DACC, represent an investment of 110 million. The first tenants should move in in July 2026. On the other side of Crowley Avenue, at the intersection of Décarie Boulevard, near railway tracks, the developer Rachel Julien will build Station C, a 20-storey building with 288 affordable housing units. A social housing project is also under discussion.
Visit the Bosco website