Saint-Philippe, in Montérégie | BRP will settle on controversial ground

BRP, manufacturer of the popular Spyder snowmobiles, personal watercraft and three-wheeled motorcycles, will become one of the occupants of a controversial piece of land in Saint-Philippe, in Montérégie, which is causing discontent among its neighbors in La Prairie. The location will become a global distribution hub for the Quebec multinational.

Controlled by the Beaudoin-Bombardier family, the Valcourt-based company is finalizing an agreement to become the tenant of a state-of-the-art logistics center with an area of ​​just under 70,000 square meters (750,000 square feet). The value of the building is approximately 100 million, which does not take into account the equipment that will be installed inside and the value of the land.

RV spare parts, accessories and clothing will pass through this location on their way to other BRP distribution centers around the world.

“This new center will allow us to centralize the distribution of all of our parts, accessories and clothing to our dealers around the world in one location and thus better serve them,” the company said in a statement, confirming the news. of The Press. “If work proceeds as planned, the new distribution center should be operational by the end of 2025.”

Global hub serving 2,600 dealers

BRP, which took advantage of consumers’ enthusiasm for its recreational vehicles in the wake of the pandemic, sells its products through 2,600 dealerships across 21 countries.

The manufacturer of Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo and Can-Am turned to Saint-Philippe because its current center, located in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about thirty kilometers from the future address, has become cramped. According to documents filed with stock exchange authorities in 2015, the initial area was some 35,000 square meters (375,000 square feet), but the site has grown since then, BRP says, although it did not provide an update.

BRP operates the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu center in collaboration with a third party, in this case DHL, a German giant in logistics services such as warehousing and transportation. Some 350 people work there. We will opt for the same formula in Saint-Philippe. The recreational vehicle manufacturer hopes that all of its employees in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu will agree to change workplaces.

“It is still too early to talk about job creation objectives,” says BRP.

More than a center

The future building will be built by the developer Rosefellow. He plans to build three or four buildings on the 325,000 square meters (3.5 million square feet) plot of land facing the highway. Its plans were presented to the City of Saint-Philippe, reports the latter in a press release published on February 26 and entitled Change of zoning for the establishment of an industrial center in Saint-Philippe.

In this publication, the City says it expects the new industrial park to contribute to the creation of 500 direct jobs and bring in taxes of 40 million in 10 years. The buildings will be built to reduce carbon emissions during both construction and operation. In total, only half of the lot will be built. In addition, development of the Western Chorus Frog, a protected species, will also be carried out.

Rosefellow’s project, which has a purchase option on the land currently held by Maryo Lamothe’s Maison Candiac, provides for the creation of a buffer zone of nearly 100 meters between future industrial buildings and the residential district of La Prairie. just to the north.

The Press reported on February 12 the opposition of the citizens of La Prairie and its mayor Frédéric Galantai, the latter going so far as to fear “a mini-Northvolt” – a reference to the 7 billion battery cell mega-factory project which straddles Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville. Basically, they fear having to suffer the disadvantages of the industrial center on their quality of life without being able to benefit from tax revenues. They are against the estimated daily traffic of 50 trucks and the height of future buildings.

“This distribution center will cause significant nuisance for my citizens. As mayor of La Prairie, I must take into consideration their demands in relation to this issue,” said Frédéric Galantai, in an interview on Monday.

He intends to negotiate with the neighboring town to minimize said nuisance. The Mayor does not plan to file an injunction at this stage. There is also no question of negotiating the attachment to the city of La Prairie of the landlocked territory since the construction of Highway 30.

At Saint-Philippe town hall, the spokesperson on the file, Martin Lelièvre, is absent this school break week. The communications department recalled that the land which has just been rezoned for industrial use previously authorized the construction of 1,800 homes. “In the case of a residential complex, the City should have worked to ensure a certain densification. This situation would therefore have forced the appearance of high density buildings on these lands,” we explain.