A densification of the metropolis is essential, in particular near metro stations, in order to respond to the lack of available housing, estimates the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM). But it must be done in an intelligent way to ensure the protection of the environment and a fluidity of movements, specifies the organization.
The duty has obtained an embargoed copy of the brief that the CCMM will submit today as part of the process undertaken by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) to guide the City in drafting its Master Plan and mobility 2050. Real estate development in Montreal being intrinsically linked to that of public transit, the organization focuses its vision of the future of the development of the metropolis around a densification adapted to this context.
The CCMM therefore proposes an upward revision of the densification thresholds planned in various sectors of Montreal so that housing towers of 15 floors and more can emerge around “current or planned” public transit stations. Elsewhere, in residential areas, residential buildings of six to eight floors should be able to see the light of day, estimates the organization.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to address the lack of available affordable housing, the document notes. Because, currently, “it is the scarcity that creates pressure on prices”, which harms the economic development of Montreal by creating challenges in recruiting manpower, we can read.
“Density is one of the fundamental solutions to the objective of increasing the supply [de logements] and to think well about collective development”, affirms to the To have to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the CCMM, Michel Leblanc. The construction of denser buildings could also stimulate the economy by promoting the creation of shops on the ground floor of these buildings, he notes.
A tax logic to be reversed
In addition to lightening its zoning regulations, the City could reduce the tax burden imposed on planned real estate projects, particularly around future blue line extension metro stations or near the Metropolitan Express Network, which is under construction. Currently, developers wishing to build buildings in these areas — in high demand — must expect to pay costly royalties. “This logic should be reversed,” argues Mr. Leblanc, especially since dense buildings located near public transit help limit “community spending,” in particular by reducing the use of “solo cars.” .
The CCMM also believes that the city’s future urban plan should limit the ability of boroughs to demand last-minute changes to real estate projects that have already gone through a long approval process. In other words, the organization requires less bureaucracy and more predictability for real estate developers.
“It takes an expression of the will of the municipal authorities to ensure that the projects can evolve in a positive way”, so that once a project is “positively received” at the end of a public consultation process, the promoter has the assurance of being able to move forward.
Well thought out density
Dense development, however, cannot be done without supervision, recognizes Mr. Leblanc. Otherwise, there is a risk of repeating “the Griffintown case”, where the frantic real estate construction on the fringes of the 2008 financial crisis took place without the City planning, upstream, the creation of parks and schools, a situation that She then tried to correct, at great expense, when the sector was already suffering the repercussions of real estate speculation.
However, densification, when it is well planned, can conversely contribute to the creation of green spaces by limiting the footprint of residential buildings, argues Michel Leblanc. “Paradoxically, the density makes it possible to ventilate the city on the ground. So, if we do that well, we can have more spaces reserved for parks, for public spaces. We can even have slightly wider streets,” he says, calling on developers and the City to work together on better land use planning.
The construction of high-rise buildings also facilitates the inclusion of affordable housing in real estate projects, thus having developers the ability to “amortize” fixed costs “over a greater number of[habitations] “, advances the memory of the CCMM. Densification could therefore, in the long term, improve “social diversity” in the metropolis, we can read.
Finally, the CCMM asks the City to preserve the fluidity of travel in the metropolis, for example by avoiding the development of cycle paths on roads currently reserved for transit travel. “We may want to densify, but the city must also remain functional by allowing the movement of goods and people who wish to move beyond a neighboring district with a certain fluidity”, evokes Michel Leblanc, who calls the City to “identify its transit arteries” to facilitate car travel. “It takes a plan,” he says.
On Tuesday, the OCPM held its first session to hear opinions as part of this public consultation. The City, for its part, intends to adopt its future urban planning and mobility plan next year.