Montreal would like to see a residential complex of 700 housing units take the place of the old bus station in the east of the city center.
Valérie Plante announced Friday that the City would soon launch a call to developers who would like to develop the site, which currently has no prospect.
Interested parties will have to submit their development vision, including the number of affordable and social housing units they intend to include. In return, the sale price could represent “a fraction” of its market value.
“Our vision is very clear: maximum social and affordable housing,” said the mayor. She said she hoped to see “more than 700 units” come out of the ground with construction starting “from the summer of 2025”.
The current buildings will be demolished. The new building could have the same height as Place Dupuis, which has 23 floors above ground, the Plante administration indicated.
The City of Montreal purchased the former bus station from the Quebec government for 18 million in 2018. This is the southern part of the Voyageur block, the northern part of which has been transformed into an apartment building. A section to the east was sold to a developer and still awaits development.
This land was at the heart of a scandal around fifteen years ago, after the failure of a real estate development project launched by UQAM. Cost for the public treasury: 300 million.