A massive new housing project that would dramatically change the urban landscape of Montreal in the Peel Basin has been proposed.
The Vision Bridge-Bonaventure Consortium wants to build 9,500 housing units that would take up the equivalent of more than eight football fields in building space.
The land promoters are considering borders the Bonaventure Expressway and the Five Roses flour mill touching the Sud-Ouest and Downtown boroughs.
“Of course, it’s exciting because we’re at the entrance of the busiest bridge and highway, almost, in Canada, with the Bonaventure coming into downtown,” Pierre Jacques Lefaivre, senior vice-president of Groupe Mach, told Global News.
The land to be developed is currently zoned industrial and is made up mostly of vacant space or boarded-up buildings.
Lafaivre insists 20 per cent of the housing units would be affordable for low-income earners but there will be something for everyone.
“We’re looking at having the broadest span of products. So, it’s going to be affordable, there is going to be family, there is going to be apartments for rent, there is going to be condos for sale. So, we are trying to create a mix,” he said.
The proposal is far from a done deal. Montreal city officials are currently conducting public consultations to draw up a new urban plan for the district.
“It’s what the people want to be improved and we’re going to bring a new social contract to the population for many years after that,” Robert Beaudry, the Montreal executive committee member responsible for urban planning, told Global News.
Easy access to public transit also needs to be included in any future plan, according to Beaudry.
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