Dorchester Island: the Trudel group makes adjustments to its $300M project

The Trudel group is still banking on a real estate complex which rises to 20 floors, in the Saint-Roch district, but affirms that improvements have been made to limit its visual impact and increase greening.

This is a revised version of the $300M real estate project, at the location of the Dorchester block parking lot, which will be presented to citizens during an information and discussion session on Wednesday evening.

The mixed complex (residential and commercial) is still divided into five interconnected buildings, ranging from 6 to 20 floors. However, the upper part of the tallest building, where the hotel is to be housed, has been revised, in particular the aesthetics of the “curtain wall” made of glass and aluminum.

“We really simplified the facades as much as possible and then we even integrated a certain recess of the facade on the corner of rue Sainte-Hélène […] to ultimately maximize the clearance of the sky,” explains David Chabot, director of the President’s Office at Trudel Corporation, in an interview with The Journal.

Social housing

In this building, the hotel will occupy two fewer floors in order to add 20 apartments. On the ground floor, a “volume” grocery store is still in the works.

Furthermore, of the 60 affordable housing units that had been announced for the entire project, Trudel decided to convert 20 into social housing (i.e. subsidized).

In total, the project now provides approximately 410 residential units.

“What we claim is that the volume of a building, yes, it is important, but the most important thing is the integration of the project into the sector and that is what we has improved,” maintains Mr. Chabot.

The developer also considers that he has made an effort to improve the greening, with the addition of four green roofs and façade vegetation. Around twenty trees are planned along the axis of Saint-Vallier Street, including two parks which will be transferred to the City.

Other changes

According to Mr. Chabot, these changes aim to respond to comments collected during a voluntary public consultation previously conducted by Trudel in the spring.

Among other adjustments, we now plan to build an elevator to facilitate universal accessibility to Place des Tanneurs and to make available to the community a 3,000 square foot artistic space.

In addition, 50 underground parking spaces are removed from the project.

In addition to the information session on Wednesday evening, the project is also the subject of a written consultation until October 30. The Dorchester block is notably subject to the Special Urban Planning Program (PPU) for the southern sector of downtown Saint-Roch.

The Trudel group, which hoped to begin preparatory work this fall, is now banking on launching the project in spring 2025.