Montreal has reached an agreement with a developer with whom it has been in conflict since 2021, opening the door to the construction of more than 700 housing units in Verdun.
Posted at 2:01 a.m.
Updated at 7:00 a.m.
The amicable agreement provides that District Atwater inc. will transfer a plot of land in the Hickson-Dupuis sector to the City for the construction of a social housing project. The company will do its own project next door.
“We are really in a sector in redevelopment. And what we wanted was to move as quickly as possible for social housing,” explained the head of housing for the Plante administration, Benoit Dorais.
In 2021, Montreal exercised its right of pre-emption to purchase one of the three contiguous lots that District Atwater inc. wanted to build. The company challenged this decision in court, arguing that the City was thus paralyzing the entire development.
“We were about to go to court,” explained Mr. Dorais, before adding that he preferred an amicable solution to a judgment that was impossible to predict. “What we wanted was to go as quickly as possible. »
Ultimately, the company will sell a plot to the City for 6.7 million with a view to transferring it to a non-profit organization. Objective: 200 social housing units. District Atwater believes it will be able to build 520 housing units on the remainder of the land.
“A great understanding”
Alexandre Forgues, owner of District Atwater, was delighted with the conclusion of an amicable agreement.
“Of course it would have been nice to settle earlier, but today we have a great agreement, which is win-win, which allows us to carry out a great housing project,” he said in an interview. telephone. It’s a social diversity project that is truly ambitious. There are more than 200 social housing units integrated into the projects. »
“The goal is that social housing can be built very quickly,” he added, stressing however that this part of the project was not in his hands.
Among the 520 private housing units directly developed by District Atwater, there should be 20% affordable housing and 10% family housing.
The land at the center of this affair currently accommodates low-rise industrial and commercial buildings. It is located near the heart of Montreal, but isolated by the Aqueduc canal, at the eastern end of the Verdun borough.
In a 2021 document, the borough said it wanted to “maximize the creation of social, family and affordable housing units”, particularly rental ones.
Read “The City did not respect the rules of the game”
