The City of Montreal will inaugurate a mini golf course on Thursday afternoon on land acquired in 2021 to develop social and affordable housing, but which has remained vacant due to lack of a project.
The construction of approximately 45 housing units spread over four floors was to begin in 2023, which the City of Montreal announced in a press release.
The City had exercised its right of pre-emption to acquire this 1,200 square meter plot of land, located at the corner of Laurier Est and Papineau avenues. The land acquired thanks to this right is dedicated to social and affordable housing projects.
In the absence of a social or affordable housing project with a complete financial package presented to the City, the land remains vacant.
We have identified this land as a priority and it is very well located, so we hope that we will have all the conditions met for a project to come to fruition as quickly as possible.
explains Laurence Parent, borough councilor in the De Lorimier district of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
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A mini golf course has been installed at the corner of Papineau and Laurier Est streets.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
The City of Montreal points to the lack of funds in the new Quebec Affordable Housing Program (PHAQ), which replaced the AccèsLogis program in 2023.
In the meantime, the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough has installed a six-hole mini golf course on the grounds, and plans to inaugurate it Thursday afternoon in the company of Carl Carmoni, a legend of the discipline.
In addition to mini golf, the borough has implemented an urban agriculture project in collaboration with the Cégep de Victoriaville.
It’s a public square that adds to a neighborhood where not everyone has a yard.
adds Laurence Parent.
This land, which housed a garage and a gas station, belonged to the oil company Suncor, and was valued at $1.5 million in 2021 according to the property assessment roll.
The land has been decontaminated by Suncor, confirms the City of Montreal, and the transaction should be finalized in the coming weeks, once environmental analyzes are completed.
