Major project to get no citizen hearings
Kristian has an important blog piece this week on the proposed giant development along Ste-Catherine between Crescent and Mountain. Bottom line is that people seem apathetic about it – maybe because a lot of people party around there but few people live there – and nobody signed the city register to begin the public consultation process. People may not realize how much this is going to change the vibe around a major piece of western downtown.
david m 17:01 on 2012/06/29 Permalink
over the next five years, insane change is coming to that area.
1) above saint-cath, the ogilvy block that christian mentioned will be redeveloped, including 50% of the east side of crescent street there, with replacement commercial space;
2) below saint-cath, the parking lots and mad hatter site will be redeveloped – bringing in a few dozen residents and ground floor commercial to extend the streetwall on the west side of crescent all the way to brutopia;
3) also below saint cath, the entirety of the surface parking on the east side of drummond street north of réné-lévesque will give way to two largish residential projects over ground-level commercial, extending the drummond street commercial area further south;
4) on the north side of réné-lévesque between montagne and drummond, a huge two-tower residential project will rise over 40 stories (with grade-level commercial);
5) across the street, on the south side of réné-lévesque between montagne and drummond, a slightly shorter two-tower residential project will rise over street-level commercial;
6) behind that project, on the same block, the north side of canadians ave between montagne and drummond will see a large hotel and residential complex rise;
7) across from that, on the site of the current habs centennial square, a very tall residential tower will rise;
8) oh, and almost forgot the surface parking at bishop between réné-lévesque and saint-cath, where the commercial streetwall will extend south under mid-rise residential developments.
would be nice if people got involved in some mitigation (especially on the crescent street treatment in the ogilvy project), but as a general rule, montrealers are extremely hostile to development, so pro-development types like myself sort of don’t mind that they’d keep to themselves.
Kate 21:14 on 2012/06/29 Permalink
I have wondered this and ask again: who in Montreal can afford these elite condos who hasn’t already bought one?
Someone once told me a lot of them are bought by people who don’t live here, as pieds-à-terre for occasional visits, or to rent out for revenue or for whatever reason you buy real estate in cities where you don’t live. But it’s not great for a city having a lot of residential space bought up on spec and lying fallow.
Robert H 13:57 on 2012/06/30 Permalink
Je ne comprends pas pourquoi si peu des gens ne s’interessent davantage à tous ces grands changements qui viendront a ce coin du Centre-ville. Comme tu l’as dit, Kate, c’est probablement parce qu’il n’y a relativement assez des personnes qui y vivrent. Je me demande aussi qui va acheter tous ces nouveaux condominiums (et d’où vient l’argent?). Tout de même, je crois que ces projets seront une amélioration pour un endroit criblé des stationnements aux mauvaises herbes et les murs aveugles marqués avec le graffiti. Bien que je me hâte de voir les travaux démarrer, c’est important que le citoyen qui veut être entendu n’attend jusqu’à les alentours d’où se croisent les rues Sainte Catherine, de la Montagne, et Crescent deviennent pendant les prochaines années Le Quartier des Grues.
david m 19:35 on 2012/06/30 Permalink
tout à travers l’amérique du nord on témoigne la repopulation du centre-ville, sa bonification et son agrandissement au dépens de la banlieue. et même si chez nous autres ça a pris un peu plus de temps (disons une décennie de plus), la tendence est actuellement en plein essor, comme démontre l’explosion actuelle de projets immobiliers. c’est-à-dire que où il y a dix ans un professionel typique (ou un couple) dans sa trentaine chercherait à acheter sur le plateau, en hochelaga, dans saint-henri ou bien plus loin dans les villes fusionnées à montréal, aujourd’hui ils cherchent aussi à vivre tout prèt de où ils bossent, où ils passent leurs temps libre. le mépris envers des condos ne cesse à diminué.
et il y a, bien sur, des investisseurs qui cherchent à tirer profit là-dedans, mais eux ils ne forment qu’un petit pourcentage des actifs – face aux prix des unités agées, les primes d’acheter au neuf dissuadent ceux qui pense à court terme.
Doobious 16:07 on 2012/07/03 Permalink
I read somewhere that fully half of the units in the Le Seville complex have been bought by Chinese, either as investments or student residences. Extrapolate at your own risk.