Mega-mall will break ground this year, says developer
The developer who wants to build a massive commercial centre in the Town of Mount Royal said he plans to break ground this year — even if the Montreal Agglomeration Council doesn’t back the project.
The Royalmount development, at the intersections of Highways 15 and 40, has received approval from the Town of Mount Royal, where the majority of the site is located, but it has not received approval from the agglomeration council — the additional tier of municipal government that is responsible for island-wide issues.
While former mayor Denis Coderre said that approval was necessary before the project could go ahead, Andrew Lutfy, the president and CEO of Carbonleo, the developer behind the plan, said he believes he has all the authorization he needs.
“The permission really lies within the Town of Mount Royal, and it’s been fully zoned and fully approved in TMR,” Lutfy said.
Pre-leasing has started, he said, and construction is scheduled to start in the third quarter — July 1 to Sept. 30 — of 2018.
“Legally, the project can go ahead without any acceptance from Montreal. It’s on TMR land,” said Philippe Roy, the mayor of TMR and a supporter of the project.
While Montreal can’t block the project, he wants the city administration on-board and believes they can still come around, he said.
“No elected people will say no to that kind of private money, that kind of job creation,” he said.
But elected officials at Montreal City Hall don’t share Roy’s enthusiasm for the project.
“We have serious concerns regarding the impact on traffic and the impact on the commercial vitality of the metropolis,” said Éric Alan Caldwell, the city councillor for Hochelaga and the member of the executive committee responsible for urban planning, transportation and the Office de consultation publique de Montréal.
However, he didn’t say what options the city, or the agglomeration council, might have if it does decide to oppose the project. Because of the structure of the agglomeration council, it is essentially controlled by Montreal’s municipal administration.
“It’s a project that is on the territory of the Town of Mount Royal. The agglomeration, on the other hand, looks after issues related to traffic management and commercial vitality, and it’s on these two same issues that we have real concerns,” he said.
Caldwell said the city is looking for solutions to its concerns and that it has met with the developer.
Earlier on Monday, Lutfy addressed the Canadian Club of Montreal, a business organization, where he sought to address those concerns.
While Lutfy acknowledged the project would increase traffic in the area, he said his company has hired traffic experts and is actively working with the provincial Ministry of Transportation to ensure that it has a net neutral effect on traffic.
Lutfy said he doesn’t see the project competing with retailers on Montreal Island. Rather, he sees it competing with off-island retail centres.
“You have a massive exodus of dollars that’s either going to the north or to the south where there’s been tremendous development over the past 30 years,” he said.
That includes Quartier DIX30 in Brossard, which was also developed by Carbonleo.
The Royalmount development received approval from TMR in 2015 and was originally scheduled to break ground before the end of 2017. Lutfy said that delay was because of “commercial realities” and the need to continue developing plans.
The first phase of the project is now scheduled to open in 2022.
The estimated cost of that phase alone is $1.2 billion. It will include retail, entertainment, hotel and office components. Eventually, the plan is to grow the development to a total of more than 278,000 square metres.
Marian Scott of the Montreal Gazette contributed to this report.
You have a massive exodus of dollars that’s either going to the north or to the south where there’s been tremendous development over the past 30 years.