MUHC asks to finish Cedar project
Wants province to force city to change zoning
Rising four storeys next to the Montreal General Hospital, the empty concrete structure at 1750 Cedar Ave. – once proposed as a condominium complex – has fast become an eyesore across from Mount Royal Park as well as a symbol of dysfunctional planning by the Mcgill University Health Centre.
Construction at the site has been halted since 2009, when the city rejected a zoning request by developer Vincent Chiara to transform the project from condos to a medical complex.
And so the drab, grey structure stands in limbo beside the hospital and alongside a row of charming red-brick houses further west on Cedar. Last winter, workers shored up a wall at the site that was in danger of collapsing. A security fence has been placed around the property as renovations to the Montreal General continue.
The MUHC, through one of its non-profit subsidiaries, quietly purchased the property from Chiara in 2010, hoping to develop it as a $30-million complex of outpatient clinics. In October, however, the city of Montreal turned down the MUHC’S zoning request.
Michael Applebaum, chairman of Montreal’s executive committee, accused the MUHC of breaking a heritage pact it had signed with the city in 2008 pledging to carry out the expansion of the Montreal General within its existing property lines.
The development of 1750 Cedar would have extended beyond the Montreal General’s “footprint” and “amplified the hospital presence on the mountainside,” the Office de consultation publique de Montréal concluded.
Arthur Porter, former executive director of the MUHC, said he “coveted” the property especially for its underground parking spots.
The Gazette has learned that the MUHC is trying to revive the project, hoping to persuade the prov- incial government to issue a decree to override the city’s rejection. Normand Rinfret, interim director general of the MUHC, has entered into talks with the provincial government as well as the Montreal Health and Social Services Agency.
The MUHC has decided to cut out the city from those talks.
“Basically, there is a reflection happening right now between the MUHC, the agence and the government,” Rinfret said in an interview on Wednesday. “They will advise us on what the next step will be once we will have finished that discussion.”
Rinfret insisted that developing 1750 Cedar for outpatient clinics is critical for the Montreal General’s future. (However, developing that property was never part of the initial $160-million expansion plan of the Montreal General that had been approved by the city.)
“For the patients, it’s extremely important,” Rinfret said.
However, Health Minister Yves Bolduc’s press attaché reiterated on Thursday that the government does not intend to intervene in the project.
“For us, the file is closed,” said Natacha Joncas Boudreau.
She added that at this stage, discussions with the MUHC have not even involved the Health Department, but rather the provincial agency in charge of the modernization of Montreal’s university teaching hospitals.
Darren Becker, an aide to Applebaum, said the city hasn’t backed down from its refusal to grant the MUHC a zoning change.
He acknowledged that Quebec could easily override the city, but in that case the government would have to explain its decision to Montrealers.
If the MUHC has a long-term strategy or Plan B for 1750 Cedar, it isn’t saying for now.
Dinu Bumbaru, policy director at Heritage Montreal, has suggested that the property be developed for its original residential purpose.
In the meantime, the concrete shell and scaffolding stand forlornly on Cedar, and could well remain that way for months to come.