CITY WARY OF SPECTRUM ‘STUNT’
Vows consultation for $700M project
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A developer’s announcement of a $700-million project to build twin 50-plus-storey residential towers in downtown Montreal caused a spectacle on Thursday, and not just because the proposed construction would fill the long-vacant site of the former Spectrum concert hall in the Quartier des spectacles. Mayor Valérie Plante and her administration refused to offer an opinion on the proposal to the media and denied knowing anything about it because, they said, the developer hadn’t yet presented it to the Ville-Marie borough. The administration also accused the developer of staging a “publicity stunt.” The developer, meanwhile, said the proposal has been following “the normal process” to get a construction permit and said it has been working with civil servants in the borough to refine the project since the late summer. The project at Ste-Catherine St. W. and Bleury St., dubbed Maestria, is a partnership of Devimco Immobilier, the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ and Fiera Properties. It calls for towers of 51 and 53 floors containing 1,000 condo units and 500 rental units atop a ground level of commercial space and underground car parking. The towers, perched on the edge of the city’s festival district, would be connected at the 26th floor by a glassed-in lounge and passageway. What’s more, Devimco president Serge Goulet and his partners said in an interview on Thursday that the project is scheduled to be presented to the borough’s urban-planning advisory committee — known as the Comité consultatif d’urbanisme, or CCU — on Dec. 13. The CCU can ask a developer to make changes before agreeing to send a project on to the borough council for approval. “You don’t discuss these projects with the elected officials,” Goulet said, adding that the discussions with the borough have focused on soundproofing the buildings, traffic issues and safety. “You start by discussing and settling with the bureaucrats in urban planning and permits. Then it goes to the CCU and then finally to council . ... So it’s a project that’s following its course as any major project in Montreal.” Plante, who serves as borough mayor of Ville-Marie, reacted with surprise to the project. Later in the day, her administration dispatched Robert Beaudry, a councillor in Ville-Marie, to speak to reporters. “I think it’s a publicity stunt,” Beaudry said, repeating the earlier words of Plante’s spokesperson. “The developer wanted to launch his project in public before even presenting it to the bodies of the borough. It’s too early to pronounce because the (developer) hasn’t even deposited the project at the borough.” It’s a paradoxical position for Devimco because a decade ago there was public outcry against then-mayor Gérald Tremblay’s rezoning of Griffintown to allow Devimco to redevelop the district as a commercial centre without public consultations or seeking other proposals. This time, politicians complain they’re last to be consulted. Beaudry also insisted the Maestria project will be sent for public consultation in the borough. And the borough’s approval is required, he added, because it now has to amend a 2013 bylaw that approved an office complex on the site. The complex wasn’t built. “There’s going to be a public consultation and maybe there’s going to be changes asked of the developer,” Beaudry said. A decade ago, Plante’s right-hand man, executive committee chairman Benoit Dorais, was at loggerheads with Goulet over Griffintown. Dorais was Sud-Ouest borough mayor. His borough held its own public consultations on the redevelopment and Dorais later refused to attend a press conference with Tremblay and Devimco. Meanwhile, Goulet said, the Maestria project is “in full rights” because it doesn’t require a zoning change. The towers would reach 168 metres, which is below the permitted maximum height of 200 metres, he said, adding the zoning permits mixed residential and commercial use. So the project doesn’t have to be submitted to the Office de consultation publique, he suggested. The verbal tussle aside, Heritage Montreal’s Dinu Bumbaru expressed concern about the impact of high-density development on the Place des Festivals and Ste-Catherine, adding that it’s “very disappointing to see how downtown Montreal is peppered with ghost high-rises authorized by technical planners.” “Projects like this have potential impact on major public spaces and public investments in quality urban design,” he said. They “should be exposed to a civic discussion.” Goulet said wind and light studies show either factor is helped by the project’s design. Nevertheless, sunlight will be blocked on Place des Festivals for part of the morning, such as around 11 a.m. in June, he said. The condos will range from 250 square-foot studios to penthouse units of 1,500 to 2,000 square-feet, Goulet said. Prices will range from $250,000 to $2 million. The apartments will rent for between $1,000 and $3,000 a month, he said. The developer says construction would start in late 2019.