Montreal acquires an old garage at a cost of $4.75 million

Montreal is eyeing an old garage in the Parc-Extension district, in which it wishes to create around thirty affordable housing units. The initiative would cost him $4.75 million. To finalize the transaction, the City hopes to be able to count on the support of Québec.

The executive committee of the City of Montreal adopted a resolution to make possible the acquisition of a building located at 690-700, rue Jarry Ouest, in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, during the November 16 session. The land value of this building is only $1.3 million.

The borough would invest $200,000 of the total budget to create affordable housing in this neighborhood highly affected by the housing crisis. “The housing needs are crying out,” said the mayor of the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Laurence Lavigne Lalonde, in a press release.

Indeed, data published by the Regroupement des Comités Logement et Associations de Tenants du Québec (RCLALQ) show that rents have increased by up to 17% between 2020 and 2021 in Parc-Extension, while renovations have intensified in recent years. “Every week, the phone rings in the office, and on the other end of the line, there is a helpless person, about to be ousted. We must act to provide decent rent for the most vulnerable,” said the mayor.

The city’s investment will allow an organization to develop a project to build some thirty affordable housing units in consultation with neighborhood residents, in order to meet their needs.

The project is part of the Chantier Montréal Affordable which works for “the realization of more social and affordable housing projects”, explains the vice-president of the executive committee Benoit Dorais in a press release.

Since 2019, the City of Montreal has undertaken initiatives to build 120 social and affordable housing units in the Parc-Extension district.