Îlot Voyageur Sud: social and affordable housing project for downtown Montreal

The city will be launching the development of the Îlot Voyageur Sud site on de Maisonneuve and Berri in order to facilitate and accelerate the construction of social and affordable housing in Montreal. It’s the former Voyageur bus terminal.

The project could possibly accommodate over 700 units, where a minimum of 20 per cent will be social housing, 20 per cent affordable housing, and 20 per cent for family units.

The site was purchased for $18 million dollars.

The project will have to meet a series of criteria by the City of Montreal, which are designed to promote affordable housing with additional requirements. It must encourage the establishment of commercial and community activities, be accessible to the community and respond to the needs of the downtown sector.

It’s located close to the metro, bus station, numerous shops, theaters, UQAM, the CÉGEP du Vieux-Montréal CÉGEP du Vieux-Montréal, the Grande Bibliothèque and Parc Émilie-Gamelin.

“The housing crisis is affecting all of Quebec, and Montreal is no exception. We know that affordable housing is becoming increasingly difficult to find in all neighborhoods downtown. Since day one, our administration has made housing a priority. We have acted on several fronts to facilitate and accelerate the construction of social and affordable housing. The Îlot Voyageur Sud project is the result of all this hard work, and proof that the innovative tools the city has the result of all this hard work, and proof that the innovative tools the city has acquired work,” emphasized the vice-chairman of the executive committee and housing, real estate strategy and legal affairs, Benoit Dorais, in a press release.

“The Îlot Voyageur redevelopment project will contribute directly to combating housing crisis, while revitalizing a key area of downtown, close to the Village and the Latin Quarter. This project demonstrates the importance of continuing our ambitious strategy of acquiring land and buildings, to ensure that social and affordable affordable housing projects continue to spring up across the metropolis,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.

The space has been vacant for over 10 years, with it previously being a bus terminal.

To ensure that the best possible project is selected, a committee will evaluate the bids in line with the city’s development vision for this sector.

“The Îlot Voyageur Sud is at the heart of a unique mobility, cultural and educational hub in Montreal. The arrival of hundreds of new households in the neighborhood will the area, benefiting businesses, theaters, UQAM, the CÉGEP du Vieux-Montréal CÉGEP du Vieux-Montréal, the Grande Bibliothèque and Parc Émilie-Gamelin. By offering affordable housing for Montrealers, we’re not only tackling the housing crisis housing crisis, we’re also ensuring a prosperous future for the Quartier latin and the Village a prosperous future for the Quartier latin and the Village,” stated the executive committee member councilor for the Saint-Jacques district, Robert Beaudry.

The city said the winning proposal will be based on a point system that puts 50 per cent of the score on affordable housing.

The Ville de Montréal is aiming to select the winning bidder by fall 2024, so that work can work can begin as early as summer 2025.

The opposition Ensemble Montreal has described this plan as having a complete lack of vision and criticized it for no mention of student housing.

“Six years after purchasing the land for the southern portion of Îlot Voyageur and two feasibility studies later, the Plante administration is returning to the drawing board. The latter arrives with a proposed call for projects from a promoter without vision. In the past, this type of strategy has hardly been a success for the administration; we have only thought about the very little interest aroused on the part of promoters to redevelop the Hippodrome sector,” said Julien Hénault-Ratelle, spokesperson for the Official Opposition on housing and Montreal city councillor for Ensemble Montréal, adding, “in addition, we would have expected that Projet Montréal would arrive with guarantees from the Quebec government to finance as much social housing as possible on the Îlot Voyageur site, which is unfortunately not the case.”