2,500 apartments for Montreal’s unhoused to be built by private real estate group

Three major private Montreal real estate developers say it’ll cost $300 million to build 2,500 apartments for the unhoused on land owned by the city.  

“They presented a project of 50 units. I said, ‘Well, 50 units, you’re not going to move the dial with 50 units,'” explained Vincent Chiara, the president of Mach Group Real Estate.

The companies say there’s no profit motive here, insisting the only public cost would be Quebec footing the mortgage over several decades.

“They do in normal social housing, you pay according to your needs and what you can afford,” said Chiara.

Chiara is one of the project’s partners, and says the plan would see buildings featuring 1,200 square foot units capable of housing four people each.

He says construction would cost the companies about $400 per square foot — calling the work pro bono.

“The land would be ceded to a government agency who would then own the property. We would help them execute the construction, and ultimately they would own it, manage it, and operate it,” said Chiara.

Chiara says the city would transfer the land to the Société d’Habitation du Québec, which would act as the borrower for the $300 million loan from Desjardins and distribute funds to the builders.

Desjardins declined to share details related to the loan after being reached by CityNews, saying it was confidential at this stage.

“We would not own anything,” Chiara explained.

Montreal’s mayor, Saroya Martinez Ferrada, added, “The land needs to be built on as quickly as possible. And if we can do it in partnership with non-profit organizations, landlords, and the private sector, the city’s part can also be financing the land.”

Old Brewery Mission President and CEO James Hughes says new partners in addressing homelessness are long overdue, and that large-scale projects like this one can complement the smaller-scale builds his organization works on.

“We always have to be vigilant when we’re looking at new partners, new projects,  new ways of thinking.  But we have to break the mold,” said Hughes.

The plan also gets a vote of confidence from experts like McGill University urban planning professor Richard Shearmur. But he cautions that plans like these mainly help those experiencing homelessness for economic reasons.

“It could help them, obviously, to be put in a home. But to be put in a home is not enough. They need to have a lot of attendant care as well,” said Shearmur.

Still, he says it’s an important start to a needed conversation. 

“I think whilst the city shouldn’t be naive, these are business people, they have to sort of look carefully whilst being proposed.  I also think that we have to be hopeful,” said Shearmur.