Plan in motion to transform Wing’s Block into vibrant community hub in Montreal’s Chinatown

A historic block in Montreal’s Chinatown – centered around the now-closed Wing Noodles factory – could be transformed into a cultural and community hub for the neighbourhood.

That’s the vision of the Wing’s Block Partners Table, a coalition — led by the JIA Foundation — that wants to revitalize the block while preserving its heritage.

The blueprint for its future focuses on four main pillars: becoming a cultural anchor; a site for living memory; a high-quality living environment; and a community-driven development.

“The way we see the vision is it will be intergenerational,” said Jessica Chen, the executive director of the JIA Foundation. “There will be a lot of these old buildings, these housing complex that has been around since the 1970s and ‘80s. They will continue to be here and we hope the new users will take this into consideration and then start to grow the cultural activities that we can see here.

“The vision is to really turn this destination, this heritage district, into a cultural hub.”

The buildings in question – on De La Gauchetière, Saint-Urbain and Côté streets – currently house the old Wings factory, the Chinese Association of Montreal, the former S. Davis & Sons cigar factory and more.

They are believed to be some of the neighbourhood’s oldest buildings, dating back to 1826.

“I do believe there is a chance, a window of opportunity for us to, through all kinds of partnership, collaboration with the private sector, developers and landowners included to maybe just take a more active role in designing the actual usage of the building,” said Irene Peng, a strategic advisor to the JIA Foundation.

In partnership with Heritage Montreal, the coalition wants to turn the block into a vibrant hub with dynamic storefronts, community spaces, programming that celebrates Asian identities, public art, historical exhibitions and more.

And it wants to do so while preserving the area’s heritage and culinary traditions, and focusing on safety and inclusivity.

“I think that culture can be the anchor of something new and very strong for the Chinese community, for its youngsters and older people as well and something that really aligns people together,” said Taïka Baillargeon, the assistant director of policy at Héritage Montréal.

Wing Noodles building

The new strategic vision was initiated after the closure of the Wing Noodles building last November, once the business stopped operations after 129 years of service. The Government of Quebec designated the buildings that housed the factory as heritage buildings in 2023, and the City of Montreal also granted that status in 2024. The future of the site is still to be determined.

“Wings leaving and leaving a hole… I don’t want it to be part of the reason that we see so much going away from Chinatown. I really want what we replace it with to keep activating its space,” added Kevin Chan, a volunteer with Chinatown Youth.

The owners of the building are in the process of selling it.

“We were not first in line,” explained Ron Rayside, the founder and senior architect at RaysideLabossière. “So part of that we’re not aware of, and that’ll be coming out, that’ll be more apparent in the following months, to see what the occupant is and what the future occupant is will be the same thing. How can we work with them and all of the other occupants of the buildings in the whole block to work together to make sure that there’s some common view of Chinatown.”

“It is going to have to be a mixed use and a diverse partnership,” said Chen. “Whoever is going to put the project forward, we look forward to have an opportunity to either work on the project or work with whoever owns the building and have a project moving forward.”

In another building within Wing’s Block, there are also going to be 68 permanent housing units for seniors who have experienced or are at risk of homelessness operated by Old Brewery Mission.

“This will be a place of stability, of integration into the community and we will do our best to make sure that people who are uncomfortable with it come to love the project. That’s our objective,” said Matthew Pearce, the interim CEO of Old Brewery Mission.

The project is calling on residents, businesses and organizations in the area to share their input on the vision for the Wing’s Block to “shape its future together.” The JIA Foundation, architecture firm Rayside Labossière and Heritage Montreal hosted a panel discussion Thursday.