The City of Montreal is proud to announce its intention to acquire, at a cost of nearly $103.8 million, a major real estate portfolio of more than 700 affordable housing units in the Côte-des-Neiges area, where the need is very great.
By exercising its right of pre-emption, Montréal will protect these affordable housing units from speculation and entrust their management to the Office municipal d'habitation de Montréal (OMHM). Drawing on its solid experience in local property management, the OMHM will carry out a health check of the buildings over the coming months, to determine renovation priorities.
“Protecting more Montrealers by guaranteeing them affordable housing on a sustainable basis is our concrete way of combating the housing crisis and preventing homelessness. Thanks to the historic sums we invest and the right of pre-emption we use, we enable the City to act as an active promoter of residential affordability. Our administration's efforts are yielding results and bringing us closer to our goal of achieving 20% non-market housing by 2050,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
“We are proud to collaborate with OMHM on this ambitious project. By implementing effective measures to protect Montreal tenants, we are working tirelessly to achieve our goal of 20% off-market housing by 2050. This announcement demonstrates our ability to make large-scale strategic real estate investments,” said Benoit Dorais, Vice President of the Executive Committee, responsible for Housing, Real Estate Strategy, Property Assessment and Legal Affairs.
“Thanks to these acquisitions, we will continue to ensure healthy, affordable housing for our community over the long term. I would also like to thank my colleague Benoit Dorais for his exemplary collaboration in bringing this acquisition to fruition. This achievement is further proof of our determination to take concrete action in response to the housing crisis,” added Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, mayor of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.
“Faced with growing demand and a persistent housing crisis, this innovative initiative enables the OMHM to act as a key player in expanding affordable housing in Montreal. Our team will put all its expertise and know-how into action to manage and keep these buildings in good condition,” said OMHM General Manager Isabelle Pépin.
Right of pre-emption: an essential tool for Loger +
In total, since 2018 inclusive, the City of Montreal has already protected 240 affordable housing units (102 units and 138 rooms) from speculation through acquisition via the right of pre-emption.
About Loger +
Loger + is a series of robust measures to enable the city to house more Montrealers, with a focus on building new units and protecting existing affordable units. Improving administrative processes, enhancing support for NPOs to accelerate non-market housing, whether social or affordable, and increasing densities are at the heart of Ville de Montréal's response to the housing crisis. These measures offer concrete, tailored responses to the recommendations of the Chantier Montréal abordable, set up by the Ville de Montréal to bring together the driving forces in housing, from both the private and community sectors.
SOURCE City of Montreal - Office of the Mayor and Executive Committee
