The City of Montreal is proud to present its new policy on the transfer of municipal buildings for non-market housing purposes. This initiative marks an important new step in the city's commitment to provide more non-market housing, both social and affordable, for Montrealers.
The objective of the policy is to make municipal buildings (vacant lots, parking lots and lots with one or more obsolete buildings for redevelopment) available at advantageous prices to non-profit organizations and housing cooperatives, in order to support the creation of non-market housing projects. It also provides a framework for the way in which these organizations can acquire these buildings, either by submitting requests to acquire available buildings, presented on an interactive online map, or by submitting their applications in response to future calls for applications for certain sites.
This new policy responds to a demand from not-for-profit real estate developers for more information, transparency, agility and predictability on development opportunities offered by the City of Montreal. As a result, off-market housing projects can be carried out more quickly.
Eligible organizations under the Policy are housing NPOs and housing cooperatives, with SHDM and OMHM taking precedence. As privileged partners of the city, the SHDM and OMHM will be able to enter into specific agreements with the city for site development and building management, in keeping with the policy.
Targeted organizations and projects :
Nature of project: Projects must aim to create or maintain non-market housing, whether social or affordable;
Organization status: Organizations must be NPOs or housing cooperatives.
For more information, consult the map and the montreal.ca page.
Quotes
“The new policy on the transfer of municipal buildings contributes directly to our goal of accelerating the construction of non-market housing and protecting Montreal's affordability. Thanks to an interactive map showing available land, its cost and condition, non-profit organizations will have access to clear and transparent information, enabling them to accelerate projects and better seize opportunities. This is one more step towards achieving the 20% non-market housing target by 2030, and responds to a clearly expressed demand from community partners,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
“We are proposing a simple process for interested organizations, because it is crucial that the tools used are effective and adapted to the reality on the ground. By sharing information on available land and buildings, the city is giving NPOs and housing cooperatives more opportunities to build more housing, more quickly. With this policy, which actively involves our partners, we will be able to go even further in terms of housing,” explained Benoit Dorais, vice-president of the executive committee and responsible for housing, real estate strategy, property assessment and legal affairs.
“Not only does this new policy offer developers of off-market housing more predictable realization conditions, it also testifies to a better municipal land control strategy, more agile and better adapted to the realities of social entrepreneurship. Capturing the value of municipal land by NPOs, cooperatives or parapublic housing corporations is a financial lever that can become exponential over time for owners who continue to develop,” points out Sébastien Parent-Durand, General Manager of ACHAT, Alliance des corporations d'habitations abordables du territoire du Québec.
“The FHCQ salutes this initiative by the City of Montreal. We need levers to encourage the emergence of innovative housing options. Housing cooperatives are one such solution. They represent a way forward to foster strong communities committed to making Montreal a great place to live. The city can count on the FHCQ to transform the housing sector, one co-op at a time,” said Patrick Préville, General Manager of the Fédération de l'habitation coopératives du Québec.
“The Association des groupes de ressources techniques du Québec (AGRTQ) welcomes the adoption of a new policy on the transfer of buildings for non-market housing purposes. The AGRTQ would also like to thank the Ville de Montréal for recognizing the work of technical resource groups and community organizations, thus enabling the reservation of land and buildings dedicated to the development of community and social housing”, concluded Tommy Théberge, Executive Director of the Association des groupes de ressources techniques du Québec (AGRTQ).
SOURCE City of Montreal - Office of the Mayor and Executive Committee
