With Montréal having the best economic recovery in Canada and the second in North America, the leader of Projet Montréal, Valérie Plante, and the outgoing mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, Luc Rabouin, have unveiled their plan to continue to support the development of downtown Montréal, promote its attractiveness and make it the most beautiful and greenest in America.
Therefore, Projet Montréal presents seven key measures to support an innovative development of downtown and promote its attractiveness, for today and for tomorrow.
1. The Palais des congrès expansion project
Projet Montréal will support the expansion of the Palais des congrès de Montréal, which will also contribute to covering a portion of the Ville-Marie expressway.
2. Free parking for holiday shopping
As the holiday season approaches, Projet Montréal is committed to offering free on-street parking in the downtown area on evenings and weekends during the month of December. This targeted measure will support the vitality of the downtown area, attracting more visitors and customers as well as supporting the recovery of stores, restaurants and other businesses downtown.
3. Accelerated and better supervised work sites
The increasing number of construction sites in the downtown area is a testament to its attractiveness. In order to reduce the time required to complete certain downtown projects, Projet Montréal is committed to allowing work to be carried out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in certain specific sectors. Cladding, signage and the occupation of public space during construction will also be better regulated. The high standards standards set by Projet Montréal for the city's and its partners' worksites will now be imposed on downtown worksites, both private and those carried out by other public contractors.
4. adapted to the needs of Montréal SMEs
Projet Montréal will help small and medium-sized businesses establish themselves in the downtown area by supporting the redevelopment of large offices into spaces adapted to small and medium-sized businesses, start-ups or shared office projects. An initial amount of $2 million has been earmarked for this purpose thanks to the recovery plan put in place by Projet Montréal.
5. Investing $1 billion in downtown
Projet Montréal has a robust investment plan of $1 billion by 2030, which will make downtown Montréal a model of attractiveness. Among the projects that will be carried out are the development of public squares at Phillips Square and on McGill College Avenue, the redevelopment of central arteries such as Sainte-Catherine and Peel, and the redesign of the surrounding areas to the Bonaventure Expressway. Part of these major investments will also be dedicated to new developments such as the Faubourgs and Molson lands, where new parks, schools and upgrades to underground infrastructure are planned.
6. A greener downtown
The greening of the downtown area is essential to the quality of life and the quality of the downtown experience, and is a must in the fight against climate change. Projet Montréal will be greening the downtown area by creating parks in development areas, creating a zero-emission zone within ten years, and implementing the Electrification Strategy.
7. Residences in place of vacant offices
Projet Montréal is committed to amending the Downtown Strategy to facilitate the conversion of unused office space into residential units. The facilitating unit created to accelerate real estate projects in the downtown area will also be put to work to help the progress of real estate projects deemed strategic and to encourage promoters and investors to improve the quality of their projects. Since the Mixed Use By-law will apply to these conversion projects, a large portion of the approximately 3,000 units that may be created will be family, social and affordable housing.
Quotes
"At a time when Montréal is experiencing the best economic recovery in the country, our team has a robust $1 billion investment plan that will sustain this growth and take it even further in our next mandate. The quality of public places and green spaces, the flow of transportation, and the cultural scene will be at the heart of our plan, which will reinforce the Montréal identity and attract workers, students, residents, tourists and investors." - Valérie Plante
"Projet Montréal has already begun working to build the downtown of tomorrow, and we must continue to build on its many assets to enhance the experience of workers, visitors and residents. Our plan is connected to the Montréal identity and to the experts. The vision of all economic experts is clear: the future of downtown areas depends on housing, public spaces, and inclusive development. Projet Montréal has had this vision for a long time, and obviously, we will go even further in the next mandate." - Luc Rabouin, candidate for mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal
