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http://www.icisource.ca/commercial_real_estate_news/ When NIMBYism is warranted, and when it isn’t Of course, the question is whether a proposed development, infill project or new infrastructure build really does pose a risk to these cherished things. Developers and urban planners must always be cognizant of the fact that there is a segment of the population, a fringe element, who will object to just about anything “new” as a matter of principle. I’ve been to many open houses and public consultations for one proposed project or another over the years. There is almost always that contingent of dogged objectors who invariably fixate on the same things: Parking – Will there be enough if the development increases the population density of the neighbourhood or draws more shoppers/workers from elsewhere? Traffic – Will streets become unsafe and congested due to more cars on the road? Transit – Will this mean more busses on the road, increasing the safety hazard on residential streets, or conversely will there be a need for more? Shadowing – is the new build going to leave parts of the neighbourhood stuck in the shade of a skyscraper? These are all legitimate concerns, depending on the nature of the project in question. They are also easy targets for the activist obstructionist. Full and honest disclosure is the best defence Why? Because I see, time and again, some developers and urban planners who should know better fail to be prepared for objections rooted on any of these points. With any new development or infrastructure project, there has to be, as a simple matter of sound public policy, studies that examine and seek to mitigate impacts and effects related to parking, traffic, shadowing, transit and other considerations. It therefore only makes sense, during a public consult or open house, to address the most likely opposition head on by presenting the findings and recommendations of these studies up front in a clear and obvious manner. But too often, this isn’t done. I’ve was at an open house a few years ago where, when asked about traffic impact, the developer said there wouldn’t be any. Excuse me? If your project adds even one car to the street, there’s an impact. I expect he meant there would be only minimal impact, but that’s not what he said. The obstructionists had a field day with that – another greedy developer, trying to pull the wool over the eyes of honest residents. This is a marketing exercise – treat it like one This is ultimately a marketing exercise – you have to sell residents on the value and need of the development. Take another example – a retirement residence. With an aging population, we are obviously going to need more assisted living facilities in the years to come. But in this case, the developer, speaking to an audience full of grey hairs, didn’t even make the point that the new residence would give people a quality assisted-living option, without having to leave their community, when they were no longer able to live on their own. I also hear people who object to infill projects because they think their tax dollars have paid for infrastructure that a developer is now going to take advantage of – they think the developer is somehow getting a free ride. And yet, that developer must pay development charges to the city to proceed with construction. The new build will also pay its full utility costs and property taxes like the rest of the street. City hall gets more revenue for infrastructure that has already been paid for, and these additional development charges fund municipal projects throughout the city. Another point, often overlooked – when you take an underperforming property and redevelop it, its assessed value goes up, and its tax bill goes up. The local assessment base has just grown. City hall isn’t in the business of making a profit, just collecting enough property tax to cover the bills. The more properties there are in your neighbourhood, the further that tax burden is spread. In other words, that infill project will give everyone else a marginal reduction on their tax bill. It likely isn’t much, but still, it’s something. Developers must use the facts to defuse criticism Bottom line, development is necessary and good most of the time. If we didn’t have good regulated development, we would be living in horrid medieval conditions. Over the last century and a bit, ever growing regulation have given us safer communities, with more reliable utilities and key services such as policing and fire. Yes, there are examples of bad development, but if we had none, as some people seem to want, no one would have a decent place to live. It just astonishes me that developers and urban planners don’t make better use of the facts available to them to defuse criticism. It’s so easy to do it in the right way. Proper preparation for new development public information sessions is the proponent’s one opportunity to tell their story, and should not be wasted by failing to get the facts out and explaining why a project is a good idea. To discuss this or any other valuation topic in the context of your property, please contact me at jclark@regionalgroup.com. I am also interested in your feedback and suggestions for future articles. The post Why do public planning projects go off the rails? appeared first on Real Estate News Exchange (RENX). sent via Tapatalk -
http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/josh-freed-the-winds-of-change-are-blowing-and-they-just-might-transform-montreal The winds of change are blowing and they just might transform Montreal -WE NEED MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS DAMMIT!
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http://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/real-estate/ivanhoe-cambridge-projects-7-to-8-per-cent-annual-growth-for-next-10-years?__lsa=6c98-6ac0 sent via Tapatalk
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http://gehlarchitects.com/blog/hurray-for-smart-montrealers/ HURRAY FOR SMART MONTREALERS! Over the last couple of months I have written about the different aspects of smart cities, the pros and cons, the dos and don’ts. The outcome of these musings suggests that we ought to discard the idea of a smart city for the sake of promoting smart communities, in which smartness is a tool for benefitting and improving the local social sustainability. However, within this approach lies a fundamental challenge: how do we actually make communities engage with and take responsibility for the shaping of the public realm, using tools and methods they have never known before? Enter Montreal. Montreal uses pilot projects to kick-start the regeneration of the urban spaces. A vacant parking lot on the outskirts of Downtown was turned into an urban beach thanks to the local organization l’ADUQ. Public Life in Montreal To understand the social life of Montrealers, one must first understand the basic history of the city’s public spaces. During the era of modernisation, more than 1/3 of the downtown core was demolished to make way for massive super-complexes embodying offices, car pars, underground malls and cafes. In the industrial suburbs, thousands of housing units were torn down to allow vehicular traffic an easy access into the city. These “renovations” were carried out in less than two decades, but they still managed to methodically get in the way of public life. Since then, the city has taken a completely different approach to urban planning, superseding even today’s hype for attractive, green and lively metropolises. “My colleagues and I, we based our entire careers around reconstructing the city from where it was left after the 1970’s and 1980’s demolitions (…) we want Montreal to be a network of public spaces.” – Wade Eide, Montreal Urban Planning Department, private interview July 15, 2014 Throughout the year, Montreal hosts hundreds of events that all contribute to a lively and active public life. Today, the effects of Wade Eide and his colleagues’ efforts are absolutely visible in the streets and squares of Montreal, which have indeed been transformed into a coherent experience of activities and life. The most remarkable part of this transformation is the effect that it has had in the mentality of the citizens (or maybe it was the other way around?): in Montreal, the city truly is for its people, and people care for and participate in public matters to a degree that I have rarely seen. I believe, because of this mentality, Montreal has a serious chance of actually fulfilling the vision of a smart city built for and by communities. The steps of Place des Arts serve as a public space, popular with everyone on a sunny day. The Montreal Model Montreal’s outstanding mentality for public participation has – luckily – also been recognized by the current smart Montreal’s front-runners, mayor Denis Coderre and Vice-President of the Smart and Digital Office, Harout Chitilian. In their campaigns for a smarter Montreal, they enthusiastically encourage the citizens to voice their opinions and share their ideas: “This ambitious project of making a smart and digital city will take advantage of new technologies, but above all it will draw on the collective intelligence to create a specific Montreal model. I count on you, Montrealers to give your opinions on the various forums that are available to you. I invite you to participate today. The floor is yours!” – (translated from French) Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal, 2014 Focus on citizens is visible in the public space. In this project residents of Montreal share their unique stories in a virtual exhibition. As part of the public participation process, the city has developed a web portal, “Faire MTL” (Make Montreal), where Montrealers are offered the chance to contribute to, comment on, collaborate with and follow 180 tangible projects that are to be implemented over the next couple of years. The ambitious plans also include the creation of physical spaces for innovation and co-creation, along with the use of public spaces as living laboratories for the growing smart communities. The fusion of a genuinely open and inclusive government and the natural participatory spirit of the Montrealers, makes Montreal a key player to follow in the game of defining how future (smart) cities could be shaped and function at the hands of the citizens. Every summer Sainte-Catherine Street (the city’s commercial high street) transforms into a pedestrian street, allowing citizens to walk, shop, eat and enjoy the city life. Find more about Montreal’s projects here. August 25, 2015 __ Camilla Siggaard Andersen sent via Tapatalk
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Hi everyone! Has any of you downloaded an official festival mobile app (such as the Jazz Festival app)? What do you think of these apps? Did you find them useful? I'm working on a related projects and I really want to know your opinion! Thanks!
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http://www.playthecity.nl/ Play the City Play the City uses gaming to engage multiple stakeholders in resolving complex urban challenges. Changing the way we engage stakeholders, Play the City designs physical games as a method for collaborative decision making and conflict resolution. We tailor our games according to the questions of our clients. These can relate to large urban projects, refugee camps, violence prevention and other multi-stakeholder challenges societies face. We use gaming as a problem-solving method bringing top down decision makers together with bottom up stakeholders. In the accessible environment of games, freed from the jargons, various ideas, plans and projects meet, conflict and collaborate towards negotiated outcomes. We believe gaming is the real alternative to standard formats of public consultation in the 21st century. Our method has been acknowledged internationally and has been implemented for large-scale projects in Amsterdam, Istanbul, Brussels and Cape Town. You can gain more insight by clicking our projects page. sent via Tapatalk
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Il faut le souligner quand des compagnies d'ici font des acquisitions à l'étranger, comme quoi tout ne va pas d'un seul bord! Boralex boosts France operations with proposed takeover Montreal-based renewable energy producer Boralex Inc. has sharply boosted its presence in France with a $400-million proposed takeover of wind power company Enel Green Power France. The acquisition of the Enel wind portfolio will boost the generating capacity of Boralex’s existing operations by about 25 per cent, with the addition of 12 operating wind farms generating about 186 megawatts of power. Currently, Boralex has wind farms, solar projects, hydroelectric and thermal operations in France, Canada and the United States, that have a total capacity of about 754 MW. The company said this deal will make it the biggest independent wind power producer in France. Adding a large proportion to the French porfolio is a “truly company-transforming move,” said Boralex chief executive officer Patrick Lemaire. Currently, France makes up about 37 per cent of the Boralex portfolio, but that will expand to almost half after this transaction closes in January. Mr. Lemaire said in an interview that growth in the renewable sector is “clearer” in Europe than in North America, at the moment. Changes in Ontario’s renewable energy procurement program that make it less attractive, and limits to Quebec’s plans to acquire clean energy, have made those two core Canadian markets less attractive, he said. “France still has nice objectives,” he said. Boralex is also less interested in expanding in the United States, Mr. Lemaire said, because most jurisdictions there operate with a spot market for electricity, and thus there are fewer long-term contracts that secure a power price over the long term. The wind farms being purchased in this deal have long-term contracts in place averaging about 11 years. Privately owned Enel also has a pipeline of about 310 MW of new wind projects that are not yet built, and that will add further to the Boralex total in the next few years, Mr. Lemaire said. “Our main goals are to operate what we have acquired in the past, build new projects … and add growth for the next few years.” Boralex will finance the Enel purchase through bank loans, an existing revolving credit facility, and a bridge credit facility. It will also sell about $110-million in subscription receipts through a bought-deal transaction arranged by National Bank Financial. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/boralex-boosts-france-operations-with-proposed-takeover/article22095267/
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Hi guys...Anybody have access to this MERX Private Construction site. I am limited to government bids. How about Habsfan or Mark AC or Lindberg etc etc I hi-lited 4 projects that I don't think we know about on our MTLURB. These are official bids so these are approved and will be proceeding as soon as the bids are accepted. I hope we find a couple of big surprises!!!!!!!!!! Gain access to hundreds of Construction projects with MERX Private Construction MERX Private Construction provides a value-added service tailored to contractors looking for project information needed to bid on contracts in the Canadian construction industry. Reporting on projects from the 'pre-design' stage through to the start of construction, businesses of any size have affordable access to billions of dollars in construction opportunities. From the construction of houses and hotels to office buildings and shopping malls, MERX Private Construction has all the information you need to bid on contracts. Please review the listings below of the latest opportunities posted in your region All of Quebec Townhouses & Condominium- La Cite Verte – Québec Condominium - Place des Jardins (Phase 1-5) Québec Condominium - Bella Vista - Phase 2 (101 Units) St-Laurent Office Building - Complexe Jules Dallard - Phase 2 – Québec Data Centre – Québec Rose Mining Project - Nemaska Condominium Marquise (Phase 2-8) Laval Kipawa Rare Earth Project - Open pit mine – Rouyn-Noranda Westin Resort & Spa Tremblant (Renovations) Mont Tremblant Condominium - Le Signature (Phase 2) Québec Head Office (Conversion) Montreal Niobec Mine Expansion - Saguenay Condominium - Les Haltes du Roi (Phase 3-9) Trois-Rivieres Condominium - Cite de la Gare (Phase 2-5) St-Constant Condominium - SE7T (Phase 1-3) Montreal Condominium - U31 (Phase 1-3) Montreal Senior Residence – Ste Therese de Gaspe Condominium - Les Meandres – Camomille – Quebec Apartments/Condominiums 4+ Stories (72 Units) Rouyn-Noranda Condominium - Ilot Esso – Québec Condominium - Coop Evrelle – Beauport Theatre du Rideau Vert - Phase 2 – Montreal Theatre/Cultural Centre – Longueuil Office Tower - Hotel/Motel - Montreal Commercial Development - Carrefour de la Bravoure – Val-Belair Condominium (Phase 1-4) Terrebonne Condominium - Le URB – Montreal Lithium Spodumene Mine Project – La Corne Condominium - Station 7 (Phase 1-7) St-Jerome Condominium Woodfield Sillery (87 Units) Quebec Condominium- Acces M (79 Units) Quebec Dolbeau Oxygen Manufacturing Facility (Expansion) Dolbeau-Mistassini Quartier Sud - Seniors Residence – Levis Caisse Populaire - Municipal Building – St Liguori Cinema Mega-Plex Guzzo - Sainte-Therese Condominium Apartment Townhouse (160 Units) Aylmer Lac-Leamy Hilton Hotel (Reno) Gatineau 75 Rene-Levesque Ouest (Condominium Building) Quebec 18-Storey Condo Towers – Montreal Apartment - Place Lamoureux (Phase 2-3) Rimouski Condominium (Phase 1-6) Val-David Townhouse Development (Phase 1-6) Beaconfield Condo des rue Equinoxes (Phase 1-4) St Laurent Condominium Phase Three (18 Units) Hudson Condominium Opus - Phase 5 – Lasalle Condominium (Phase 2-4) Vaudreuil Condominium (30 Buildings, 180 Total Units) Mont Tremblant Theatre Le Cube - Montreal Shopping Centre - Place Lorraine - Lorraine The Grove at Montreal Student Apartments (Conv/Renov) Montreal Pricing All of Quebec 109.99/month or 960.00/Pre-Paid Yearly (savings of 359.88) Montreal and District 69.99/month or 660.00/Pre-Paid Yearly (savings of 179.88) Quebec City and District 54.99/month or 480.00/Pre-Paid Yearly (savings of 179.88) Our Flexible subscription options allows you to use our service on a monthly basis with no contract obligations or you can pre-pay our service for the year and save 25% Plan ahead with MERX Private Construction · Search Canadian construction projects by Region or by Project Type Quickly identify projects suited to your business or skill set with our exclusive access to McGraw-Hill Dodge Reports
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In Montreal, delicate design gestures help us forget the big scandals
un sujet a posté ProposMontréal dans L'actualité
Du Globe and Mail In Montreal, delicate design gestures help us forget the big scandals By day and by night, there are adults flying through the air at Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles on oversize, colourful swings. Streams of cyclists whip by on dedicated bike paths. Warmed by the spring sunshine, students and gallerygoers lounge on the steps at Place des Arts, where the joys of museum, opera and symphony are recognized with fortissimo. It would seem that everything is just as it should be in Montreal, where bonhomie thrives and an art has been made of small-scale urban architecture. In the leafy neighbourhood of Saint-Louis, where many artists have made their homes, the ghost of architect Luc Laporte lives on. From an 1880s commercial building on Rue St. Denis, he punched a generous, rounded arch through the masonry to connect his instant landmark bistro directly to the street; rather than depending on loud signage, he preferred to emphasize the building as sign. L’Express is a classic, with a heated, black-and-white tiled front terrace, still beloved – still packed – 33 years after he designed it. But the sweetness of the small architectural intervention is sadly being offset these days by the weight of large public works gone wrong. The corruption charges levelled against Montreal politicians have contaminated the reputation of the venerable metropolis. Last October, the city froze all non-essential public-works projects following widespread allegations of impropriety. With more arrests being made and former mayor Gérald Tremblay now ousted from office, it’s as if a slick of toxic oil is creeping along the streets, darkening the large civic projects touched by city builders and the SNC-Lavalin engineering firm. The Montreal-based global entity had its tentacles in many of the big public-sector works in the city, including the Maison Symphonique, with its handsome wood-lined concert hall but bargain-basement public lobbies; the shiny new planetarium on the eastern edge of the city; and the still-incomplete McGill University Health Centre hospital, a massive behemoth, estimated to cost $2.35-billion, and as ugly as its multilevel parking garage. It’s impossible to travel through these facilities without contemplating what troubling scenarios might have gone on. For now, then, it’s the modest, meaningful works of architecture and joyous pop-up landscapes that are left standing with integrity fully intact. Like the fans of L’Express, Montrealers are right to turn to them as places that citizens can depend on. In the open, and often under the open sky, is where the healing can begin. When, during last weekend’s Portes Ouvertes, I walked the city’s streets touring dozens of young architecture firms and funky design studios in former textile warehouses, the joy of their public-space work was intoxicating. Wanted, a two-person landscape-architecture firm, finds its motivation in the power of design to effect social change – or simply to contribute more urban comfort and delight. Last summer on Victoria Street, next to the McCord Museum of Canadian History, Paula Meijerink and Thierry Beaudoin installed an urban forest of cushy carpets of purple turf, artificial palm pavilions and curvey benches. People lounged with friends; couples posed among the outlandish neon set piece for their wedding pictures. This month, alongside the McCord, Wanted installs a temporary urban forest – ash trees with their root balls in massive sacks. Further east at Quartier des Spectacles, the colourful swings, suspended from white steel box frames, have been custom-designed by a six-person studio called Daily tous les jours. Back by popular demand for a third summer, 21 Balançoires (check out the video at vimeo.com/40980676), notes studio principal Mouna Andraos, comes complete with a musical score: The more people swing, the more intricate the melody becomes. The studio has also produced massive sing-a-longs at fairgrounds outside of Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Dallas, offering large microphones and Auto-Tune to evoke decent collective sound. An installation of projections and sound that they hope will inspire audiences to move like the stars or the Earth is being prepared by Daily tous les jours for the $48-million planetarium. The planetarium’s design features rounded, wood-clad cinemas that push out on the upper levels as aluminum-clad cononical shapes between slanted green roofs. Designed by the city’s competition-winning Cardin Ramirez Julien & Aedifica, with, among other consultants, SNC-Lavalin, the three-level building will help anchor the Olympic grounds. “It’s definitely a shame, the huge problem the city has,” says Andraos, referring to the corruption scandals. “We’re hoping that some of the projects that we do can create exchanges for people in public spaces, and spark a sense of ownership.” In the Plateau district, a group of us – including journalists from international design media; Marie-Josée Lacroix, director of Montreal’s Bureau du design; and Élaine Ayotte, a member of the city’s newly formed executive committee responsible for culture and design – are led on a tour that begins by paying design homage to Laporte, who died in 2012. Heritage advisor Nancy Dunton leads our group to a stunning row of grey limestone townhouses fronting onto genteel Saint-Louis Square. Distinctive black steel railings and simple stone stairs on the Victorian exteriors are the work of Laporte, a man variously described as a bon vivant and a curmudgeon, who was often given commissions by local residents who knew him well. We file into Laporte’s still-functioning live-work studio: At the front, an efficient bar/kitchen – designed with the rigour of a boat’s cabin, complete with built-in cabinets and espresso-maker – sits alongside a work table with shelves lined with historic architecture books. An old photo of the staff at L’Express is propped on the white tile floor. Toward the back of the long, narrow space, Laporte had renovated a horse stable to become his studio, and, past delicate glass doors, a small terrace where vines grow up a brick wall. It was from here that he designed many of Montreal’s most enduring bars and restos, including the elegant Laloux (1980) with its seamless black-steel front entrance and cream-coloured walls of black-framed mirrors; and the high-end housewares boutique Arthur Quentin (1975) with walls and ceiling lined and strapped in plywood. Human-scaled and warm to the touch, these are the places that never stop giving back. They continue to amuse and endure in ways very different from those who choose to become their city‘s laughing stock. -
Article by FDI intelligence (financial times) Rankings: 1. New York City 2. Sao Paulo 3 Toronto 4.MONTREAL 5. Vancouver 6. Houston 7. Atlanta 8. San Francisco 9. Chicago 10. Miami "Canadian cities Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, and performed particularly well in the attraction of knowledge-intensive FDI. All three locations were among the top 20 key destination and source cities for FDI. With the exception of New York, Montreal-based companies invested in more FDI projects than other city in the Americas region" "Business friendly Canada Placed in third, Montreal’s success lies in retaining and developing relationships with existing investments – data from fDi Markets shows that one in five FDI projects since 2003 were expansions. Montreal tops strategy list The prize for Best Major American City for FDI Strategy 2013/14 is awarded to Montreal. It beat 126 competitors across North and South America who submitted information regarding their FDI strategies. In its American Cities of the Future submission, economic development agency Montréal International stated that its economic development strategy has centred predominantly around high-tech clusters, and in particular aerospace, life sciences and health technologies, as well as information and communications technology (ICT). Elie Farah, vice-president of Investment Greater Montréal, says: “The year 2011 was one of the best for Montréal International in terms of attracting FDI since 2005. This is partially explained by the investments from Europe which, in the past two years, have become the main source of FDI in the region.” http://www.fdiintelligence.com/Locations/Americas/American-Cities-of-the-Future-2013-14
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The Ten Most Wasteful Transportation Projects In Modern History
un sujet a posté peekay dans L'actualité
Au moins mous sommes pas numéro un. http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-wasteful-transportation-projects-in-modern-472052244?utm_source=lifehacker.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation 4.) Montreal's Airport That's Larger Than Montreal Montreal-Mirabel airport was designed for the Montreal Olympics and it did that job very well. After the Olympics, however, Montreal realized they'd built an airport that was 397 square kilometers in size, bigger than the entire city it served. Now it's mostly empty. -
MONTREAL - When James Essaris looks out over his flat concrete kingdom of 20 downtown parking lots that he started collecting in 1956, he sees a precious urban resource where others see ugliness. The much-maligned parking lot, long considered an urban eyesore and enemy of public transit, is becoming an increasingly rare feature on the downtown streetscape. Essaris, longtime owner of Stationnement Métropolitain, sees his barren concrete as more than just a chance for him to pocket some cash on the barrelhead: he believes in the good that parking lots do and considers the spaces to be the lungs of downtown commerce. “The City of Montreal should give free parking to come downtown. We’re chasing people out to the shopping centres,” he said. The new parking lot tax was adopted in 2010 and brings in $19 million a year to fund public transit. The tax is determined by a complicated formula that Essaris says in practice makes city taxes about twice as expensive on a surface lot as it would for another type of structure. The city held public hearings on the issue this spring and response to the surface parking eradication campaign — through the new parking tax and allowing larger-scale buildings on the empty lots — was greeted positively, according to City of Montreal Executive Committee member Alan DeSousa. “It brings more money into the city coffers and removes the scars in the downtown area,” he said. He said that some of lost parking spaces have been replaced by indoor parking in the various projects. But after seeing his taxes double in recent years, Essaris is now doing what many other parking-lot owners have done: He has started sacrificing his supply of parking spaces for housing, most recently building a 38-storey Icône condo tower at de la Montagne St. and René Lévesque Blvd. He has some misgivings, however, knowing that those spots will be sorely missed. “We cannot survive without parking in the city. I wish everybody could take the bus and métro, it’d make things easier, but you cannot force people onto the métro when they have a car,” he said. Urban retailers have long begged their merchants associations to create more places to park, perhaps no more than on the Main where about half of all members regularly plead for more parking, according to Bruno Ricciardi-Rigault, president of the SDBSL. “It would be really nice if we had a few more parking lots,” he said. However, the dearth of spaces is only going to intensify as the few remaining parking lots near St. Laurent Blvd. are slated to be redeveloped. Ricciardi-Rigault is bracing for more complaints from restauranteurs who have lost customers because their motorist clientele was fed up with circling the block. “Some people want to spend the whole afternoon, shop, go to Jeanne Mance Park, come back for a beer. Paying $20 to park on the street, that‘s asking a lot,” he said. Condo towers have been replacing lots in the downtown core at an impressive pace and the result is higher prices at indoor garages, reflected in a recent Colliers study that ranks Montreal as having the second-highest parking prices of any big Canadian city. Rates have risen an eye-opening 11 per cent since last year, as the average monthly price for an unreserved spot in a downtown underground commercial lot was $330.96 — $88 above the national average. The proliferation of private parking lots once inspired many to liken Montreal to a bombed-out city, but that is no longer the case. “We were spoiled by having tons of parking lots, now Montrealers will have to get used to much higher parking costs,” said Colliers representative Andrew Maravita. He credits a lower commercial vacancy rate for pushing prices higher. Up until the 1960s, Montreal tacitly allowed even historic buildings to be demolished and replaced by parking lots and until recently turned a blind eye to the countless rogue illegal lots that dotted the downtown core. For ages, Montreal surface parking lots were fly-by-night operations, changing ownership to avoid bylaw restrictions ordering them to be paved, landscaped. The city always said they couldn’t chase every owner down. But in recent years, authorities have increased taxes and cracked down on illegal lots, combining the stick of punishment with the carrot of juicy rezoning booty. In the past, many property owners failed to see the point of building on their parking lots, as the zoning frequently only allowed for small buildings. Those restrictions have been lifted on many of those properties, resulting in a bonanza for parking-lot owners whose land increased in value. The strategy was put into place with input from architect and former Equality Party leader Robert Libman, who previously served on the city’s Executive Committee. “A lot of projects going on now, on streets like Crescent and Bishop and that area, were previously zoned for two or three storeys. The urban plan capped those at a minimal height. The rezoning has made it more alluring for owners to build instead of leaving it vacant,” he says. Libman’s war against above-ground parking lots is personal. “They’re ugly and they undermine the downtown urban fabric,” Libman said. But he concedes that commerce relies on people being able to drive to a business. “You’ve got to find that careful balance between offering too much parking, making it too easy vs. your objective of discouraging people to take their car downtown and using public transit, that’s the fine line you have to find between the two,” he said. Developers are required to include parking in new projects, but the amount varies from place to place. In Laval, many projects are required to have two parking spaces per condo unit, while in the Plateau it’s close to zero spaces, although a typical recipe calls for one spot per two units. The one part of the city perhaps most challenged by a dearth of parking facilities is the booming Old Montreal area. The issue has long been considered such an urgent problem that one proposal from a decade ago even suggested that the massive silos in the Old Port be used to park cars. More recently, Old Montreal planners have installed an electronic billboard indicating where spaces could be found, but the pressure on parking endures, according to Georges Coulombe, whose real-estate company has been snapping up properties in the area for the last four decades. Coulombe concedes that area commerce has been hurt by a lack of space for cars. “People from places like Longueuil want to come shop on the weekend, but they can’t do it anymore, it’s too expensive to park, they end up going to malls closer to home.” He attempted to address the problem through a plan to build a high-tech robotic parking facility that could accommodate twice as many cars as a regular indoor lot. However, he did the math and found that it wouldn’t make sense because of city taxes. “I had a small 3,000-foot terrain that I would have turned into 300 spaces, but the city wanted to tax not just the building but the machinery inside. It made it impossible.” Much-hyped futuristic robotic parking systems are seen by some as a potential solution to parking woes and have actually been around for quite some time. The city has had at least three pigeon-hole parking systems as the earlier incarnations were known; one was opened on de la Montagne St. in the 1950s and another on Mansfield, where a worker was crushed by an elevator. A third more recent one was in operation at St. Jean and Notre Dame until a decade ago. Authorities frequently cite the fear of being unable to put out a car blaze in their opposition to such facilities. And although a few such high-tech robotic lots could elegantly alleviate parking pressures, one expert says that the standalone dedicated parking buildings will probably never get built. Chris Mulvihill, the New Jersey-based President of Boomerang Systems, a high-tech car-stacking parking lot system, notes that any landowner would most probably opt for a different sort of project. “Take any place where it’s very hard to get a parking spot,” Mulvihill says. “You’d think building a garage and charging for parking would be a good business model, but the economics dictate that if there’s a high demand for parking in that area, it’s because it’s a hot, happening place, so there are real-estate developers who want to build on that land. The demand makes it uber-expensive. A landowner could make a lot more money doing something other than parking on it.” © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Parking+squeeze+Downtown+businesses+feeling/7453989/story.html#ixzz2ASqBCwJE
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Montreal, March 21st, 2012 - Ivanhoé Cambridge has selected Sid Lee Architecture, in collaboration with Sid Lee, to re-envision the Rockhill multi-residential complex, located in Montreal. "We are thrilled for the chance to work with Ivanhoé Cambridge Residential on the new Rockhill. This complex is part of Montreal's urban landscape and taking part in its revitalization is an honour for us," explains Jean Pelland, architect and senior partner. "This partnership with Ivanhoé Cambridge will allow Sid Lee Architecture to bring a fresh perspective to a building that has left its mark on Montreal." The idea is to breathe new life into the apartments and into this six-building complex, located at the foot of Mount Royal and 10 minutes from downtown Montreal. For Sylvain Fortier, president of the residential entity of Ivanhoé Cambridge, Sid Lee Architecture's approach really shines a spotlight on the Rockhill as a whole, with architecture being integrated not only into the infrastructure, but also the branding. Their ventures in residential real estate, urban development and retail are proof of their expertise and we believe that they are the best professionals for the project. In order to relive its glory days of the 1960s, the Rockhill, a multi-residential rental complex, will undergo a modernization, both architecturally speaking and in terms of branding, thanks to the teams at Sid Lee Architecture and Sid Lee. Due to its expertise in the fields of urban, architectural and interior design, Sid Lee Architecture was selected to re-envision the complex. The two teams will also be responsible for producing the strategy behind the new Rockhill, in line with Ivanhoé Cambridge Residential's vision of offering quality multi-residential housing in up-and-coming neighbourhoods boasting interesting perspectives. The Rockhill is located in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood and comprises six rental buildings, over a thousand apartments and a small shopping mall. Built in the 1960s, it was Ivanhoé Cambridge's first multi-residential acquisition in Quebec. About Sid Lee Architecture – http://www.sidleearchitecture.com Founded in 2009 following the integration of architecture firm NOMADE (founded in 1999), Sid Lee Architecture is a partnership between seasoned architects and urban designers Jean Pelland and Martin Leblanc, and Sid Lee, a global commercial creativity company. Established in Montreal, with satellite offices in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Paris (France), Sid Lee Architecture boasts a team of 25 architects, technicians, designers, managers and support personnel. This multidisciplinary team enjoys a solid reputation, having successfully carried out many large-scale projects. Sharing common views on interior design, brand strategy, urban approach, and the role of context, the Sid Lee Architecture team has had the opportunity to put its knowledge and expertise to work, successfully completing a wide range of multidisciplinary projects. About Sid Lee – http://www.sidlee.com We are a multidisciplinary creative team of 600 artisans of many persuasions. We work globally for top-tier clients from our Montréal, Amsterdam, Paris, Toronto and Austin ateliers. We are people passionate about embedding brands, products, spaces and services with meaning and resonance. Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetsidlee Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sidlee Credits Client: Ivanhoé-Cambridge Architecture: Sid Lee Architecture Branding: Sid Lee Interviews available upon request
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By Brian Ker, Special to The Gazette The Gazette's panel of experts answer your questions on real estate. To ask a question, please email alampert@montrealgazette.com. There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding the bonanza of construction taking place in Montreal and certainly on these pages an inquisitive analysis of the quantity of condominium construction. We also hear about “the hot land market” and there are lots of questions as to its sustainability. I recently attended the Land and Development Conference in Toronto to determine the optimism in North America’s largest condominium market and compare that with what we have been witnessing here in Montreal as land values have rapidly increased over the past five years. In a hot market, land is not an asset but is priced more like a commodity: a raw material that is just one part of a final constructed product, including concrete, steel and labour. In a weak market, land values are more likely tied to its short-term income-producing potential, such as parking revenues less off-setting taxes. The rapidly diminishing land supply and a cultural shift toward urban living have lead to changes in the commercial land market. First, commercial land sales are principally divided between high- and low-density sites. High-density sites intended for office, hotel, mixed-use and multi-unit residential projects, while low-density sites incorporate retail, industrial and single-family home developments. The value of land is based on the total amount of density permitted on its property – a site permitting an office tower is considerably greater than a walkup row-house or an industrial facility – and the total volume of potential sales in a given year, which allow for larger projects. Restrictive zoning can adversely affect the site’s value, as can social-housing inclusions and lengthy, complicated and sometimes “out-of-control” zoning application processes that jeopardize a project’s economic vitality. On Montreal Island, the prevailing trend is that high-density sites are taking a larger market share of total land transaction sales volumes because of the increasing prominence of sales of larger development sites permitting significantly greater density, and higher pricing for each unit of density, also referred to as the price per square foot Buildable. Over the past five years, the value for each unit of density has doubled to an average price of approximately $30 per square foot buildable. This is primarily based upon the rapid increase (up to 50%) in values for condominiums during the same time period, and as such, sales of sites for residential projects have outpaced all other sectors. Developers will be happy to note that Montreal was the third-largest condominium market in North America in 2010, albeit in an aberration year for the U.S. housing market, and only trailing Toronto and Houston in overall condo starts. This buoyancy has been growing for some time as major developers have acquired land holdings to fuel future projects. Since October of 2008, there have been a 11 high-density development land transactions in the greater Montreal area that have traded above $5 million, with a total value of $148 million in high-density land sales. Major sales included the land for the Project Griffintown project, Angus Development in the Quartier des Spectacles, the Marianopolis site, the site for the Altoria project and most recently Prevel and Conceptions Rachel-Juilien acquiring the rights from Canada Lands to develop Les Bassins du Nouveau Havre for $20 million. These major land transactions were purchased by well-known, well-respected and well-capitalized condo developers, with the exception of the Angus Assembly and Altoria, both of which will feature a mix of office and condominium use. Mixed-use projects are becoming the new normal, as developers put forth projects that feature greater overall site density to decrease the effects of higher land prices or kick start existing larger projects with an exclusively residential component. For land values to continue their ascent, Montreal developers and buyers need to develop an attitude shift with regard to larger projects. The traditional condo developer logic is that it is nearly impossible to sell more than 150 units for a project in one sales year. The rationale for this is, typically, that Montrealers will not pay a deposit for a condo unit until substantial pre-sales have been achieved or it is under construction, as they are not willing to wait two to three years for delivery. Recent project launches, though, are challenging this traditional thinking, with buyers (or their agents) waiting in line overnight and first-day sell-outs occurring with regularity, or buyers are asked to place a “deposit” to reserve a unit without seeing final plans. Buyers can no longer sit back and cherry-pick the best unit, as it will probably be reserved before they arrive on the scene. In addition, unless condominiums continue to experience strong price increases, Montreal condo developers will be facing increasing pressure for prime sites from alternative uses, such as office towers, hotels, or institutional (Healthcare, Educational, Student Residence) projects, where demand is steadily growing. Finally, our municipal government needs to develop a more flexible zoning application process with regard to major urban projects and the need for public consultations. Politicians should rely on the counsel of independent experts, but are elected to make decisions, and voters should judge them on these decisions, good or bad, at the ballot-box. Montreal home and condo owners have benefited from the rapidly rising values of their residential real estate over the past five years. Although rising interest rates are on the horizon and will clearly dampen demand for condos for home ownership and as an investment vehicle, demand is increasing for alternate site uses. Land values have also seen a rapid ascent, particularly for high density sites, and the economic fundamentals support continued growth and greater liquidity in this particular market. Brian Ker is associate vice-president, National Investment Team, at CB Richard Ellis Limited. He can be reached at 514 905-2141 or by email at brian.ker@cbre.com. Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sustainable+Montreal+construction+bonanza/4889700/story.html#ixzz1OFFSPeAz
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Flickr Group - Montreal Construction / Construction de Montréal
un sujet a posté caribb dans Photographie urbaine
I've really grown to appreciate this forum for giving me nice detaisl about all the projects going on in Montreal. Many people post pictures of the construction sites, plans and projects which is wonderful so I thought it would be an idea to create a Flickr group called Montreal Construction / Construction de Montréal to gather all these images and present them in one central location. So please feel free to join and add in yours if you wish. Thanks! J'aime ce forum pour nous donner de bons détails sur tous les projets en cours à Montréal. Ici, les gens souvent poster des photos de chantiers de construction, des plans et des projets qui est merveilleux. Je pensais que ce serait une idée de créer un groupe Flickr appelés Montreal Construction / Construction de Montréal à se rassembler toutes ces images et de les présenter dans un endroit central. Alors s'il vous plaît n'hésitez pas à rejoindre et ajouter dans la vôtre si vous le souhaitez. Merci! -
Board of Trade presents its fifth Strategic Forum on major projects in Montréal
un sujet a posté GDS dans L'actualité
MONTREAL, March 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Mr. Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, is pleased to invite media representatives to the Strategic Forum of the Board of Trade, which will focus on major projects in Montréal, on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at 7:30 a.m. With the Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, to be on hand, along with a number of experts and nearly 500 participants, this unique event will enable to learn more about how various key and shaping Montréal projects are advancing. The major development projects will be on-hand: The Montréal of tomorrow, an overview of the city's major projects Emilio Imbriglio, Partner, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton TOWARDS MAJOR PRIVATE PROJECTS The impact of condo development on the Montréal landscape Jacques Vincent, Co-President, Prével Urban renewal, from Angus to Quadrilatere Saint-Laurent: The need for a territorial approach Christian Yaccarini, President and CEO, Angus Development Corporation The Windsor sector: Major developments for the Bell Centre and its surrounding area Salvatore Iacono, Senior Vice President, Development, Eastern Canada, Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd. LARGE-SCALE HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURES Sainte-Justine UHC - Grandir en santé: Innovation in personalized medicine for mothers and children Dr. Fabrice Brunet, Executive Director, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center MUHC Normand Rinfret, Associate Executive Director and COO McGill University Health Centre The Jewish General Hospital Dr. Hartley Stern, Executive Director, Jewish General Hospital and Philippe Castiel, Director of Planning and Real Estate Development, Jewish General Hospital CHUM Christian Paire, Executive Director, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL PROJECTS A space for life Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, Executive Director, Montréal's Nature Museums The UdeM's Outremont Campus Guy Breton, Rector, Université de Montréal The Innovation District: Progress report and guidelines for its implementation Yves Beauchamp, Director General, École de technologie supérieure and Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University The redevelopment of the CBC/Radio-Canada site Maryse Bertrand, Vice-President, Real Estate, Legal Services, and General Counsel CBC/Société Radio-Canada The Quartier des spectacles Jean-Robert Choquet, Director, Department of Culture and Heritage, Ville de Montréal and Stéphane Ricci, Coordinator, Quartier des spectacles project, Ville de Montréal The Silo No. 5 and the Bassins du Nouveau Havre: Major revitalization projects for Montréal Cameron Charlebois, Vice-President, Real Estate, Quebec, Canada Lands Company Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Time: From 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Where: Palais des congrès de Montréal 1001 place Jean-Paul Riopelle Room 710 The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its primary mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montréal and to provide individuals, merchants, and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is Quebec's leading private economic development organization. Contacts RSVP with Sylvie Paquette Advisor Media Relations by phone at 514 871-4000 ext. 4015 or by email at sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca. -
Canada's biggest infrastructure projects - Top 100
un sujet a posté GoMontreal dans Projets oubliés et/ou en suspens
Plusieurs projets de Montréal s'y retrouve. Belle interface... http://top100projects.ca/map/ -
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Hydro+Qu%c3%a9bec+accepts+bids+wind+farms/4004578/story.html#ixzz18l8doftP
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If you want to laugh a little bit, read this news story and the comment section! http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/12/02/park-avenue-pharmacy-arson-suspect-lights-himself-on-fire.html P.S.: I titled this thread "Arson" so other members can post stories about arson that do not necessarily involve the projects in the "Projects" forum.
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Enjoy! Compliments of: Le Triomphe, Montreal, scale 1:87 *************************************************** CITÉ NATURE, Montréal, scale 1:87 ********************************************** DOWNTOWN MONTRÉAL, scale 1:1000 Some buildings in green...maybe some day they will rise.
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Broccolini wins two tenders for LEED Gold office towers from the federal government Canada NewsWire MONTREAL, May 7 MONTREAL, May 7 /CNW Telbec/ - Broccolini, a recognized leader in the Canadian construction industry for over sixty years, has recently won two major tenders from the federal government to construct two LEED® Gold office towers, with work slated to begin in late summer. The firm has been awarded the contract to design, develop and build these towers totalling more than 900,000 rentable sq. ft. of Class A office space for the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) in Gatineau, Quebec. Having successfully developed TELUS House, a 9-storey, Class A, 160,000 sq. ft. LEED® Silver certified office building in Ottawa, and with Export Development Canada's (EDC) 575,000 sq. ft. headquarters under construction, the new mandates confirm Broccolini's significant position in development and construction in the National Capital area. The new buildings will provide space for federal government departments and organizations and will attain LEED® Gold certification. This represents the tenth time that Broccolini will have delivered a LEED® certified project to the marketplace. "We are very proud to have won the mandate for these groundbreaking projects," said Anthony Broccolini, Managing Director at Broccolini. "We believe it reflects our reputation for strong development and construction capabilities, as well as the quality of the work we've previously undertaken in the Ottawa market." The 12-storey, 484,000 sq. ft. office tower, located on Carrière Boulevard in Gatineau, features architecture promoting a healthy balance between efficient planning and the preservation and restoration of natural green space. It will enhance the site's attractions, taking advantage of the extensive mature tree coverage and superb view overlooking Lac Leamy. The building's timeless architecture and cutting-edge technology will be an eye-catching reflection of Broccolini's environmental commitment, as well as its ongoing concern for the quality of its developments. The second building, a 15-storey, 690,000 sq. ft office tower, will overlook Promenade du Portage Street in the heart of downtown Gatineau, adjacent to the PWGSC's existing premises. With architecture combining heritage features and high-tech efficiency, its design will allow the building to optimize the usage of space while restoring and improving a significant element of the city's urban fabric, at the same time incorporating PWGSC's existing facilities. The know-how, experience and passion for development and construction, cornerstones of the company's success, were no doubt major factors in the decision to award the mandate to the firm. With a pristine litigation record and an enviable reputation for integrity, quality of work and flexibility, Broccolini has demonstrated its ability to deliver similar signature properties to the market. "We have major experience in a wide range of projects from office buildings and manufacturing facilities to big box stores and industrial complexes," explained Mr. Broccolini. "Our team is enthusiastic and welcomes the challenges of delivering these exciting and demanding projects on time and on budget."
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(Courtesy of The Montreal Gazette)
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Renewable energy dominates this year's Top 100 Projects list
un sujet a posté ErickMontreal dans L'actualité
Renewable energy dominates this year's Top 100 Projects list - with little help from the Stimulus Fund -
Quebec Government Greenlights Construction of the Le Plateau Wind Farm
un sujet a posté jesseps dans L'actualité
(Courtesy of Logotipo REVE) -
Couple of old projects that never saw the light of day as they were planned ...Cite Concordia was drastically downsized and redesigned... Dashed projects - 1968 Two downtown projects that never happened. The Eaton-Mace project was a $125,000,0000 building slated for the area bounded by St. Catherine and Sherbrooke between University & Mansfield. It was guided by Brigadier-General Gordon Dorward de Salaberry Wotherspoon. The Montreal Trust mortgage group took it over after Mace ran out of cash. The Place de la Concorde was a $250,000,000 project to be plopped between Milton and Pine, Ste. Famile and Hutchison, roughly the area of what they tried to do a couple of years later with the La Cite project which would have levelled much of the McGill ghetto had it not it not been largely blocked by protests. I was not able to post it in cancelled projects!!
