By Canadian Press

‘City within a city’: Montreal announces new plan for 20,000 housing units

Apr 19, 2024 | 12:17 PM

MONTREAL — The City of Montreal has announced a new vision for an old racetrack that the mayor says will be home to as many as 40,000 people.

The federal and provincial governments, as well as the city will each pitch in $2 million for technical studies on the 95 hectares of land, part of which used to host the Hippodrome.

The land hasn’t been used for 14 years and doesn’t have a water distribution system, and the studies will analyze what it will cost to connect the area to city infrastructure and public transit.

Today’s announcement comes after the city failed multiple times to build housing at the Hippodrome site, located in the middle of the Island of Montreal.

Mayor Valérie Plante says the new vision — 20,000 units, half of which will be affordable housing — will become a “city within a city.”

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Pierre Boivin, CEO of investment firm Claridge, who is helping to draft a new development model for the property, says this new plan will succeed where others have failed.

He says the potential implication of the Canada Infrastructure Bank helping to build the water infrastructure network allows the city to believe the project will finally get off the ground.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press