Galeries d’Anjou owners to block blue line
You might think the owners of Galeries d’Anjou would welcome a metro station at their doorstep, but you’d be wrong. With the CAQ’s strong-arm expropriation law on hold, the owners are trying to block the project with a lawsuit.
Dhomas 03:44 on 2020-06-19 Permalink
This is a cash grab, plain and simple. The northwestern section of the mall and parking lot is completely empty and desolate. There is an abandoned building in the parking that’s been sitting vacant for decades with tons of parking around it:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NyVbGWR2mCR53au4A
(It almost already looks like a metro édicule)
It’s been abandoned so long, I don’t think anyone can remember what business was once housed there (I’d be curious to know, if any readers recall. I think I have vague memories of it being a photo development place, but I could very well be imagining that).
Also, I don’t mean to be the tin foil hat person, but it’s interesting to note that Ivanhoe Cambridge is 100% owned by the CDPQ. The CDPQ is, obviously, also behind the building of the REM and they don’t seem to like competition.
John S 07:25 on 2020-06-19 Permalink
I think it was a Sear tire outlet.
Ephraim 10:03 on 2020-06-19 Permalink
Sears Tires was there. But the proposed metro station is actually corner of Beaubien. See http://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/media/Travaux/Ligne_bleue/19817_22_plan_plb_avec_pd_ang.pdf
The mall is owned 50% by CF and Ivanhoe Cambridge. So only 50% owned by the CDPQ. And Ivanhoe Cambrdige in February said it was going to divest of about a third of it’s malls.
Might be interesting for the city to suggest ending at Langelier instead and create the final station there, instead. You know, this is what killed Dupuis Frere… no metro tunnel, no traffic.
DeWolf 10:12 on 2020-06-19 Permalink
This is mystifying given that CF and Ivanhoe Cambridge can make a ton of money by redeveloping their parking lot into transit-oriented shops and condos. In fact that’s the plan for Fairview Pointe-Claire, which will be next to a REM station. That mall is also owned by CF so it’s weird they wouldn’t see the advantage for Anjou.
qatzelok 12:24 on 2020-06-19 Permalink
“it’s weird they (CDPQ) wouldn’t see the advantage for Anjou.”
CDPQ aren’t paid to care about Anjou – only revenue streams.Santa Clause doesn’t exist.
This potential conflict-of-interest is because the CDPQ is invested in too many things (mass transit lines and real estate and government access) and its mission creep is creating social paralysis as it seeks to always maximize its profit potential even against the common good (and they have government access)
Humans who are this competitive often pursue lawfare and occasionally do illegal things to get their own way, but are well connected enough to get away with a tiny fine when they get caught.
david12 12:52 on 2020-06-19 Permalink
Unusual to see heavyweights like Cadillac Fairview and Ivanhoe Cambridge lining up against the government, and it would be even more unusual for the government not to back down. Which they, of course, did here.
But they shouldn’t! In fact, they should expropriate the entire area, pay the current market rate for it (low), then go MTR on the place and build thousands of units with all sorts of great commercial and cultural amenities below.