Chamber of Commerce wants tax cuts
The Chamber of Commerce wants a reduction in commercial taxes downtown. It’s not like we can’t see why, but this isn’t really a great time for city hall to pass up normal revenue. They also want the city to leave economic development to other levels of government, and suspend the requirement for social housing to be included in new developments.
Another thing discussed here is Cadillac Fairview’s plan for a “centre-ville de l’est de Montréal” to be built up around Galeries d’Anjou (and competing with the STM’s desire for a parking lot for the new blue line terminus)? If people talk about our old downtown doing badly, I’d counter with the competition from Dix30 plus the impending Royalmount project and now this new monster.
Ephraim 08:02 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Important rule. Never listen to the Chamber of Commerce, they always have alternative agendas that they don’t disclose. And what percentage of businesses are actually a member? We need a group to represent all the commercial merchants, equally, not just those that pay in and have heavy pockets.
I thought that Galeries d’Anjou was fighting the city because it doesn’t want the terminus to be where the city wants it. Right where the McDonald’s is, on the corner of St-Zotique
Kate 09:38 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Ephraim, as I understand it, the STM wants not just room for a station, but a huge parking lot. And this is conflicting with a plan (which wasn’t mentioned till recently) to build the area up with a lot of condo towers and other stuff.
Now, having observed how this stuff works, I think it likely those fancy plans have only existed since the city started making expropriations, so Cadillac Fairview can say “hey, you’re not just taking away a piece of a mall parking lot, you’re taking away land that’s MUCH more valuable – potentially – so you have to pay us a lot more money!” Which could keep lawyers tied in knots for many expensive years.
Ephraim 21:48 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
They actually are taking a corner that has businesses on it. Look at http://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/media/Travaux/Ligne_bleue/19817_37_plans_infrastructures_anjou.pdf and you will see, there is a Wendy’s, an Academie, 3 Brasseurs, McDonald’s, Madison’s and RONA and it’s parking lot in that corner.
But I stand by my mistrust of the Chambre de Commerce, they are the people who ripped off the city with “buying” the parking meters, run Tourisme Montreal and of course set up Bixi and ran it into the ground intentionally paying the people at the top unsustainable salaries and leaving the city holding the bag.