City eyes office buildings for residential
The city is considering changing some downtown zoning to make it possible to convert some office buildings to residential use, since the trend for remote or hybrid work is growing rather than fading away.
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Kate
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Cadichon 10:53 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
There’s some confusion in that article. Residential use is already authorized all over downtown, so zoning is not an issue there. But I guess outside of downtown, some smaller office buildings are zoned for commercial use only.
shawn 11:15 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
I was hoping to read something like this. Makes so much sense. Can’t wait to see which buildings may convert.
DeWolf 12:46 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
Here’s an example of what Cadichon means. This is zone 0004 which encompasses the area around Central Station and the Bell Centre:
https://www1.ville.montreal.qc.ca/CartesInteractives/ville-marie/doc/VM_4.pdf
It’s zone for mixed-use, including commercial/industrial on any floor, so basically it’s an area where you can build whatever you want. The area near the train station is almost 100% offices, but the area near the Bell Centre is now mostly residential.
Basically, there’s nothing stopping a developer from converting office buildings into residential, so I’m not sure what else the city is planning to do. Maybe they’ll streamline the permitting process?
DeWolf 13:04 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
1425 René-Lévesque (the old brick building at the corner of Bishop) is currently going through the approvals process to be converted from office to residential:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/1425-rene-levesque-ouest-agrandissement-et-conversion-etages/4107
400 René-Lévesque was converted from office to apartments in 2019:
https://mtlurb.com/topic/11148-encore-residences-400-r-l-17-etages-2019/
I’m not aware of any other recent conversions in the downtown area, but I’m sure they’re coming. The only part of downtown that is completely dominated by offices is a narrow corridor running from Place Bonaventure up to Sherbrooke, which is exactly the route of the REM, so I’m sure there are quite a few lower-grade office buildings ripe for the picking.
shawn 13:27 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
Right, 400 René-Lévesque was the one I remember.
Cadichon 14:04 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
1420 Sherbrooke was also converted 10 years ago.
DeWolf 14:26 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
I had no idea that was a conversion! The building looks so different now I just assumed it was a new build.
A couple more projects currently underway include the conversion of the old Point Zero HQ into a 26-storey apartment building:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/980-saint-antoine-ouest-26-etages/249
There’s also 1900 Sherbrooke West:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/gramercy-residences-9-10-etages/1064
Dominic 15:02 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
The parking lot on top of Gare Centrale would be perfect for a high rise
DeWolf 15:43 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
The station’s owner has a proposal to build three towers with 1,800 housing units on top of the station’s parking garage, but there hasn’t been any word about it since 2019:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/895-de-la-gauchetiere-gare-centrale-etages/612
https://renx.ca/cominar-plans-major-residential-developments
This article from 2021 suggests it’s still in the works:
https://storeys.com/cominar-canderel-billion-dollar-purchase-montreal-bull-market/
DeWolf 15:45 on 2022-12-09 Permalink
@Dominic there’s a proposal to put three towers there. 1,800 housing units.
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/895-de-la-gauchetiere-gare-centrale-etages/612
It’s been in gestation for a few years, not sure if it’s still moving forward…