Public Consultation on Maison Radio-Canada Modernization Project and Site Development

Montréal, November 4, 2008 – The Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) announces today that it will hold a consultation on a project allowing Radio-Canada to modernize its facilities and develop a vast real estate project on the site currently occupied by the company along René-Lévesque Boulevard at the eastern limit of downtown Montréal. The Office was given the mandate to proceed with the consultation at the city council meeting on October 27.

It is estimated that development costs for the project will total $1.6 billion, covering the construction of some 2000 housing units, offices, and commercial and public spaces. The new buildings, reaching up to 44 metres in height, will be constructed around the existing tower, on the site of large parking lots to be relocated underground. The tower would be re-converted into housing units or a hotel. The current Radio-Canada offices will move to other buildings near the studios, and therefore remain on the site. In order to complete the project, the existing road network will have to be redesigned.

The expansion requires variances to the borough of Ville-Marie urban planning by-law and the Montréal Master Plan. The draft by-laws submitted for consultation include provisions pertaining to the site’s conditions for development, uses, density, heights, land coverage, building line, access to parking and loading areas, landscaping, architecture and design.

The consultation involves several steps. An information session, presenting the project and allowing citizens to ask as many questions as they like, will be held on Tuesday, November 18 and 19, at 7:00 p.m., in the basement of the Église Saint-Pierre Apôtre, located at 1323 René-Lévesque Boulevard East. Following this session, the Office will organize three thematic sessions to further discuss certain aspects of the project and its consequences. The first session, on Wednesday, November 19, will deal with urban integration issues; the second, on Thursday, November 20, with social integration; and the third, on Monday, November 24, with issues involving access and automobile circulation. The three meetings, beginning at 7:00 p.m., will be held at the Centre Saint-Pierre, 1212 Panet Street, Room 1205. The hearing of briefs will begin on Tuesday, December 9, 7:00 p.m., also at the Centre Saint-Pierre.

All information pertaining to the consultation is available for public review at the OCPM offices, the Direction du Greffe de la Ville de Montréal, 275 Notre-Dame Street East, and the Ville-Marie borough office, 888 De Maisonneuve Boulevard East, 5th floor. This documentation is also available on the Office Web site, at www.ocpm.qc.ca. For information, please call 514 872-8510.

Since its creation in 2002 under the Charter of Ville de Montréal, the OCPM has managed 70 consultations and held over 250 public sessions attended by some 25,000 citizens. Please visit the OCPM Web site, www.ocpm.qc.ca, for additional information about the Office.

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Luc Doray
Tel.: 514 872-3568
Cell.: 514 977-8365