CANADA POST SITE: ADDING STRUCTURE TO THE SUD-OUEST

The Coalition de la Petite-Bourgogne/Quartier en santé, the technical resource group Bâtir son quartier and RESO have proposed a development plan for the Canada Post site, unused now since 2002, that features an economic and tourist component with the potential to create 1,000 to 1,300 jobs, and a pitch for affordable housing to the tune of 625 units, including a significant proportion of cooperative and community housing.

RESO hopes that the Canada Lands Company (CLC) acquires the Canada Post site so that it remains in the federal public domain throughout its development. If this were so, this exemplary urban development project conceived by RESO, the Coalition de la Petite-Bourgogne/Quartier en santé and the technical resource group Bâtir son quartier could be realized.

RESO is remaining in contact with the CLC and Canada Post so that the site’s redevelopment may be made in partnership with the Sud-Ouest community; it has also undertaken to sensitize the new federal government on the issue.

Located in Little Burgundy, the Canada Post site is bordered to the north by Ottawa Street, to the east by Du Séminaire Street, to the south by the Lachine Canal and to the west by Richmond Street. The million-square-foot site located near downtown has a strategic location. Housing the Canada Post sorting centre until recently, the building itself takes up a little over a third of the area; the project proposal anticipates dismantling this industrial structure to make way for a development better integrated into the district.

The project must exemplify lasting, equitable and green urban development; pursue the matching goals of economic development, social development and respect for the environment; and meet the needs of the people of the Sud-Ouest.

The development plan provides for:

• Job-creation activities, such as offices, shops, neighbourhood services and tourist services.
• A portion of the territory reserved for affordable housing: cooperative and community housing and properties accessible to middle-income households.
• A portion geared for tourists, including the Auberge internationale du canal de Lachine, a canal interpretation centre, restaurants, shops and a cooperative for artist and craftspeople.

The three organizations involved reaffirm their commitment to act as stakeholders throughout each of this strategic site’s stages of development. This development calls for partnerships with private and community promoters, and public sector participation, notably for the site’s requalification (decontamination, demolishing of the building, excavation and readjustment of old basins, public developments, etc.).