Published March 11, 2024

Peter Black

March 6, 2024

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

One of the most coveted and scenic sites in the city will be devoted to social housing, if a plan the city announced last week comes to be.

Under the plan, the former site of the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church and community centre, a few years ago destined to become a luxury hotel, will welcome a two-building complex with some 170 housing units, a daycare and green spaces.

The plan is the result of consultations launched in the wake of the city’s acquisition of the site in 2022 after a prolonged dispute with a developer over the parameters of the proposed hotel.

A collection of community groups has been pushing for years to have the prized site in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste sector devoted to a social housing project. Those groups are Action-Habitation, the Fédération des coopératives d’habitation de Québec Chaudière-Appalaches, La Bouée and the Comité populaire Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

The groups hired the well-known local architecture firm Lafond Côté to draw up the vision for the site. One of the buildings will be designated as a residence for seniors with appropriate services. Both buildings will have “green” roofs with vegetation and gardens.

At a Feb. 26 City Hall news conference to announce the project, whose financing is yet to be determined, the city councillor for Cap-aux-Diamants and executive committee member responsible for urban development, Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc, applauded the breakthrough in a long deadlock.

“The models presented put forward a project on a human scale which fully meets the city’s objectives in terms of housing, sustainable development and active mobility,” Coulombe-Leduc said. She added the project requires no zoning changes.

The new project for the site contrasts with what former mayor Régis Labeaume had in mind when the city decided to take the previous owner to court to obtain the property. 

In November 2019, in rejecting a social housing mission for the site, he said, “It will be a park, an exceptional park, but there will be no building there.” He said he’d also like to see “a mechanical link there, to make it easier to travel between Upper Town and Lower Town.”

Coun. Claude Villeneuve, the current head of Québec d’Abord, Labeaume’s former party, said he supported the principle of the social housing complex. In a statement to the QCT, he said, “We are pleased to see such a project in Quebec City. However, [Mayor Bruno Marchand] is announcing a project for which he doesn’t even have a financial plan. He can pretend that the project got unanimous support but without providing a budget, it’s illogical and irresponsible.”

Villeneuve said, “We truly want to see such a project come to fruition in Quebec, but with the proper means. The mayor was unsure which provincial government program to reference. It is a bit concerning regarding the implementation. He said that the construction could begin in 2025 but many elements are missing.”

Limoilou Coun. and Transition Québec Leader Jackie Smith said she is “delighted” with the project. “After decades of procrastination regarding this land, we can only rejoice at the progress of this project. New local shops, greening, social housing, a CPE [daycare] and an RPA [seniors’ residence], this is what the neighbourhood needs,” she said in a statement. 

Marchand said it’s not certain how much funding the city or other levels of government will contribute to the project, but he was confident construction could start next year.

Coulombe-Leduc said the adjacent former garage property which the city owns is not part of the project at the moment because of complexities relating to demolition of buildings on the site and decontamination of soil. She said the city did not want to delay the start of the larger project while awaiting preparation of the neighbouring site.

The 170 units in the two buildings, varying between six and eight storeys, are expected to welcome some 350 new residents to the Old City, which has been a priority for the city. It recently also acquired the nearby site of the former Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague school and Foyer Nazareth with a future housing project in mind.

  30 

This artist’s concept shows an aerial view of the plan for two residential buildings on the Ilot Saint-Vincent-de-Paul site. The Dufferin-Morency autoroute is at the bottom left. 

Image from Lafond Côté Architectes.

Scroll to Top