‘Galleon’ tower to be anchored at the peak of Grande Allée
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
After nearly 15 years of battles with City Hall and in the courts, developer Louis Lessard appears to be on the verge of realizing his ambition to build a luxury tower on Grande Allée Est.
Lessard was in attendance at a public consultation meeting on June 16 where he announced his plan for Le Galléon, a 20-storey building on the site where Saint- Coeur-de-Marie church stood until it fell into ruin and was demolished in 2019.
Lessard, who acquired the property in 2010, 13 years after it had been abandoned by the Catholic diocese, said in brief remarks that the building would be “absolutely magnificent.”
If the city grants a build- ing permit by August, Le Galléon, containing 200 residential rental units and a number of commercial spaces, would take 18 months to build. No dollar amount for the project has been made available.
The project website describes the building in grand terms: “Between sky, city and river, Le Galléon – a timeless design inspired by the site’s heritage. Anchored at the highest point of the iconic Grande Allée, Le Galléon is reinventing the art of living in Quebec City.”
Some 58 people attended the information session in person and another 60 online; both the Galléon project and a 10-storey addition to the 153-155 Grande Allée Est building were presented.
The city councillor for Cap-aux-Diamants and executive committee member responsible for urban planning, Coun. Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc, attended and explained how the two large projects on Grande Allée were being fast-tracked under a new law to accelerate housing construction in areas of high demand.
Coulombe-Leduc noted that buildings of 20 storeys and more are not uncommon on Grande Allée. “We’ll hear what people have to say. We’ll see if it directly affects the project or if there are indirect consequences that might allow us to work in a different way. We’ll weigh the pros and cons. We’ll see if there’s a need to make changes or not.”
The Galléon developers have already made several changes to the project design in response to comments from the city’s urban planning commission, said Jonathan Brisson, head of Circum Architecture, the firm heading up the project.
For Lessard, the city’s sudden enthusiasm for his proposal for a 20-storey tower marks a stunning reversal from what has transpired since 2010. In 2017, his company had proposed an 18-storey building, which was rejected by the city.
It had been, according to Lessard, the 12th design proposal submitted to the city since he bought the site, which included the abandoned church. Several of the early proposals included concepts that retained parts of the church structure.
Frustrated by the city’s refusal to accept a tower high enough to be profitable, in 2022 Lessard submitted a design for a nine-storey parking garage that he believed conformed to existing zoning. The city rejected the proposal and changed the zoning to block such a project. Lessard then took the city to court, but lost in a decision rendered in June 2024.
What happened between Lessard and the city after that court decision that led to the submission of a comprehensive architectural plan for a 20-storey tower a few months later was not discussed at the consultation session.
There were few questions about Le Galléon posed at the three-hour meeting. One did concern the process that would be used to excavate the four-storey underground garage. Brisson was not able to be specific but conceded blasting would likely be required, given the rock upon which the structure would be built.