Peter Black

March 24, 2024

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Developers of a project on a prime stretch of Grande Allée went back to the drawing board and came up with a redesign they hope wins the approval of residents and city officials.

The large site at 955 Grande Allée Ouest currently hosts a long four-storey office building, erected in 1958 as an insurance company office, which later served for many years as the headquarters for Loto-Québec.

The developers, Les Immeubles Simard, unveiled a new plan for the building at a public information session they convened at Loisirs Montcalm on March 19. The plan includes preserving the existing structure essentially as is, and building two residential structures behind, of four- and six-storey height, fronted on Avenue de Mérici.

The complex would create some 150 housing units of various sizes on what now is a large parking lot. Some 270 parking spaces for residents and office workers would be available in an underground parking garage yet to be built.

The new buildings would cover 25 per cent less surface than the previous plan the company submitted in 2021. The administration of former mayor Régis Labeaume rejected that proposal following negative reaction from the public regarding the impact of the project. 

Les Immeubles Simard, in collaboration with PMA Landscape Architects Limited, has been behind several noteworthy projects in the Montcalm district, including the Le Vitrail complex incorporating two historic villas on Chemin Sainte-Foy, and Les Étoiles on Grande Allée Est, a project on the site of a former monastery.

The Simard company acquired 955 Grande Allée Ouest in 2019.

As the architect in charge of the project, Sandrine Toulouse-Joyal, told the MonMontcalm local news website, “The vertical distribution of the project and the maximization of underground parking spaces would make it possible to preserve as much tree cover as possible and increase the percentage of green areas on the lot.”

The public presentation contained detailed studies on the impact of increased traffic and sunlight for neighbouring residences. Both are negligible, the studies conclude.

Jonathan Tedeschi, the president of the Montcalm neighbourhood council, who attended the meeting, told the QCT, “Several points of view were expressed during this workshop, but there seemed to be a consensus that the new version of the project was more interesting than the old one. Many modifications have been made, which makes the project more attractive.”

Two city councillors attended the session about the project, which straddles the border of the districts they represent: Catherine Vallières-Roland of Montcalm–Saint-Sacrement and Maude Mercier Larouche of Saint-Louis–Sillery.

Mercier Larouche told MonMontcalm, “The [housing] crisis we are currently experiencing is unprecedented. So, when developers do projects, when it happens near us, I can understand the concerns that it generates, but why we do it is really important. It’s an opportunity to respond to the challenges expressed and to achieve the targets we have set.”

The next step for the developers is to submit the new plans to city planning authorities. They have not put a price tag on the project.

30 

IMAGES BELOW 

This image shows the proposed housing complex to be built on Avenue de Mérici. 

Image from Les Immeubles Simard.

The former Loto-Québec headquarters on Grande Allée would largely stay the same in recently announced plans for a housing complex.  

Photo from Les Immeubles Simard