25 August 2007
Viger Station Plan Goes to Consultation
A new hotel in the former CPR Viger Station would be the
centrepiece of a major redevelopment project east of Old Montreal.
Montreal Quebec - Public hearings are to be held in
October on a $400-million redevelopment of the historic Viger Station that city officials hope will revitalize the area
east of Old Montreal.
The project is the biggest private real-estate venture in Montreal since Place Ville Marie was opened in 1962, Ville Marie
borough president Benoit Labonte told a borough council meeting yesterday.
Council approved a resolution to send the proposal to public consultation and then the Montreal executive committee and council for
final approval.
Developers plan to convert the former Viger Station into a 250-room hotel, with underground parking for 1,800 vehicles,
offices, and as many as 200 residential units on the two-hectare site on the south side of St. Antoine St., between Berri
and St. Christophe Sts.
The hotel and station, built for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1898 in the spire-rich Chateau Frontenac style, was
purchased by the federal government in the 1950s and then sold to the city of Montreal, which used it for municipal offices until 2005.
Viger Ltd. Partnership bought the property, the interior of which has been gutted, last May for $9 million. The development group
includes Homberg Invest Inc. of Halifax, Telemedia Enterprises Inc. of Montreal, and SNS Property Finance of Holland.
Labonte called the promoters "exemplary corporate citizens." Old Montreal residents, some of whom attended yesterday's
meeting, expressed concern about the height of buildings and their possible density.
Plans distributed by the borough showed the proposed maximum height of the area bounded by St. Antoine, St. Hubert, Notre Dame, and
Berri Sts. would be raised to 60 metres from 44.
This could be the equivalent of 18 to 20 storeys, which some residents feel could overpower the historic low-rise
character of Old Montreal just to the west.
But height in itself is not a major concern, said Dinu Bumbaru, program co-ordinator of Heritage Montreal.
"Our concern is more with the architecture," he said in an interview. "With 50 metres you can do something great, but
with 20 metres you can do something awful. Height is only one factor." He said the promoters are "very knowledgeable"
and their plans will be scrutinized by city planners and the public. "They are not getting a blank cheque." They have yet to
produce architect's sketches or disclose their design philosophy for inserting new buildings into an area dominated by
century-old styles.
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