City as Developper

Thanks to the Montreal City Weblog for linking to this article about a giant area the city is planning to develop. The giant area located in Montreal east is bound by Sherbrooke to the south, The metropolitan autoroute in the north, the Lafarge Quarry to the east and west until about Pierre-Bernard street.

This project seems to be on the right start by incorporating a mix of affordable housing, social housing and condos for both retired folk and low-to-medium-income households . A total of 60% of the new housing will be affordable housing and social housing (39% affordable and 21% social). Other than a small band of commercial area to the south ( most probably along Sherbrooke), there is no news whether this project will adopt principles of sustainable development or at least New Urbanism.

Hopefully the commercial zone will be mixed use, with housing and offices above. I don't think Sherbrooke east needs any more strip malls or restos floating in a lake of parking. Hopefully all the housing will be somewhat mixed as well. The condos, social and affordable housing unsegregated. I will be keeping an eye on this project.

The city has partnered many times before in large development projects (often call PUDs, Planned Unit Developments). This seems to be the first the city has gone pretty much solo. For some info check out the Angus Shops Development, considered a successful sustainable community.

May 9th Update: The area to be developed is in fact not in Montreal East as the article mentioned, but in Mercier-East, which is part of a different borough.