Strip of Montreal’s St-Laurent to be transformed

A rundown section of street deep in the cultural and shopping heart of downtown Montreal is about to undergo a major overhaul.

The Société de développment Angus (SDA) is redeveloping a strip of Saint-Laurent Boulevard from Ste-Catherine Street to the Monument National. The developer has been acquiring propertyalong the block for years and was ordered to demolish several  buildings on the site  that date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to safety reasons.

Materials from the historic buildings will be incorporated into the new 47,500-sq.m. Carré Saint-Laurent.  The mixed-use development will include 40 retail shops in an open air corridor, as well as government and commercial offices and residences.  Angus is set to begin the first phase of construction in October. That phase will be a six storey government office building near the southern end of the block, while the second phase will see  a 12-storey residential and hotel building at the northern end.

SDA says: “This redevelopment at the city’s cultural epicenter will reinforce the zone’s historical and symbolic significance.” They intend to use green building techniques and will integrate some of the architectural elements of the existing buildings.

Provencher Roy Associates are the architects and Saint-Denis Thompson is doing the heritage restoration. No consulting engineers have been named.

According to a CBC report, SDA has been buying property on the strip for 10 years, but one of the major obstacles to the development has been a strip club which has stood on the site since 1976 and refuses  to move. Angus has given up waiting for the sale  and has decided to build behind the establishment.

To read the CBC report, click here.
To see a Google image of the street as it is now, click here
To read about the project on the SDA website, click here.