T.M.R. APPROVES MEGAMALL
‘Quinze40’ goes to agglo council
Town of Mount Royal approved plans Monday night to build a mega mall where the Décarie Expressway meets the Metropolitan Autoroute, clearing the way for the $1.7-billion project.
T.M.R.’s council vote doesn’t mean the project is a fait accompli, however, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said Tuesday. The city’s standing committee on economic development is studying the issue and the final say rests with the agglomeration council, which oversees traffic management on the island of Montreal.
Opposition party Projet Montréal, however, said the city’s slow action on the file indicates it favours the voluminous shopping mall that they say will exacerbate traffic congestion and suck customers from established shopping areas downtown.
The Royal mount project—which has been dubbed the Quinze40 because it sits at the confluence of Highways 15 and 40 — is the brainchild of Carbon Leo, the company behind the Quartier Dix30 mega mall on the South Shore.
The council of T.M.R., which is an independent municipality, approved the project in a vote on Monday night. Mayor Philippe Roy says the project will enrich all Montrealers, and bring an estimated $45 million in tax revenue to his city and Montreal.
Ultimately the decision rests with the agglomeration council, Coderre said.
“It’s true Town of Mount Royal is entirely autonomous in its jurisdiction, but the debate will go to the agglomeration level in terms of all that it touches on, in terms of services, in terms of traffic, and the investment needed by the agglomeration,” Coderre said. “It won’t be a rubber stamp, there will be discussions.”
Projet Montréal leader Luc Ferrandez questioned why the standing committee mandated months ago to look into the issue was taking so much time. The fact Coderre has failed to come out strongly against the issue, as he has for dossiers like Canada Post’s’ intention to cancel home delivery, indicates his tacit approval, Ferrandez said.
“The standing committee on economic development is not very far advanced on this file,” Ferrandez said. “In the meantime, the land has been purchased, the zoning changes made, the regulations have been changed. Mayor Coderre will find himself before a fait accompli.”
The mixed-use commercial project will cover 2.5 million square feet of land, with 1.6 million square feet of retail space, 900,000 square feet for restaurants and theatres, 1.5 million square feet of office space, two hotels and 8,000 parking spots.
A cineplex, theatres, skating rink and waterpark, a green roof, along with 50 to 75 restaurants, are part of the mix. One live entertainment venue will have 3,000 seats. On the retail side, there would be about 150 boutiques and five or six major anchors.
The developers contend the mega mall will generate 15,000 jobs, $800 million in retail sales annually and revitalize an underused central location without impacting traffic because 30 per cent of visitors will use public transit.
Ferrandez scoffed at the idea of patrons of an upscale shopping mall complete with water park and skating rink will come by métro. Studies conducted in the United States indicate a mall of this size will bring 100,000 people a day, further clogging the notoriously slow interchange. For every job created at Royalmount, another will be lost at established shopping areas downtown, Projet Montréal said.
“I’m not a fortune teller, but what I think will happens is that when they come to ask for an entrance (from the mall) to the highway … we cannot expect the mayor to back out. He will ask for some concessions or negotiations, but he will not stop the project.”
It won’t be a rubber stamp, there will be discussions. MONTREAL MAYOR DENIS CODERRE