The City of Montreal announced its intention to build close to 200 units of social housing alongside a private development in Verdun’s Dupuis-Hickson sector.
Benoit Dorais, vice president of Montreal’s Executive Committee and the member responsible for housing, called the agreement a “win-win.”
Crucially, it marks the end of a 2022 lawsuit with private developer District Atwater, who took the City to court over its use of the pre-emptive right, or right of first refusal. The City used that right in 2021 to acquire a Dupuis-Hickson lot for social housing.
The new agreement will see that lot go to District Atwater as part of a multi-lot development. The City will be able to build social housing on just a portion of the lots, and will make a $6.7 million financial contribution.
But Verdun’s housing committee, the Citizen Action Committee of Verdun (CACV), is aiming to block the development entirely. They say they’d rather see no housing than a project that would further gentrify the neighbourhood.
