A little sliver of Montreal near the Lachine Canal will be transformed as part of a larger plan to build a sustainable community in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montreal Mayor Val\u00e9rie Plante announced the winner of the Reinventing Montreal award Tuesday as the team behind Demain Montr\u00e9al, a collaboration between Pomerleau, Ivanho\u00e9 Cambridge and Cogir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy the canal we\u2019re going to see this great project which will include housing but also co-working spaces, as well as a kind of public market,\u201d she said. \u201cWhich is nice because in that area there is not so much to offer in terms of fresh food and places for people to go in and out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The De la Commune service yard, which is located between Old Montreal, Griffintown and the city\u2019s downtown core, is at the heart of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal includes redeveloping the land at the entrance of the Bonaventure Expressway into a sustainable neighbourhood. This includes building a zero-waste grocery store, restaurants, educational services, an urban forest with an orchard and a garden for local food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project \u2014 which was among 15 submissions for the Reinventing Montreal award \u2014 will overhaul the area with a mixed-used green development that will help fight climate change, according to Plante.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said she loves the idea of connecting public places with private spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis site, it\u2019s been a long time we\u2019ve been looking at it,\u201d said Plante.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reinventing Montreal is part of a global competition spearheaded by C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group to transform underutilized areas into carbon-free and sustainable developments. A total of 14 cities \u2014 including Oslo, Chicago and Madrid \u2014 have chosen 31 urban spaces to develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the competition, the winning teams, which are composed of architects, developers and environmentalists, buy or lease the site to create their project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Rosato, the executive vice-president of capital projects at Ivanho\u00e9 Cambridge, described Demain Montr\u00e9al as avant-garde when it comes to design and sustainability in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo attach ourselves to a project of this magnitude in terms of its carbon footprint is something that was very interesting to us,\u201d he said.R<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The site itself is a bit challenging to develop but it\u2019s attractive in terms of location, said Rosato. He estimates the project will be completed in about four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis whole area is getting gentrified and urbanized relatively quick so we\u2019re hoping in the next three to five years this will be another hub,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n