Opponents of the real estate project managed to get a register opened to demand a referendum on the development exemptions requested by Le Kali. But barely twelve of the 622 signatures needed to move forward with the citizen survey were collected.
The residential project 55, which will house a CPE with around a hundred places and commercial space, is therefore being pushed forward. The five-story building is scheduled to be completed in spring 2025.
Promised to take place on the site of the legendary breakfast restaurant Kalimera, Le Kali sparked a lot of excitement upon its announcement, with some fearing it would spur the gentrification of the already struggling Saint-Sauveur district.
The Citizens’ Committee of the Saint-Sauveur District (CCCQSS) officially rejected this. There was even a leaflet distribution campaign against the project. But after some consideration, the group decided not to pursue a referendum fight, given the risk of seeing a second project “that would be worse,” and given the clear support of local elected officials.
Medway Group, which is piloting Le Kali, is pleased to see the project move into production mode. According to Vice President of Real Estate Development Marc-Vincent Morel-Girard, only “formalities” remain to be completed before all the necessary permits can be obtained.
We plan to begin work next spring, starting with the demolition of the building currently located on the Kalimera property.
Already at the presentation, Le Kali caused a stir among tenants and citizens’ initiatives in the Saint-Sauveur district. The rental price was questioned in public meetings and in the media. Medway offered about fifteen so-called “affordable” rentals at $1,025 per month.
“In 2021, Saint-Sauveur was one of the ten neighborhoods in Quebec where rental prices rose the fastest,” points out Guillaume Béliveau-Côté, moderator and coordinator at the Saint-Sauveur Neighborhood Citizens’ Committee (CCCQSS). ).
There are fears that another “luxury housing” project will contribute to the gentrification of Saint-Sauveur.
As discussions progressed, Medway agreed to reduce the price of its nine most modest units to $750 per month.
We agreed to set the rent based on the average price of an apartment in Saint-Sauveur, rather than sticking to the usual standard of a so-called “affordable” rent, that is, 30% of the average income of a resident of the Quebec region.
In an interview with Le Soleil, Medway’s Marc-Vincent Morel-Girard highlights that discussions are also underway about whether the Rent Subsidy Scheme (PSL) should apply to certain units in Kali. This would be one of the first times a new private project involves PSL in the capital, he notes.
The CCCQSS welcomes the gesture, but would obviously prefer to see a cooperative or social project emerge on one of the last large buildable plots of land in the neighborhood.
“It’s a win, but fundamentally it’s not social housing.”
— Guillaume Béliveau Côté, moderator and coordinator at the Citizens’ Committee of the Saint-Sauveur district
Meanwhile, social housing projects are making very slow progress, the committee representative notes. The project on the Kirouac Bar site, just a few meters from Kali, is virtually at a standstill, stuck in applications for permits and financing.