Published at 1:19 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
Dozens of gas stations have closed in Montreal in recent years, the start of a wave that is unlikely to stop. There is a lot at stake for the metropolis: Will these often contaminated but very well-located areas be abandoned or redeveloped?
In the central districts of the metropolis, closures are occurring at a rapid pace.
“I would have had to spend $700,000 to replace the tanks. With electric cars and all that, it wasn’t worth it,” said Michael Gampieris, who closed his gas station on the corner of Parc and Van Horne last June after 37 years in the business.
“It is certain that in the next five or six years many stations in the city will close,” he continued. Few people buy gas stations to run them, Mr. Gampieris says.
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The numbers prove him right. According to Statistics Canada, the number of gas stations in Montreal would have increased from 399 to 375 between 2021 and 2023. However, a methodological change made last year makes comparisons difficult.
“Gas stations are all locations that have potential for real estate development,” explained Simon Boyer, head of the real estate brokerage company Landerz, which specializes in real estate. “Most of them will change, so I think this trend will continue. »
And that might just be the tip of the iceberg.
I can confirm that there are several gas stations that would like to close and sell the property for development, but are unable to do so because the renovation costs are too high.
Simon Boyer, head of the real estate brokerage firm Landerz, which specializes in real estate
Mr Boyer mentioned environmental regulations that now require rapid decontamination after activities have ceased.
“There’s no need to go very, very far” from central neighborhoods to find gas stations whose land is worth less than the cost of decontamination, he says.
“Build the city on itself”
The city of Montreal does not track gas stations on its territory, its communications department said.
The fact is that this trend is of great interest to Robert Beaudry, elected head of urban planning on Valérie Plante’s executive committee. In his eyes, these areas represent both challenges and opportunities.
These are often areas that are very well located, but are often also very contaminated. We want to develop these areas.
Robert Beaudry, elected head of urban planning on Valérie Plante’s executive committee
Like vacant lots and parking lots, old gas stations “represent an opportunity to build the city on itself,” he continued. Thanks to their often considerable size, these areas “enable the development of public infrastructure such as parks or the promotion of real estate development”.
In the first scenario, Mr Beaudry mentions in particular the flood-prone Fleurs-de-Macadam park on Avenue du Mont-Royal, built on the site of the former petrol pump belonging to the family of singer Jean-Pierre Ferland.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The Place des Fleurs-de-Macadam, Avenue du Mont-Royal, is equipped with rainwater retention basins.
But the city does not want (and cannot) acquire all of these properties. Therefore, he assures, his desire is to support developers who want to acquire them for social housing or other types of projects.
The goal: to prevent old, sometimes contaminated gas stations from lying idle for many years. “It destroys the dynamic of a street,” he said. “We have tools: We already tax a vacant lot twice,” and the city wants to convince Quebec to increase the bill further.
“We bought dozens of them”
One of these long-vacant properties is on the corner of Rue Saint-Denis and Avenue des Pins in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, where an Esso station closed a decade ago. After years of fallow land, a construction site is underway: the property developer Mondev is building a building with 33 condominiums. The same company is also developing another property of the same type on the corner of Rue Saint-Catherine and Avenue Papineau.
“We have bought dozens” of old gas stations over the last 30 years, explains Michael Owen, co-owner of Mondev.
The entrepreneur likes the fact that these places are often very well located and that their location at intersections often makes it possible to build higher and easier than elsewhere, while respecting urban planning rules.
And Mr. Owen isn’t worried about the legacy of the gas tanks, which often leaked fuel underground for years.
“The oil companies’ gas stations are used to decontaminating them before selling them,” he said. I’m not used to being afraid just for the sake of being afraid. A site that is properly decontaminated by experts and monitored by experts, by engineers, I have no concerns about that. In any case, we carry out our own checks. »