[MTLskyline]

Looks like the 40 floor condo project is dead in favour of 2 x ~30 floors.

Downtown YUL project poised for takeoff
February 11, 2013. 7:28 pm
Posted by: Allison Lampert

A softening housing project hasn’t hampered plans to reinvent one of downtown Montreal’s largest remaining developable sites as – you guessed it, a mixed residential project.

Plans for the sprawling Îlot Overdale site, which includes the historic Maison Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine, are to be announced shortly, I’m told. The project, called YUL, involves two 30 storey-plus residential condo towers at the site on René Levésque Blvd. and Lucien L’Allier St., with the possibility of a third commercial building in the long term, real estate sources tell me.

The project, by Montreal businessman Kheng Ly – and backed by Asian investors – would include green space in the back of the site near Overdale Ave. – with long-term plans to fully restore the deteriorating mansion. The city has received a request to demolish an existing restaurant on the vast site, which Ly’s company acquired for $28 million in 2011, but no permit has been issued for the final project, a spokesperson for Montreal’s Ville Marie borough tells me.

It’s one of several announced and expected projects poised to further transform downtown Montreal parking lots into condos.

“There’s a lot more to come on René Levésque,” one real estate veteran tells me.

The Overdale site had originally been considered for the future Montreal offices of Telus Corp. Instead the telecommunications company decided to renew the lease at its existing offices at 630 René Levésque until at least 2018.

“The (Overdale) project is not going forward for the time being,” Telus spokesperson Amélie Cliche tells me.

As for the future of the Lafontaine house, the building is to be restored, but its future use is yet to be determined, I’m told.

Dinu Bumbaru, policy director for Heritage Montreal, told my colleague Marian Scott that he hasn’t heard any news from the developer for several months.

alampert@montrealgazette.com
@RealDealMtl

http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/201...d-for-takeoff/