Controversy surrounds future of Montreal’s Hippodrome race track
08 Oct 2019
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has big ambitions for a massive new housing project at the site of the old Hippodrome race track.
She’s proposing 6,000 housing units be built within the next 10 to 12 years.
“It is frankly an exciting project,” she told reporters at a Friday press conference.
Plante’s plan calls for mixed social and private sector housing, but 40 per cent will have to be reserved for subsidized units. She also wants the area to be carbon neutral — with energy-efficient buildings and fewer cars.
“I’m definitely asking Montrealers to believe in this because the vision is clear,” she said.
However, this isn’t the first time an announcement was made to convert the old race track into housing.
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Mayor Plante insists this time it’s different.
“We have the political will to move forward. We have investors that are already interested. They think this is a great idea,” she said.
“This project is a pipe dream that will never happen,” he said.
Rotrand argues the 40 per cent criteria will scare away promoters and he insists trying to build a carbon-neutral zone isn’t realistic.
“You’re going to have a site with no cars what so ever, everybody is going to need some forms of public transit. There isn’t any immediate transit in the area,” he said.
Public consultations are scheduled for later this fall.
