News

On September 27, the Société d’habitation de Montréal (SHDM) took part in the inauguration of the Gondwana mural in Baril schoolyard in the Borough of Mercier—Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. This work of art was inspired by Alizée Pichot’s Gondwana et la porte magique, a story written and illustrated with the collaboration of the school’s students.

This mural has come to life on the south side of a triplex rental building located at 1668 rue de Chambly, directly facing the schoolyard. Its inauguration represents the completion of a unifying, mobilizing, human-scale project in which the SHDM is pleased to be involved. 

« This type of initiative improves and enhances the living environment of the children and residents in the neighbourhood, » mentioned Nancy Shoiry, Executive Director of the SHDM. « It is therefore with pride and in line with the SHDM’s mission that we collaborated on the production of the Gondwana mural created by artists Ankh One and Monk.e of the Kolab organization. »

The mural was produced by La Table de quartier Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, as part of the Hochelaga Integrated Urban Revitalization project and the 2nd component of Ville de Montreal’s Mural Arts Program.

Further details on the project may be found in this local newspaper article: http://journalmetro.com/local/hochelaga-maisonneuve/actualites/1815928/un-projet-rassembleur-a-lecole-baril/ 

Last Saturday marked the opening—in the heart of Griffintown—of the sales office set up for H3C, an address tailored for families and first-time buyers, an Accès Condos’ accredited project. This first SHDM venture into this sector of the city aroused great interest from the public. During the opening weekend, more than 300 people came to meet the developer’s sales team in order to learn more about the project, the units, the exclusive Accès Condos program option and the purchasing process.

Located in a popular area near the Lachine Canal, Bassin-à-Gravier Park as well as the future spaces of Bassin-à-Bois Park and Place des Arrimeurs, the H3C project is situated in the heart of a vibrant neighbourhood with a wealth of local services, shops and other commercial establishments. Featuring 78 units—including 28 with three bedrooms—H3C responds to the lack of housing for families in this area. It also contributes to a healthy mix in this neighbourhood, as it is part of a mixed project that also consists of two housing coops.

Starting October 27, interested buyers will have the chance to fill out the online registration form to register on the list of eligible buyers for the H3C condo project. In the meantime, they will have plenty of time to prepare their file and become familiar with the purchasing process.

Those interested in the project may contact the sales team directly at 514 223-4000 or visit the sales office at 1606 rue Ottawa. For sales office hours or project details, click here.

The SHDM team is committed to responding as efficiently as possible to the requests of its tenants.

This is why, in addition to having dedicated additional resources to the management of requests for service, the SHDM is currently setting up a new system for reporting, processing and monitoring requests from tenants.

This system will ensure a fair and efficient processing of all requestsand will provide the opportunity for tenants to make their requests directly online, easily and securely.

Implemented since the end of July, the system is currently in its running-in phase. Our team is working to test its performance so that the tenants’ experience will be optimal for the official launch scheduled for November.

If you are a tenant of the SHDM, stay tuned as a letter will be sent to you in the near future to tell you how to go about requesting services, online or by phone.

Once again this summer, the SHDM renewed its commitment to support its horticulture program, which is implemented in a number of its rental properties in order to mobilize the SHDM community and enhance its living environment. This year, it was mainly in the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough and in the Saint-Michel-Villeray-Parc-Extension borough that the SHDM focused its efforts.

In order to do things right and maximize the scope of its investments for the benefit of the tenants, the SHDM has once again mandated Sentier Urbain and its experts on mobilization for social greening, as well as its own horticulture team.

And what was achieved? With hundreds of tenants volunteering and actively participating in greening, horticulture and urban agriculture projects, the tenant population as a whole benefited from the transformation of its living environment, which is becoming more and more beautiful as summer progresses.

It should be emphasized that SHDM’s horticultural projects make it possible, with the logic of sustainable development, to contribute concretely and simultaneously to:

• Fostering good neighbourhood relations.
• Strengthening the sense of belonging.
• Creating a knowledge sharing space.
• Building residents’ awareness of environmental issues.
• Offering new tenants an opportunity to integrate into their community.
• Beautifying the living environments.
• Improving the health of participants.

These projects undoubtedly make young and old happy!

The SHDM wishes to acknowledge the professionalism demonstrated by its team of horticulturists, Sentier Urbain, the Société de développement et d’habitation communautaire (SODHAC), Les Habitations Sherbrooke Forest Inc and Habitations Terrasse Saint-Michel, external managers for the SHDM, in the execution of their respective mandates under the program.

The Îlot Balmoral, a SHDM property that is under construction in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, recently welcomed Montréal creators and Instagrammers Anne McIsaac (@yellowillow), Jean-François Savaria (@jfsavaria) and Vincent Brillant (@montrealismes) for a tour of the spaces that the National Film Board of Canada (@onf_nfb) will offer to its public. Discover this unprecedented look at the bold architecture signed by Provencher_Roy that will be unveiled in the coming days and take part in this NFB initiative by sharing their posts on Instagram.

The NFB will be relocating in the fall of 2019 from its current headquarters on Côte-de-Liesse to Place des festivals, and will occupy six of the thirteen floors of Îlot Balmoral. It is therefore a genuine revival for this institution that will become, thanks to this move, the “new NFB” and an invaluable cultural space in the heart of Montréal.

A bold and sustainable architecture

Designed by the Provencher_Roy architect firm, the Îlot Balmoral revolves around two architectural structures of 13 stories each, separated by an oblique fault line that creates a full-height atrium that provides exceptional natural light. A lobby crosses the building from rue de Bleury and opens on place des Festivals The four facades are built as « curtain walls » of glass providing a view on the Place des festivals, Mount Royal and downtown. The Îlot Balmoral aims at qualifying for a LEED Gold NC 2009 certification. Ultimately, it will have a leasable area of 26,000 m2 (280,000 ft2), and its tenants will enjoy a green roof, a parking for 186 vehicles, six public charging stations that are part of Hydro Québec’s Electric Circuit, space for 70 bikes as well as changing room and showers. Six passenger elevators and two freight elevators will service the building, and technical and telecommunications rooms will be installed on each floor.

For more information: 514-380-2199 or [email protected]

Photo credit: Anne McIsaac (@yellowillow)

Bees are pollinating insects and play a major role in the production of fruits, vegetables and nuts. One third of our diet is based on pollination. With this in mind, the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM) is taking concrete steps towards sustainable development and is launching a first two-year urban beekeeping pilot project to work at the protection of these insects that are in significant decline around the world.

This morning, the first step was taken to implement this project piloted in collaboration with Alvéole, a social enterprise founded in 2012 in Montréal and that specializes in urban beekeeping. A hive was installed on the roof of one of SHDM’s buildings in the heart of Ville-Marie borough, the Chaussegros-de-Léry complex.

Unlike mosquitoes or wasps, bees very rarely bite and are not interested in the contents of our plates. The installation of the hive on the roof of the building is therefore safe for tenants. It represents, on the other hand, a mobilizing and unifying experience for the SHDM community and an example among others of the actions that the corporation is taking as part of its commitment towards Responsible Property Investment.

Some fascinating facts* about bees:

• A bee flies 70,000 km during its lifetime, the equivalent of three times the orbit of the Earth and lives on average 30 days in summer and three months in winter.
• Unlike mosquitoes or wasps, bees rarely bite since this result in their instant death.
• Bees are vegan and wasps carnivorous. It’s not bees that fly around your dinner plate!
• A queen bee can live for several years and does only one task: egg-laying.
• The more mature worker bees become, the more responsibilities they have! They take on all the roles, in turn, within their colony.
• The worker bees dedicate their lives to the service of their colony and never leave it for another.

* Source : Alvéole