News

The Accès Condos accredited project, called BORO Condos and stacked townhouses was launched on November 19th and attracted a great deal of interest from buyers and the media.

In addition to the presence of more than 200 potential buyers during the opening weekend of the sales office, several journalists mentioned the project and the Accès Condos home ownership program that was developed 10 years ago by the SHDM.

Read this press review and discover the new Facebook page of Accès Condos to follow the news on the program and future projects!

• Journal Métro – Des maisonnettes Accès Condos pour les familles
• La Presse+ – Accès Condos : Boro à Roxboro
• Montreal Gazette – BORO condos accessible to buyers

About Accès Condos program – Launched in Montréal in 2005 by the SHDM, the Accès Condos program has proven its worth! More than 3,600 quality-built and affordable units were accredited in ten boroughs through agreements with developers. These are all Montréal households that have benefited from our financial tool and have built an equity. This innovative formula promotes home ownership with a purchase credit of 10% offered to buyers. It also allows families to grow since 30% of accredited units have three bedrooms or more.

It was with great pleasure that we read the testimony of one of our new tenants in the local paper Le Canal which is published online by P.O.P.I.R., a tenant rights advocacy committee in Saint-Henri.

This message summarizes the essence of our mission with respect to housing: to provide affordable dwellings that enable families to stay in Montréal. Neither social housing, nor luxurious apartments our 4,700 rental units meet the needs of over 8,000 Montrealers and contribute to the diversity and vitality of our neighbourhoods.

Like the residential fabric of Montréal, our housing stock is diverse: Autonomie+ rental complexes for persons who are 55 years and older, multiplexes primarily offering housing for families and blocks of apartments managed in partnership with housing NPOs and community groups to house clienteles that are vulnerable or have special needs.

In return, Mrs. Valencia, we thank you for taking the time to share your story that is a reminder of why the SHDM is involved on a daily basis in housing issues and how the diversity of its offer meets real needs, such as those of your large family.

The testimony can be read on page 5 of Le Canal paper (fall 2016 edition)

Today, the members of the Ville de Montréal executive committee approved certification of two new Accès Condos projects by the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM). This step paves the way for the development of affordable new quality condominiums in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve boroughs, with a model that has proven its success in promoting home ownership and neighbourhood revitalization.

Russell Copeman, Ville de Montréal executive committee member in charge of housing , urban planning, buildings, real estate transactions and strategies, and the Office de consultation publique de Montréal, said, ”Fostering a sense of attachment to the city and supporting Montrealers looking to make their home here are Ville de Montréal priorities, and SHDM’s Accès Condos program has already proven its effectiveness by helping more than 3,600 households become homeowners in Montréal over the past decade. We’re delighted to see these new projects included in the program, which operates as a complement to the City’s Home Ownership Program. Indeed, homebuyers can take advantage of both, since they are not mutually exclusive.”

“The SHDM has been helping Montrealers become homeowners for ten years through the Accès Condos program, which helps households purchase homes without relying on any public funds or subsidies. What’s more, projects are often certified in areas undergoing revitalization, triggering a socioeconomic ripple effect, but without throwing the housing market off balance, » added SHDM general manager Nancy Shoiry. “We are launching these two residential projects and pursuing development plans for other projects that are on the table for 2017 and 2018, while staying the course with innovative measures designed to meet community needs.”

A 26-unit project for families in Pierrefonds-Roxboro
Accès Condos’s first-ever project in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough is located at 10438 boulevard Gouin Ouest and 3e Avenue. The project comprises 26 units, 19 of which will have three bedrooms. This family-oriented project will help meet the needs of an area where 19% of the population is 14 years old or under, compared to an average of 15% for the city as a whole. The sales office is scheduled to open in November 2016, with construction slated for completion in fall 2017.

148 units to come as part of the final Accès Condos phases at Faubourg Contrecœur in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough
Phases 5 and 6, the final phases of the Accès Condos development at Faubourg Contrecœur, are due to come on stream between 2016 and 2018. Located respectively on the north and south sides of rue Myra-Cree, the two buildings, one with 6 stories and the other with 7, will house a total of 148* units, at least 25% of which will have three bedrooms. The project reflects the neighbourhood’s family-oriented demographic profile, which has grown more pronounced since the opening of Parc Carlos d’Alcantara and the announcement of a new commercial hub at Sherbrooke and de Contrecœur. The sales office for phase 5 should open in early 2017, with work slated for completion by spring 2018.

* Once the preliminary plans are completed, the number of units could be increased.

The Accès Condos program: ten years of success
The Accés-Condo program introduced in 2005 by SHDM has proved its effectiveness! More than 3,600 affordable quality units have been certified in some 10 boroughs through agreements with developers. That corresponds to more than 3,600 Montréal households that have taken advantage of our financial tool to acquire their own homes. This innovative formula encourages homeownership through a 10% purchase credit for home buyers. It also gives families space to grow, since 30% of certified units have three bedrooms or more.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the www.accescondos.org website received a complete makeover. Site visitors can discover the 30-odd certified Accès Condos projects built over the past decade and learn more about this unique home ownership program. Anyone who wants to be notified when a new sales office opens should sign up for the Accès Info newsletter on the website.

The SHDM team is already active in preparing for the moving in of tenants in the Îlot Balmoral and we have a few spaces still available that will accommodate companies or institutions as early as 2018.

Would you like to take advantage of the synergy with the NFB, of the vibrant Quartier des spectacles and of the proximity to the Montréal business centre, and all this in a building with a bold architecture, and that is LEED-NC Gold certified?

All organizations can present us their project and their needs and we will evaluate the availability of spaces and the possibilities for custom layouts.

Organizations or interested brokers can download our presentation document and find the contact information of our team HERE.
Note: The privileges of brokers acting as intermediaries are protected.

Construction is well underway
Would you like to follow the advancement of the construction of this new landmark building on Place des Festivals? The foundations are poured, the structural work is progressing and the first few floors will become visible to passersby in the coming months. The project is managed by the SHDM and is on schedule. Thanks to our on-site camera, you can follow its development by clicking HERE.

Neighborhood revitalization and the conversion of former industrial sectors are achieved by taking a diversified approach that balances housing, services, and local businesses while ensuring a social mix that makes room for all residents. With this in mind, the Ville de Montréal’s guidelines require new real estate developments to include affordable, social, or community housing. The implementation and success of this vision demand a variety of skills and experience. The conversion of former Canada Post properties at the Bassins du Nouveau Havre site, in the Griffintown sector, is an excellent example of this.

Sound, complementary partners
To design, finance, and carry out an affordable joint community project, four partners joined forces and pooled their expertise, including two NPOs, each created to manage a community building (L’Habitation 21 and L’Habitation 22); technical resource group Bâtir son quartier, which supports them in the development of their project; and Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM), which will certify the Accès Condos component. SHDM also used its financial agility as a lever to ensure project completion by buying part of the land in March 2014 and the time to finalize project financing.

235 community housing units and 78 certified Accès Condos units
The project is now ready to move forward. It includes two buildings with a total of 235 community housing units under the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) AccèsLogis program and a third building with 78 affordable housing units certified under the SHDM’s Accès Condos program. The project will be complemented by commercial space and parking lots for new residents.

A fifth partner joining soon
Project implementation reached a new stage this summer with a public call for proposals to choose a residential real estate contractor to carry out construction according to the conditions set by the partners.

Documentation and the public call for proposals process allow interested contractors to obtain all the information they need to present a proposal that meets the quality and affordability requirements, with the benefit of shared risk. Meetings are scheduled in July and August to explain the features of the AccèsLogis and Accès Condos programs, leaving time to finalize proposals, which must be submitted by October 4, 2016.

Interested contractors are invited to consult the call for proposals posted on the SEAO website by SHDM here.

Montréal, July 6, 2016 — The Ville de Montréal recently authorized Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM) to purchase a 29-unit residential building belonging to Société canadienne d’hypothèques et de logement (SCHL), located in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. With this transaction SDHM resumes its purchasing of affordable rental housing.

“By launching projects such as the purchase of this building, Montréal is safeguarding a diverse housing supply. This purchase represents an important aspect of SHDM’s mission, namely, helping to maintain and develop the supply of high-quality, affordable housing,” explained Montréal mayor Denis Coderre.

SHDM general manager Nancy Shoiry is very happy with the acquisition, which adds to the company’s current stock of 4,700 affordable rental housing units. “Our housing supply offers an alternative to subsidized low-cost housing (HLM), boosts diversity and vitality in our neighborhoods, and meets the growing demand for high-quality, affordable housing in Montréal. I am delighted that SHDM is able to maintain these rental units for the households that live there.” Emphasizing that SHDM will be financing the entire project, Ms. Shoiry added that “this purchase demonstrates the vital role SHDM plays as a paramunicipal organization and its ability to take targeted and appropriate action to maintain a high-quality, affordable housing supply in Montréal over the long term.”

Russell Copeman, Ville de Montréal councilor in charge of housing, urban planning, and real-estate management and planning and for Office de consultation publique de Montréal, also commented on the transaction. “By taking this opportunity to add to its rental housing supply as part of a project that it is entirely self-financed, SHDM is proving that it’s possible to come up with creative solutions for preserving the diversity of the housing supply without placing a burden on taxpayers. In addition to purchasing the building, SHDM is also planning significant renovations that will enhance the current tenants’ quality of life, preserve the building over the long term, and provide high-quality housing at an affordable price.”

The transaction was formally approved by the SHDM board of directors on June 21, 2016, and duly approved by the Ville de Montréal council at the meeting on July 6, 2016.

About the building
Built in 1939, the property offers a total of 29 affordable housing units (five 3½ units and twenty-four 4½ units). It is located at 5215 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine and at 5722-24 avenue Mountain Sight in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. Currently, 28 of the 29 units are occupied. The building is owned by Société d’hypothèques et de logement (SCHL) and was put on the market via a public tender won by SHDM. In addition to offering a purchase price of $2 million, SHDM has committed almost $500,000 to carry out renovations and bring the building up to code, while maintaining affordable rents.

Contacts :
Leslie Molko,

Leslie Molko, SHDM Spokesperson, 1-514-347-8584 | Marc-André Gosselin, Press Officer, Office of the Mayor and the Council, 1-514-290-1194