300 Student Housing Units Planned Near Upcoming Griffintown REM Station

A social economy company, the Unit for the Implementation of Student Accommodation (MAHUSAY), is planning to construct 290 affordable housing units for students in Montreal’s Griffintown district. The chosen location is near the future Griffintown-Bernard-Landry Reseau Express Metropolitan (REM) station, which is expected to open in 2024 or 2027.

Laurent Levesque, General Director and Co-Founder at MAHUSAY, highlights, “It provides access to all university establishments in the metropolis, in a neighbourhood that benefits from having non-profit housing for young people.” The project, the organisation’s largest to date, aims to address the shortage of affordable student housing in Montreal. 

Addressing the matter, Elise Tanguay, Director of Public Affairs at L'Unité de travail pour l'implantation de logement étudiant (UTILE), a Social Economy Enterprise, emphasises the strategic importance Griffintown holds for UTILE regardless of the presence of the REM station due to its proximity to the Ecole de Technologie Superieure.

Levesque also goes on to add, “Renting is faster than the market, the overpopulation of student housing, due to the lack of affordable housing supply in Montreal. For us, the solution is to build student housing in Montreal.”

As per the student housing news, the proposed development involves demolishing a garage on 405 reu de I’Inspecteur and expanding the former presbytery of the church of Sainte-Helene on adjacent land, where UTILE wants to find a social or community vocation. Funding from the Quebec government is awaited for the project.

The student housing news highlights the South-West borough’s plans to approve an amendment to the urban plan, allowing an increase in density and height limits from 25 to 60 meters for an 18-story building to facilitate the construction. UTILE already manages two student accommodation Montreal projects totalling 200 units, with three additional developments in progress.

Adding to this, Levesque says, “This is a drop in the ocean. We need thousands of housing units in the metropolis to stabilise the market.” 

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