Montreal developers ready to build 2,500 social housing units to fight homelessness

At least three major Montreal developers say they’re ready to build 2,500 social housing units at no profit to help in the city’s fight against homelessness.

There are currently more than 5,000 people in Montreal living on the streets, a number that’s continuing to grow.

Vincent Chiara, president of Groupe Mach, one of the city’s leading developers, said he has a plan to cut that number almost in half.

“We put our energy and our capabilities and our experience in play here so that society benefits from it,” he said.

Chiara said he and several other developers are committed to building 2,500 social housing units. Despite being built by the private sector, they would be owned and managed by the SHQ, Quebec’s social housing agency.

“We don’t want to take a profit off it. The whole basis of this is to try to reduce costs,” said Chiara, adding he was shocked to learn governments typically pay about $900 per square foot when building.

“Here at Mach, we build somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 units a year and never cost us more than $450,” he said.

With those cost savings, Chiara believes the 2,500 units would likely cost around $300 million.

The builder has already spoken with several banks, including Desjardins, for financing and believes the annual mortgage payment for the Quebec government would cost between $12 and $15 million.

“We can put a billion-dollar roof on a stadium. We can find $12 or $15 million to fix what I consider to be a more serious social problem we’ve been living in the last 15 years,” said Chiara.

It’s a major development, said James Hughes, president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, Montreal’s largest homelessness organization.

“It’s a big deal – 2,500 new units for our clients,” he said, adding it would help him “start to believe that we can bend the curve.”

Hughes said 40 per cent of the homeless population don’t have addiction or mental health issues and are simply unable to afford the high cost of living. Getting them into housing would relieve a huge burden on emergency services, he said.

“We can start to imagine having the space to really take care of the people who have heavy, heavy needs,” he said.

Montreal’s new mayor, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, has made homelessness her top priority, posting on social media Monday that collaboration between the city, community groups and the private sector is a recipe for success.

Chiara says he is already in talks about building on city-owned property, further reducing costs.

In a statement, the SHQ said it welcomes the private sector’s willingness to get involved. With discussions in the preliminary stages, the organization said it had no other comment.

Chiara said he wants to move quickly.

“It could take somewhere between three and five or six years to execute if the government’s got the energy and the willpower to want to do it,” he said.