2024-03-01 17:00:00
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had to pay $15.6 million to get its hands on part of the Galeries d’Anjou land this week which will house the future terminus of the metro blue line.
The land, acquired by expropriation, is located near the service road of Highway 25, where there is currently a Best Buy store and a former Boston Pizza restaurant, which will soon be demolished.
This location must accommodate an entrance to Anjou station, the fifth and final station of the extension of the blue line of the Montreal metro, which is scheduled to come into service in 2030.
STM spokesperson Kevin Bilodeau indicates that work will begin on Monday on the site and that the demolition of the old restaurant will take place on March 11.
“The electronics store will remain in operation for a few more weeks and the deconstruction work on this building will only begin next May,” specifies Mr. Bilodeau.
This is the last location where work will begin, demolitions having already been undertaken near the future Pie-IX, Viau, Lacordaire and Langelier stations.
Smaller lot
The land belonged to Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).
The acquisition cost might be adjusted, since the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec has still not set the final compensation.
In 2020, the STM planned to build the Anjou station entrance much closer to Boulevard des Galeries d’Anjou, thus expropriating nearly 70,000 square meters of land from the shopping center.
But the transport company has revised its plans to reduce the bill. The terminal exit gate was moved closer to the highway, increasing the size of the land to be expropriated to 18,000 square meters.
Another entrance must also be built east of Highway 25.
Big budget for land
Since the start of the project, the cost of expropriations along the route has exploded.
In 2015, the budget for the purchase of land was estimated at $350 million and it rose to more than a billion in 2021.
That year, the STM had to purchase the entire Le Boulevard shopping center, located at the intersection of Pie-IX and Jean-Talon streets at a cost of $115 million, due to a Court decision.
According to the STM’s most recent public documents, which date from August 2022, the land purchase budget is approximately $717 million, out of a total bill estimated at $6.4 billion for the entire extension project.
The STM did not want to provide a new estimate on Friday, since land remains to be acquired in Anjou by 2025.
Do you have any information to share with us regarding this story?
Write to us at or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.
1709316495
#Blue #line #STM #pays #million #Caisse #dépôt #share #Galeries #dAnjou
