Saint-Michel affordable housing project in jeopardy due to long wait for government approval

Neil Armand stands before a large strip mall in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighbourhood, describing what a new mixed-useaffordable housing project envisionedfor the land will look like.

"Youhave avery high building,five,six storeys with a community centre beautiful looking, sharp," he said.

Armand, co-founder of theBlack Community Housing Society (BCHS), plans to develop a sprawling apartment building attached toa publicly accessible grocery store and gymtohelp meet the needs of thelow-income neighbourhood in theVilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extension borough.

"Saint-Michel has been in the ditch for the past 40 years and has rolled up [its] sleeves for the past 20 to change the whole image," he said.

Armand said the housing project planned at the corner of Saint-Michel and Crmazie boulevards would "change Saint-Michel forever."

But after a year-long wait for the province's approval, the plan is now in jeopardy.

The BCHS was supposed to hear back from Quebec's housing agency back in September after submitting the projectfor approval, yet five months later, no decision has been handed down.

"We're not getting a no, but we're not getting a yes. So basically, if they keep that position, they will kill the project," Armand said.

"Why are they dragging it[out] when everything they've asked, we've given?"

230 social, affordable units

The plan would include 230 units half affordable, half social in a building that would cover 7,000 metres squared. About three quarters of the units would be two, three or four bedrooms.

Armand says while theBCHS was created to addressdiscrimination related toaccess to housing for Black communities, the units are for the entire community.

"We cannot affordfor this to be an all-Black project. That's not what it'sgoing tobe. There's too much need for everyone,"he said.

With a price tag of around $115 million for the whole project, Armand says his group has begun securing funding and working with architects on the designs. There's also an agreement in principle to buy the land.

If approved, the Quebec government would also help fund the project.

Jean-Philippe Meloche, an assistant professor in urban planning at Universit de Montral, says the project is ambitious and the government is likely asking itself whether it goes ahead with funding it or not.

"[The government] has to think about what we give to other types of projects similar to this one," said Meloche.

TheBCHS argues this affordable housing project will directly help counter the discrimination Black people face in accessing housing.

In 2018, Statistics Canada conducted a survey on housing for Black people.It found they pay roughly 16 per cent more than the average rent or mortgage and theyare also more likely to be in unsuitable housing.

"The problem of housing is a very big problem right now in Montreal and if we add a layer of discrimination on top, this makes this project a very original one and it's the first time I see something like that inMontreal," said Meloche.

'We want to be part of the solution'

In a statement, the VilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extensionborough said it supports the project as, like elsewhere in Montreal, there is a lack of social, affordable and family housing in the borough.

"It's the first project of this scale to offer affordable housing in its entirety, while including a mix of commercial and community uses," said spokespersonRachel Vanier.

Vanier said the boroughhelped with research before there was an agreement to buy the land and it also helped submit the project for approval to Quebec's housing agency,the Socit d'habitation du Qubec (SHQ).

In its own statement, the SHQsaidit's still analyzing the file and will contact the organization shortly to announce its decision.

But Armand says his group can't afford to wait any longer.

"If we can't get the government to agree on this [project],basically it's adenial of the Black communities to lead themselves as a partner, not as a taker," he said.

"We want to be part of the solution."