At the corner of Saint-Patrick and Shearer stands the impressive Nordelec Building (formally the Northern Electric building). Map it! This complex will be undergoing a major redevelopment in the months and years to come. At present it houses over 235 businesses (1300+ employees). The redevelopment plans includes the construction of the further conversion of the Nordelec building and the construction of two new buildings on adjacent blocks.
Source: Le Nordelec: rapport de consultation publique
Recent time line
- Under the direction of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal, two consultation meetings were held on October 16th, 2006 and November 6, 2007 at Église St-Charles.
- On December 16, 2007, the Office de consultation publique de Montréal released, Le Nordelec: rapport de consultation publique. [PDF, 50 pages, in French].
- On April 18, 2007 the executive committee of the City of Montreal unanimously adopted the “projet entente de développement” for the Nordelec redevelopment project.
- This past June, the Sud-Ouest arrondissement published Depliant Nordelec [PDF, In French], an information pamphlet outlining the facts of the project.
The Controversy
The controversy and issues surrounding the Le Nordelec project is summarized in the 2006 Annual Report of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal.
Le Nordelec is a large eight-storey building located in Pointe Saint-Charles in the Sud-Ouest Borough. Since 2003, it has belonged to the Goupe El-Ad, which also owns other properties and buildings in the area. The group has submitted a proposal to the borough regarding the expansion and conversion of the Nordelec. The proposal, which also calls for the development of several neighbouring lots, involves the creation of some 1200 housing units.
According to the majority of public consultation participants, the development project under review promises improvements for the Sud-Ouest borough in general and for the Pointe Saint-Charles sector in particular. The project seems attractive because it significantly increases the sector’s housing stock, notably by reserving almost one third of the projected units for affordable or social housing. Local economic activity, green spaces and the quality of the environment are also likely to benefit from the project.
However, certain features were brought into question during the consultation. The density of certain areas was challenged, as some participants felt that it should be lowered to provide for constructions whose height would better fit in with the height of existing buildings in Pointe Saint-Charles. The commission also believes that the borough should have paid more attention to traffic, parking and public transit problems, as it did with social housing.
A couple of opinions and editorials….
- Table de concertation Action-Gardien de Pointe St-Charles. “Le projet Nordelec: Trop de questions pour aller de l’avant.” La Voix Populaire: Forum. 7 February 2007.
- Marcel Sévigny. “Nordelec: Jacqueline Montpetit confirm son appui à EL AD.” La pointe libértaire. 7 june 2007.
Fascinating. My Dad worked in there from about 1945-1955 before moving over to the Connor building. Don’t know if it is a local legend or not but I have often heard that when it was built, that building was the largest in the British Empire.
Projects of this sort almost always dramatically impact neighborhoods with increased traffic being one of the more significant factors.
I think increased density is a good thing for Point St. Charles, whose density is currently too low to support a thriving commercial district, hence the many vacant storefronts along Centre Street. (Poverty, of course, also plays a big role.) The smart thing to do would be to accompany the Nordelec project with a complete overhaul of public transit on the Point. It’s really sad that such a central neighbourhood has such lousy transit.
I worked in the shearer building 1965 to 1967. I am desparately looking for the annual general report for either 1966 or 67, it shows a picture of myself and George quality control technicians doing final tests on the first digital carrier system built in North America. I have forgotton Georges sir-name he was Austrian. It was about the period when one TrancheMontagne was supervisor of the carrier section. I want to show my grandchildren. Thanks for any assistance . KEN LEWIS.