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Ivanhoé Cambridge's $1 billion Projet Nouveau-Centre, a landmark investment in the global real estate company's downtown Montreal properties, will soon advance with its next phase: a $200 million revitalization of the Place Ville Marie Esplanade. The public space at the foot of the fourth-highest building in the city will be given an extensive retrofit with world-class programming fostering distinct cultural and experiential activities.
Ivanhoé Cambridge has appointed Sid Lee Architecture and Menkès Shooner Dagenais Létourneux Architectes to the project, two local firms armed with the tools necessary to make the esplanade more accessible, usable, and open. Jean Pelland, architect and senior partner at Sid Lee Architecture, says the "primary goal is for the civic space to become a catalyst for downtown social activity."
During the design process, the development team met with Henry N. Cobb, one of the original architects of Place Ville Marie, who gave his blessing to the project. "The Esplanade revitalization has been thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly imagined," said Cobb. "This work will greatly enhance Place Ville Marie's contribution to the civic life of Montreal, fulfilling the promise of our original vision and thereby making me enormously happy."
The multi-pronged redevelopment of the space will include the creation of a glass pavilion to replace the Esplanade's four existing skylights. It will provide a striking entrance to planned new shopping destinations and Montreal's famed 33-kilometre-long underground city. A reclad of 2 and 3 Place Ville Marie would breathe new life into the decades-old complex, and renewed commercial offerings will improve the dining experience for guests. Place Ville Marie was completed in the 1960s and contains five buildings and one shopping centre, encompassing 2.4 million square feet of office space and 187,000 square feet of retail space.
The work is part of a comprehensive investment in Ivanhoé Cambridge's flagship downtown properties, a massive project that aims to enhance the urban experience in the heart of the Montreal city centre. The $1 billion Projet Nouveau-Centre initiative also includes a renovation of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, which reopened in July, and the construction of Maison Manuvie, a new office tower set to open on November 27.
