Adaptive Reuse at U-Haul du Centre-Ville de Montréal Cité 2000 - entreposage

The Origin

Cité 2000 originated from La Cité des Ondes (Broadcasting City) dating back to CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Tele Quebec and Tele Metropole were built in the years 1970-80. Today this district includes Bell Astral Media Radio and a unique installation of satellite dishes for intercontinental broadcasting.

Early in the 80’s the building situated at 1806-2000 Notre Dame east was vacated and left in poor condition. It was purchased by a group of investors who had a vision in mind related to the development of new technologies of broadcasting, thus creating Cité de l’Image. The group received attention from the Quebec government through the investment firm CDP (Caisse de Depot et Placement). Around 1989-90 the group started to lose control of its finances and the project became a bottomless financial gulf.

In early 1991, CDP asked Denis Bousquet to supervise the group and was given a budget to complete a study of Cité de L’Image and its related vision. It was made clear that the site was too small to accommodate all the players developing within this new industry. So, the CDP created Cite MultiMedia on another site with over one million square feet and asked Denis Bousquet to find an exit for 1806-2000 Notre-Dame.

The situation in 1991

The building extended all the way to the Jacques Cartier Bridge. It offered no parking and most structures were non salvageable. U-Haul made a request to the City of Montreal to obtain a demolition permit, however it was refused because the building had important historical interest. Finally in 1994, the City agreed to issue a demolition permit for the non-salvageable section provided we conserve the cultural heritage of the project within what was left of the building.

In 1995 we started building storage rooms and promoted interest for rehearsal studios. Within this mixed mandate, a new market was developing within the walls of Cite 2000 to accommodate the surrounding Broadcasting City’s cultural events, thus sprouting Maxi storage. Our first tenant was the Montreal Jazz festival, which has since grown into an internationally renowned event. Today we have about 110,000 s.f. dedicated to musicians and to storage committed to special cultural projects.

With all the festivals that take place in downtown Montreal, the city has become a major cultural destination for people from all over the world.

Throughout the development of the already vast cultural mandate, another need arouse from Cite 2000s existing tenants and neighbours. These customers were searching for an authentic location to produce movies. The first production that was shot on the fifth floor is Un Zoo La Nuit ( A Zoo at Night) in 1987 which has since ranked amongst the greatest classical films in Quebec history, making a featured appearance at last years international film festival. Over the past 25 years many films (USA, France and Quebec) have been produced here including a couple of very well known television series similar to the American productions of the Voice and This Hour has 60 minutes.

In short

116 rehearsal studios for musicians, probably the biggest regrouping of musicians in North America. They rehearse between 4pm and midnight. An average of 10 musicians in 116 studios represents over 1000 musicians. An average night session is well over 500 musicians practicing at the same time.

It is a storage destination (maxi-storage) for producers of special events related to the great variety of festivals in downtown Montreal, and sets for tele-series such as TVA, Avanti, Tele-Quebec, CBC, etc.

The fifth floor is sought out by film producers for movies and televised series. The view on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, its wide space and its authentic atmosphere is unrivalled in Montreal.

Serving U-Haul customers since 2002, this facility was built through adaptive reuse of an abandoned building. Adaptive reuse promotes infill development in an effort to strengthen communities, with the following benefits achieved at this site:

• 322 tons of metal manufacturing & transportation prevented
• 19,488 tons of new concrete pours avoided
• 19,872 tons of construction and demolition debris prevented

Waste-reduction programs at this facility provide the following estimated benefits each year for the Montreal community:

• 9,170,637 lbs greenhouse gas emissions prevented

• 

  Steel Production 322 tons (292 tonnes) of steel manufacturing and delivery saved to date

• 

  Energy 0 kWh annual energy savings

• 

  Concrete 19,488 tons (17,684 tonnes) of new concrete pours avoided to date

• 

  Emissions 9,170,637 lbs (4,159,774 kgs) of greenhouse gas emissions prevented

• 

  Landfill Debris 19,872 lbs (18,033 kgs) of construction debris prevented

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