west island road study offers glimmer of hope for pierrefonds development project
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an artist's rendering of the proposed cap-nature de pierrefonds-ouest development project.
courtesy of cohn & wolfe
a year after a group of real-estate developers revived a lawsuit against the city of montreal alleging disguised expropriation, a city plan to study an “urban boulevard” for the sector in the west island is raising questions whether their residential project might be permitted after all.
the issue arises from a sentence in the city’s latest capital works program, which was unveiled with the 2026 municipal operating budget in january. the project description for a $60.5-million transportation corridor that would connect buses and bicycles to the future kirkland rem station and the grand parc de l’ouest says the city will also study the potential for “an urban boulevard to facilitate access to planned developments in the west.”
the area west of the future transportation corridor is nature space, tracts of which are owned by the developers who have long planned a residential project with thousands of units on the site.
if the new administration of mayor soraya martinez ferrada is prepared to add an urban boulevard for cars to connect to the future rem and urban park, it would also effectively create an access route that’s needed for the developers’ project, their lawyer, ali argun, told the gazette.
however, it isn’t his clients who are asking for the urban boulevard, he added.
argun said martinez ferrada’s ensemble montréal administration has offered no clue about its position on his clients’ project, and the city continues to send mixed signals, as it has for years, he said.
in fact, his clients — développements pierrefonds inc., les immeubles l’équerre inc. and quartier de l’ouest de l’île — remain frustrated by what their lawsuit alleges is bad faith by the city, he said.
the city’s lawyer has stated there’s “nothing left to discuss,” argun said, yet the city’s urban planner “is in constant contact with my clients’ architect … and is making requests for modifications to the project.”
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martinez ferrada’s office said it won’t comment on the matter since it’s before the courts.
the mayor’s spokesperson, joanna kanga, added that the transportation corridor is still being planned as a bus and bicycle route.
“to date, the project continues with the aim of creating a public and active transportation corridor to better serve the kirkland rem station and the grand parc de l’ouest,” she said in a written response. preparatory work could begin as early as next year, she said.
argun’s clients filed their $178-million lawsuit against the city in 2019 after then-mayor valérie plante announced the creation of the grand parc de l’ouest and declared that a long-planned urban boulevard on land once reserved for an extension of highway 440 would not be built. the highway ends near the developers’ land. plante announced that a transportation corridor for buses and bikes would replace the urban boulevard. she also said that removing access to cars effectively blocked the developers’ project.
the developers suspended their lawsuit at one point to negotiate with the city. however, the developers resurrected the lawsuit in february 2025, while plante and her projet montréal party were still in power, after what they said were four years of fruitless negotiations with the city.
the developers’ revived lawsuit is now seeking $258 million plus costs. it says the statements and actions of plante and other municipal officials “both before and since the initiation of legal proceedings (in 2019), deprive the developers of any reasonable use of their private properties.” it adds that their actions “constitute a veritable confiscation of the developers’ private properties.”
the lawsuit, for example, alleges that plante publicly made false and “astonishing” claims that the developers’ buildable land, where they plan construction, has flooded. however, the land didn’t flood in the 2017 and 2019 spring thaws that caused flooding in the west island, it says.
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the citizens group sauvons l’anse-à-l’orme, which opposes development on the lands, said the city’s plan to study an urban boulevard is worrying news.
“as unofficial stewards of the grand parc de l’ouest, sauvons l’anse-à-l’orme has grave concerns that this road will be a step closer to giving developers access that will facilitate a development,” group spokesperson sue stacho said.
“the fields and wetland meadows adjacent to the ’emprise 440′ (highway 440 right-of-way) are important links in the entire food chain that sustains the wildlife in the grand parc de l’ouest.”
a 2019 map of the proposed cap nature development in western pierrefonds. (
les immeubles l'Équerre
the developers’ project is still referred to as cap-nature de pierrefonds-ouest, but the land is no longer contiguous since the city acquired a portion from a fourth developer in 2019. the plans of the remaining developers call for 3,800 housing units on two abutting properties, argun said. another 600 units would be built on a third property, but he said it could be more if the city wants greater density.
argun said he proposed a meeting between his clients, martinez ferrada and pierrefonds-roxboro borough mayor jim beis with lawyers present. however, the city’s lawyer hasn’t responded with a yes or a no, argun said.
the developers say they’ve spent millions of dollars to create plans and spent years acceding to demands from municipal authorities to get their project approved.
road access to their project is available via pierrefonds blvd., argun said. they only need access for emergency vehicles via antoine-faucon st., which the city has so far denied.
both sides are scheduled to appear in court in april to establish a schedule for motions and other procedural steps before trial dates for the lawsuit can be set, argun said. the city’s proposed schedule extends to october 2027, he added. if it runs that long, argun said he wouldn’t expect a trial before 2029.
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