Hypertec

Aug 15, 2023

"We received a proposition a few weeks ago to buy a new parcel of land," technology company says. Author of the article: Article content After months of public outcry over its plan to build its global headquarters in the ecologically sensitive “Technoparc lands” north of Trudeau airport, the technology company Hypertec claims it has found a potential alternative site. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or Play Video But the move seems to hinge on the city of Montreal agreeing to buy the land from Hypertec for about $30 million, the same amount the company paid for the 11-hectare site in April. Advertisement 2 THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. 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Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. or Article content Article content Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante was re-elected on a promise to work with the federal and provincial governments to create a nature park almost as big as Mount Royal Park in lands adjacent to Montreal’s Technoparc. The city has pledged to rezone and conserve all of its undeveloped holdings in the industrial park and has been in talks with private owners of undeveloped lands in the area, including Hypertec recently. André Lamarre, first vice-president of Hypertec, told the Montreal Gazette on Monday that the company had looked for an appropriate site for its global headquarters for three years before purchasing the land in the Technoparc from a private owner. But when news got out about the plan to build, and despite Hypertec’s promises to make its headquarters “the most sustainable building on the planet,”  scientists and conservationists denounced it, saying it would fracture one of the last unprotected, ecologically important natural areas on the island of Montreal. So when the owner of one of the sites Hypertec had considered buying previously made a new offer, the company was ready to change the plan. Headline News Article content “We received a proposition a few weeks ago to buy a new parcel of land that is not very far from (the current site) but not in a zone that is a contentious zone,” Lamarre said. “So, we have found an alternative to the land (and) told our partner, the seller, that we can’t buy the land until we have sold the land we bought in April.” Hypertec then offered to sell the Technoparc site to the city, he said. “As you will recall, Mme (Mayor Valérie) Plante has said she wanted to buy all the land in the Technoparc and conserve it in a green zone. So we contacted the city of Montreal to let them know, and we offered to sell them the land. We would not make a profit on it. We offered to sell it to the city at the same price we paid,” he said. Caroline Bourgeois, the city of Montreal executive committee member responsible for large parks, was not available for comment Monday. Aide Catherine Cadotte confirmed by text that “the City and Hypertec are indeed discussing alternative sites. These talks are ongoing. We will let the company communicate on its plans and projects.” Hypertec seems ready to build in the controversial location if the city won’t buy the land. Advertisement 4 Article content “The good news is we have found an alternative,” Lamarre said. “If it doesn’t go forward, well it’s clear we will continue with our plan for the existing site. But we have proposed to the city to cede them the land so that we can buy the other land.” Katherine Collin, a spokesperson for a birdwatching and conservation group that has been leading the fight against development in the Technoparc, cautiously welcomed the news from Hypertec. “We applaud Hypertec for what appears to be their quite serious intent to find an alternate location, and we hold out hope that the plan materializes,” she said. “As with so much historically with the Technoparc, the proof is in the pudding, so we will wait to see what actually materializes from this before we start celebrating, but it’s an encouraging step.” She notes that the site where Hypertec had planned to build its headquarters was not within Mayor Plante’s proposed boundaries for the new nature park. In fact, too much about the city’s plans to expand the protected area is still only talk, she said. Indeed, she says, if the city does not purchase the land and another developer buys it and builds on it, the conservation goals are no further ahead. Advertisement 5 Article content “We would like some kind of assurance from Hypertec that whoever is able to purchase the land in question have conservation as the priority for the site,” she said. “This is a company that has demonstrated a concern for its profile on sustainability, and as many people, conservationists, general citizens, members of community and scientists have all echoed, it is incompatible with that sustainability profile to be developing on one of the last natural spaces that we have in this ecosystem which is so important.” Last week, the conservation group Green Coalition, along with former federal and provincial environment minister Clifford Lincoln, demanded a meeting with Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette to persuade him to step in to stop development in the Technoparc wetlands. A letter published in Le Devoir in June and signed by 200 members of Montreal’s scientific community pointed out that the Montreal metropolitan community has made international commitments to conserve 30 per cent of its territory by 2030, and yet only 23.6 per cent of the Greater Montreal territory remains in a natural state. The letter denounced Hypertec’s decision to build on the wetlands and forests of the Technoparc as a “significant threat to the natural habitat and to Montreal’s commitments on biodiversity.” Advertisement 6