Molson planning move to St-Hubert, but says it's not abandoning Montreal
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she welcomes new ideas for the Notre-Dame St. E. location.
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After more than 200 years on Notre-Dame St. E., Molson Coors is planning to move its brewery to St-Hubert, but the company said it’s not abandoning the city.
“We’re not leaving Montreal,” said François Lefebvre, the director of corporate affairs at Molson Coors Canada. “We will redevelop the sector of Montreal where we are on Notre-Dame.”
On Tuesday, the brewer said it has made an offer for a plot of land in Longueuil’s St-Hubert borough, near the St-Hubert airport. The bid will still have to be approved by the Longueuil city council.
Lefebvre said the site, which will be home to Molson’s brewing and distribution operations, was chosen in large part for its size.
“This is not only a brewery, this is also a distribution centre. It’s a huge site that we need,” he said.
The site was also chosen for its proximity to Highways 10 and 30.
“We can go to other provinces, we can go to the United States, and we can go almost everywhere in Quebec,” Lefebvre said.
Molson Coors isn’t the only company looking off-island for space, said Andre Bussière, a vice-president at real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield’s Industrial division.
“Because of a lack of larger sites on the island of Montreal, we’re seeing a trend of larger developments moving to the suburbs,” he said.
Ikea is building a distribution centre in Beauharnois, while a similar Costco facility is under construction in Varennes.
“They would have preferred to stay closer to the city, but the lack of larger sites ready for development make them move away from the island,” Bussière said.
Land prices are also much lower off-island, he said, especially municipally owned land.
Large industrial projects are also attracted by the possibility of avoiding crowded on-island highways.
“Highway 30 had changed the landscape a lot, opening up another link on the South Shore to have direct access to Ontario,” Bussière said. “It’s a natural for them to want to set up along that new corridor.”
In July, Molson announced it intended to invest $500 million to build a new brewery. At the time, the company said the renovations required to turn the brewery at the site it has occupied since 1786 into a modern facility would be too complicated.
“Yes, it’s true that the manufacturing site will not be on the island of Montreal, but what we’re doing and what we announced today is that we will do something for our current site and we will keep something Molson on the site,” Lefebvre said. “We’ll collaborate with the city of Montreal and we’ll work with them to redevelop this sector.”
Lefebvre said it’s too early to say if there will be a residential component to the redevelopment.
“We’re looking at different options right now … maybe we’ll have a microbrewery,” he said. “Maybe we’ll have a park. Maybe we’ll also have a museum about the Molson family.”
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said it was with “regret” that she heard about the company’s decision.
However, Plante said she was looking forward to working with the Molson family to redevelop the current site and to honour their memory.
“We will work together to redevelop this huge area,” she said. “It’s a big opportunity, for example, to have better access to the water, have more housing options, maybe, to develop a business area.”
While Plante also said it was too early to say what, exactly, the redevelopment would consist of, she said improving river access was close to her heart.
“What’s important at this point is how do we move forward,” she said.
Heritage Montreal hopes the redevelopment will preserve the personality of the buildings at the site, said Mélinda Wolstenholme, the group’s Media Strategy and Digital Projects coordinator.
“It’s a landmark, it’s a part of the Montreal skyline and, yes, some parts of the complex are newer, but that’s what makes it interesting, all of the different phases of the construction,” Wolstenholme said. “It would be important to preserve the clock on the side of the building — that’s really an iconic part of the building.”
However, it’s also important that the building continue to be used, she said, and given its industrial heritage, it would make sense to use some of the facility as a home for startup companies, similar to what was done in the redevelopment of Notman House and Gare Viger.
“We think parts of the building should have new vocations. We think it’s a great chance for new entrepreneurs to start what John Molson started,” she said. “To preserve heritage, it can’t be vacant — you have to give it a new vocation.”
If all goes well, Lefebvre said, construction on the new building could begin in Longueuil this spring, with brewing beginning in 2021.
The arrival of Molson will be “incredible” for Longueuil’s economy, said Mayor Sylvie Parent. She said the city is proud the company chose to locate there.
Molson will qualify for a five-year property tax credit for businesses that move to Longueuil’s airport zone. Introduced in the fall, it gives businesses a 100-per-cent credit for two years, a 75- per-cent credit the third year, 50 per cent the fourth and 25 per cent the fifth.
Currently, Molson Coors employs just over 1,000 people in Montreal. Lefebvre said it’s too early to say how many people will work at the new facility in Longueuil and whether administrative staff will move there.
With files from René Bruemmer and Presse Canadienne
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