City council reaches an agreement with a developer to raise the sale price of a public lot by $400,000

After several months of negotiations, a private developer from Longueuil, 9544-8312 Québec Inc., has agreed to increase the sale price of a public lot by $400,000, raising the transaction value from $2 million to $2.4 million. The developer has committed to building, within five years at the latest, a real estate project located at 240 Saint-Laurent Street.

“We are truly proud to announce this transaction following several months of talks,” said Mayor Blancquaert. Over the past few weeks, we have succeeded in raising the sale price by $400,000, bringing the transaction to $2.4 million, whereas the initial purchase offer, set at $2 million, had been adopted by a majority vote (on a divided vote) on October 1, 2025, by the previous city council. “The newly elected officials wanted to take the time to rigorously analyze the counteroffer accepted on October 17, 2025, and thus reviewed each clause to ensure that the City—and therefore its taxpayers—would derive the greatest possible benefit. Today, we can say that mission accomplished,” he concluded.

In return, the City agreed to revise certain clauses, notably the amount of the required bank guarantee. The initial clause required that a financial institution recognized in Quebec issue, on behalf of the buyer, an irrevocable and unconditional letter of guarantee for a maximum amount of $800,000. The amendment to the letter of intent, which was approved at yesterday’s council meeting on March 16, instead provides for a financial guarantee of $400,000. This means that the City has lowered its assessment of the risk associated with the transaction. Mayor Blancquaert and the elected council members therefore believe that the likelihood of the developer fulfilling its contractual obligations is higher than what the previous city council had assessed, which is why the guarantees provided to the City have been reduced by half.

“The buyer already owns the lot adjacent to the one covered by the transaction, and the project has already received preliminary opinions from the Urban Planning Advisory Committee (CCU), both for the project on a single lot and for the two merged lots,” Mayor Blancquaert notes. “The approval process for the Site Planning and Architectural Integration Plan will therefore resume following the agreement reached between the two parties,” he adds. Finally, the buyer will, like any citizen, be required to obtain all necessary permits to carry out their real estate development project.