Great interest in Montreal religious site for sale

Since last summer, when the Montreal religious community announced its intention to sell the Villa Maria property, several potential buyers have expressed interest in this large green space that includes five buildings with a rich history and heritage. The future of the land will be determined after the tenders process, which is due to start in the coming weeks, is concluded, we learnt. Duty.

The multi-hundred million dollar site is home to the private colleges of Villa Maria and Marianopolis, respectively, which welcome high school and college students in heritage-listed buildings, respectively. The land, which includes the Bonsecour residence, a long-term care center that houses dozens of nuns, as well as Maison Notre-Dame-du-Sacre-Cure, which houses several nuns, was purchased by the congregation in 1854. Notre Dame.

However, the organization announced last June that it would have to put the huge estate, which occupies the Cote-de-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace district and the town of Westmount, up for sale because its sisters, whose average age at the time was 86, now could not save.

The announcement attracted interest from players in the private and institutional sectors.

“Many people contacted us. There are buyers interested in our residence and monastery, but nothing official, and we did not want to start discussions with potential buyers. We wanted it to be fair and equitable for everyone,” Susie Prince, Notre Dame's executive director of community finance and administration, said in an interview, adding that she hopes the sale will be the result of a “transparent” process.

A complex movement

That is why the religious organization decided to use the services of the commercial real estate brokerage firm Colliers International, we learned. Duty. In the coming weeks, companies and institutions interested in the site will be invited to submit bids as part of the sale of the land and all the buildings on it.

Once the candidate is selected by the religious community, it will be sent to the Vatican, which will have to give its approval in the coming months or even next year, depending on the processing time, for the sale to be completed. This file of the Holy See. “It's up to them,” explains Susie Prince. Therefore, it is impossible to have a clear idea of ​​when this domain will be sold.

Until now, many religious sisters living in the area should be moved to a residence for the elderly, which cares for people who have lost their autonomy. However, such resources are becoming increasingly scarce in Quebec, making the task of the Notre Dame community difficult.

“The sisters have not yet moved out and it is not yet known when they will. They are in talks with various private groups that run senior living centers in Montreal, says Susie Prince. In this context, Sister Ona Bessette, Superior General of the Sisters of Notre Dame wants to reassure.

“I think it's important that we walk together on this path and show that their leadership has worked very well to find a place where they can be together,” he noted, referring to the monks who live at the Villa site. – Maria's property.

A college in jeopardy

Pending the sale of the site, Marianopolis College announced last month that it has purchased the building that has occupied the site since 2007. Thus, he is confident about his future. The Notre Dame community also provides that the maintenance of the Villa Maria College lease, which expires in December 2030, will be an “express condition” to the sale of the site. Thus, all students admitted to this educational institution this year can complete their studies there. The future of the college, which has more than 1,600 students, is uncertain and will depend on the aspirations of the prospective buyer of the property that occupies one of the buildings.

“We have to understand that we rent these spaces for very little, which is not profitable at all, so we know very well that the college is not financially autonomous,” noted M.ⁱ Prince. Still, maintaining the site's educational vocation is critical to the religious sisters who have worked there for decades, noted Ona Besset.

“We are concerned about the future of the organization, the college's educational sphere. A big priority for us in the sale is that the buyer honors the lease and works to stay in college for a long time. »

The Notre Dame community also intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of this property to fund initiatives aimed at helping disadvantaged students, specifically excluding the costs associated with moving the Sisters. in elementary and secondary schools in the public network. As such, the proceeds of this transaction will be paid to a fund established by the Notre Dame community, managed by the Montreal Student Foundation, which will finance the provision of food and school supplies to especially needy youth.

“Helping the homeless is important to us,” noted Ona Bessette, who sees it as a legacy of continuity in the mission of her religious community.

To see in the video