The Esplanade Place Ville Marie revitalization project is one of the main cornerstones of Projet Nouveau Centre, an Ivanhoé Cambridge initiative to revitalize downtown Montreal. Projet Nouveau Centre’s mission is to enhance the urban experience in the downtown core. This more than $1 billion investment will reenergize the lives of the area’s occupants (residents, merchants, workers and visitors alike) by reclaiming downtown Montreal’s vital role at the heart of city life. Of that, a $200 million investment is dedicated to the Place Ville Marie project, including the revitalization of the Esplanade which will become an urban meeting place, rediscovering its initial vocation as a space for social gatherings.
Thanks to an offering of cultural and experiential activities equal to those found in great international metropolises, Esplanade PVM will celebrate its position as a place for unique exchanges. Complemented with a reimagined commercial and culinary offer, Ivanhoé Cambridge is committed to making Place Ville Marie an essential tourist destination in Montréal.
An undertaking of this magnitude requires extensive work. We would like to inform you of some of the upcoming operations may affect your visit of the premises. Among others, the presence of barricades may impact the flow of people and vehicles both inside and around the complex.
Major interventions
Esplanade: An imposing glass pavilion measuring 15 metres by 45 will take place on the Esplanade. At its unveiling, the pavilion will offer an exceptional opening to the sky and an unrivaled view of the urban landscape as well as a visually striking entrance leading directly to the food court and Montreal’s underground city.
The restaurant space will be completely revisited with the arrival of a brand-new concept: a gourmet biergarten, Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten.
The Cathcart Street entrance to the parking garage is being relocated and will be replaced with a large staircase that leads to the Esplanade PVM, which will be transformed into an interactive public space. Connecting Place Ville Marie to the central McGill College Avenue axis in this manner will restore the view between Mount Royal and the Esplanade in addition to providing a breathtaking perspective of the surrounding cityscape.
Event Venue: Given the more inviting access from McGill College Avenue and René-Lévesque Boulevard and the revamped design, the Esplanade PVM will be more popular than ever with the complex’s tenants, residents of the surrounding area and visitors to the downtown core. The space will feature an appealing program with unique, varied experiences that change with the seasons and in conjunction with the activities in neighbouring parts of the city.
Impacts related to the project
FOOD COURT
The entire food court is shut down, for the duration of the project. Until the reopening of this part of the complex, a variety of dining options are available at Place Ville Marie.
A pop-up food court known as the Comptoir General is open near the entrance at the corner of Mansfield and Cathcart. This offer is available during the revitalization work taking place in the Galerie Place Ville Marie. It counts several unique, fast and tasty restaurant concepts.
- Specialty coffees as of 7 a.m. (Carrousel Café);
- A variety of lunch options from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, from Monday to Friday;
- Five creative dining concepts: Mexican dishes from Tulum Taquiera, maki and sushi from Maki Fix, poke bowls from Karma Pokes, coffee and pastries from Carrousel Café, and Comptoir à salades offering signature salads;
- Credit and debit transactions only.
Brioche Dorée, Starbucks, The Keg Steakhouse and Bar, Les Enfants Terribles and the Observatoire PVM “Mange tes légumes” (almost) vegetarian restaurant remain open. We also encourage our clientele to explore the Marché Artisans at Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth and to take advantage of the food courts at the Montreal Eaton Centre and Central Station, both of which are only a short underground walk away.
SHOPPING GALLERY
- A number of stores have been relocated in order for the renovations to proceed. Consult the Mall plan;
- Some hallways are blocked off, either fully or partially, by barricades, which will affect how people access the property;
- Access to the shopping gallery washrooms: a mobility-impaired washroom is located near the 2 Place Ville Marie elevators (near Nettoyeur Victoria). A second facility can be found in the Comptoir Général (the pop-up food zone) from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5 PLACE VILLE MARIE
Refurbishment work is underway in the lobby of 5 Place Ville Marie. Access to the office floors and The Keg Restaurant located at 5 Place Ville Marie remains available.
As part of this project, the escalators have been removed, and the stairwell widened. Currently and going forward, one of the elevators will service the shopping mall level. That being said, all the elevators of the office tower will stop at Galerie PVM during the year 2020.
PARKING GARAGE
The parking garage is no longer accessible via the Place Ville Marie food court.
There are therefore three options for entering and exiting the parking garage:
- The staircase near Browns (1 Place Ville Marie) leads to the first level of the parking garage;
- The elevators under 5 Place Ville Marie (near Pharmaprix) service the first and second levels of the parking garage;
- The 3 Place Ville Marie elevators (close to the Fedex store) give access to the first level of the parking garage (see attached plans for details).
New wayfinding signage are placed in the parking garage and the shopping gallery to orient tenants and visitors.
The information booth and the Indigo office remain in the same locations, as well as the two parking garage payment stations. Users can also pay via credit card (Visa and Mastercard) at the two exit tills.
IMPORTANT
We are undertaking major work to relocate the entrance and exits of the PVM parking garage and build the new grand staircase that will connect McGill College Avenue to the Esplanade.
This part of the project has started on October 2018 and is being carried out in two phases. During the first phase, the Cathcart Street exit of the parking garage will be closed off. While this closure is in effect, the entrance is reconfigured for two-way traffic in order to allow vehicles to enter and exit the garage. Traffic lights and temporary signage assist Indigo employees stationed at the entrance to guide parking users.
Please contact Indigo at 514 393-3496 if you have any questions in this regard.
ESPLANADE AND VICINITY
Construction site requirements and barricades limit circulation on the Esplanade. Access for people with reduced mobility is temporarily limited while work is underway. We invite individuals requiring assistance to contact the Tenant Services team directly at 514 866-6666 to determine the optimal path to take based on their needs.
We invite our tenants to follow the progress of the renovations under the “News” tab (construction details, activities etc.) within their dedicated section on the website (OCCUPANTS).