MONTREAL – CBC/Radio-Canada is calling for proposals to design a new building for its French-language headquarters to replace the Corporation’s current French-language headquarters and redevelop the surrounding property to accommodate future residential and commercial projects.
The Corporation says the Maison de Radio-Canada (MRC) building is more than 40 years old and in need of major renovation work that would involve substantial expenditures for the Corporation. It says the project will be completed without any additional government funding. Instead, CBC/Radio-Canada will sell its land and buildings to the company selected through the RFP process and become a tenant in the new facilities under a long-term lease.
“We need to focus the public broadcaster’s activities on fulfilling its primary mandate which is to inform, enlighten and entertain Canadians,” says CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix in a prepared statement. “CBC/Radio-Canada’s role is not to invest in real estate. We need to make better use of our facilities across the country and avoid the risk involved in property management.”
EVP of French services Louis Lalande said the new space will reflect current production needs and adopt an open-plan workspace model using just half the floorspace of the current building.
The RFP also covers development of the entire site, on which residential projects, including social and affordable housing, commercial space and office buildings could eventually be built. Green spaces will also be developed.
“The site’s development will promote the creation of a new living environment and help redefine the socio-economic fabric of the city blocks occupied by CBC/Radio-Canada,” said Lalande. “We want Maison de Radio-Canada to be close to the public and become a hub for the city.”
The request for design proposals is the latest phase of a long-term project to redevelop the MRC. The public broadcaster has consulted with the city of Montreal and representatives from community groups in the Centre-Sud district (where MRC is located) throughout the process.
The evaluation of the project proposals and selection and approval of the best candidate by the CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors and the Treasury Board of Canada is expected to take at least a year. Work on the new MRC could begin in early 2015 and be completed by 2017.
