MONTREAL — The City of Montreal will take steps to assert its right of first refusal to buy 300 lots located in central locations in the city to develop social housing.
Mayor Valerie Plante made the announcement in February.
Lawyers Jessica Syms and Karine Presseault with the firm Langlois Lawyers offered analysis of the move in an article published on the Lexology website.
They explain the right of first refusal is granted to the city of Montreal by the Charter of Ville de Montreal and is also governed by municipal bylaws. It allows the city to purchase properties with priority over any other buyer by substituting when the seller has accepted an offer to purchase, in order to carry out projects for the benefit of the community.
Communities identified include Cote-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Sud-Ouest, Ville-Marie and Verdun.
The complete list should be available in the next few weeks, say Syms and Presseault, and notices of assessment will be sent to property owners by the city in the next few months.
The lawyers say no landowner will be obligated to sell property to the city. But as soon as an owner accepts an offer to purchase, he or she must inform the city of this fact by sending a Notice of Intent to Alienate an Immovable, although certain exceptions apply.
The city then has 60 days to inform the parties whether it intends to exercise the right of first refusal.
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