Place Ville-Marie





Informations and facts

On a clear day, a light beam passes through the sky of Montreal at regular intervals. This light comes from the rotating huge light at the top of the Place Ville Marie.

Place Ville Marie has been built above the CN railroad tunnel. see this old image. The tunnel was a real scar in the urban face of Montreal because a long part was simply trench .

Underground shopping mall connected to the central station gave birth to the Montreal underground city. It is interesting to point out that interior mall was not foreseen in the original plans of the project. This is the face of the increasing popularity of suburbs malls that forced designers to react. The project designers were surely ignoring then the magnitude that took pedestrian network connecting various buildings of downtown Montreal.

With the CIBC Tower, those skyscrapers were responsible of the downtown and business district to move from Old Montreal to St. Catherine Street. Place Ville Marie is still among the largest office space in Canada. The building has:

  • 32 elevators
  • 900 indoor parking spaces
  • floor area of 1612141 square

    This building is owned by the SITQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement) to 50%

    Webb & Company Knap, which finance and manage the project. In 1958 they signed the lease that would ensure the viability of the project: A 99-year lease for the rental of 20% of the building will be signed by James Muir, chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada.

    Companies who finance this project had several requests for Montreal. One was the widening of surrounding streets. The necessary expropriations cost $ 8 million and lead to the disappearance of several historic buildings including the famous St James Club.

    In 1959 estimated construction costs to $ 45 million. Now Montreal city Tax department evaluate Place Ville-Marie complex to 616,000,000

Positionnement de cet édifice sur une carte ancienne 1912


Centre-Ville avant la Place Ville-Marie - 1912 plate 15
Carte complète - réference & source

Positionnement de cet édifice sur une carte ancienne 1880


1880 plaque 15
Carte complète - réference & source

Positionnement de cet édifice sur une carte ancienne 1949


Centre-Ville de Montréal - carte aérienne 1947-1949 VM97-3_7P8-29
Carte complète - réference & source

Positionnement de cet édifice sur une carte ancienne 1949


Vue satellite de Montréal - 1959
Carte complète - réference & source

More pictures

Architect

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners,Affleck and Associates

Constructor and other companies involved in construction:
Webb & Knapp




   Architecture - skyscrapers

8 images
Old Montreal

Édifice Aldred

501-507, place d'Armes

1931 23 Floors
2 images
Downtown

Annexe de l'édifice Bell

Belmont / Robert-Bourassa

1931 15 Floors
18 images
Downtown

Édifice Sun Life

1155, rue Metcalfe/ Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest

1931 26 Floors
6 images
Old Montreal

Édifice Montreal Star II

231-235, rue Saint-Jacques

1930 12 Floors

Building achieved the same year (1962)

    Downtown

  • 620, boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest / 1145, rue Union Building »»
  • 2-3 Place Ville-Marie »»
  • Canada Tax Agency »»
  • Royal Bank »»
  • Delano Condominiums »»
  • CNESST Building »»
  • Hydro-Québec Building »»
  • Québecor Building »»
  • CIBC Tower »»
  • Les Cours de l'Ambassade »»
  • Place Telus Montreal »»
  • Parc-Extension

  • Koimisis Tis Theotokou Church »»
  • Saint-Laurent

  • Chalet du parc Houde »»
  • École primaire JMC »»
  • Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church »»
  • Ahuntsic / Cartierville

  • Sister of Providence Building »»
  • Nuns' island

  • Tourelle-Sur-Rive »»
  • NDG

  • Communication Studies and Journalism Building | Concordia »»
  • La Petite-Patrie

  • La Mission Hindou du Canada »»
  • Côte-des-Neiges

  • Hotel Ruby Foo's »»
  • Marguerite-d'Youville Building | UdeM »»
  • Plateau Mont-Royal

  • 250, boulevard Saint-Joseph Est Building »»
  • 55 Mont-Royal O »»
  • 801 Signature »»
  • Rosemont

  • Rue Chatelain Building »»
  • Cathédrale Orthodoxe ukrainienne Sainte-Sophie »»
  • Marguerite-De Lajemmerais School »»
  • Bellechasse Hospital »»
  • Villeray / Saint-Michel

  • Saint-Michel Church »»
  • Hochelaga-Maisonneuve

  • Hochelaga Library »»
   Historical Milestones about Montreal, What did append the same year (1962)
    See History of Montreal Section
  • Opening of the Champlain bridge
  • Montreal's first underground tunnel between Place Ville-Marie and the Central Station
  Facts about Montreal

  • The larget company in Montreal is BCE Bell Canada with ~ 12 000 employees
  • Montreal is the more bicycle friendly city in north america
  • Density of Montreal population is 3625 hab./km2
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