Décarie Square gives ultimatum to CSL

Should Côte St. Luc council not approve the redevelopment of Décarie Square by the end of next March, the mall will renew the lease of the popular store Winners and bring in a 65,000 square-foot T&T Asian supermarket, developer and co-owner Daniel Assouline told a Dec. 11 meeting on the city’s master plan.

Assouline said the mall agreed to what CSL wants in a redevelopment. But regarding the possibility of a T&T opening, “today, I’m collecting $7 a square foot for my mall, they’re offering me $25 a square foot.”

Residents are concerned a redevelopment could bring about more traffic than exists already in the area. There are currently T&T locations nearby in St. Laurent and on the South Shore at the Dix30 megamall. Councillors Oren Sebag, who represents the area around the mall, and Mike Cohen recently voted against draft bylaws related to the master plan, objecting to aspects of the process.

“The commercial centre and the status quo are really not an option for Décarie Square,” Assouline said. “It is an option for me, I’ll keep on making money, my kids will make money, but it’s really not a good, viable option for the future. The math is simple, every square foot of residential consumes 10 times less traffic than a shopping mall. We’re trying to reduce our commercial footprint, get a bit more residential density so we can make some money and that’s all we want.”

When a resident asked what the alternative could be to redeveloping the area, Assouline said the property owners have been patient for the last six years.

“We didn’t give any pressure because we feel we have a good mall that was generating more and more revenue. Come March, we have two important decisions to make, one is Winners and two is this T&T Chinese supermarket. If I don’t get the right news from the city, I’m not going to let a lease from a AAA tenant go by, I’m going to sign that lease….I am committed for 25 years, which is why I’m begging you guys, I am begging you, do not disrupt the project. At the end of March, I will sign those leases and I will commit me, my kids, my partner’s kids for the next 25 years, make no mistake about it!”

Asked for a reaction to Assouline’s laying down of the gauntlet, Councillor Dida Berku told The Suburban, “he has to make decisions based on his commercial interest.

“We prefer to let the [master plan] process play out and we’ll see how long it takes, but he’s under pressure. He’s got a shopping centre to run. I don’t know that the redevelopment will be approved [by the end of March], but I think we will have a tight timeline.”

Berku added that, “I can’t give you exactly what will be our target date, but I know for sure on Jan. 13, there will be a public consultation and every week, there will be meetings, one on Caldwell, one on Westminster and one on the town centre, including Cavendish. Then we’ll have a report from the public feedback, and the council will have to deliberate. When will that happen? We’re taking it one step at a time.”