Montreal police (SPVM) have officially taken over the investigation into the cause of a fire at a residential building in the Ville-Marie borough on Tuesday. Firefighters were called to the intersection of Sainte-Catherine West and Towers streets around 2:10 a.m. More than 150 firefighters worked for several hours to bring the blaze under control at the two-storey building, which housed both commercial and residential units. Police say the damage is extensive and the structure is unstable. Several people were forced out of the building, including one person who had to be pulled from a balcony. The cause of the fire remains unknown. The building was barricaded and returned to the owner, Amcor Holdings, on Tuesday night, according to the SPVM. Police are asking anyone with information to contact their local station. Owners opposed rezoning project In 2020, the building’s owner, Amcor Holdings, sent a letter to Montreal’s public consultation office criticizing a proposed rezoning that would lower the height and density in the area where the property is located. “We are stunned by the City’s seemingly arbitrary decision to lower the density of our property, without ever consulting with us. … This is an odious and reprehensible approach to urban planning and unfairly penalizes many individuals and property owners,” the company wrote. Amcor said the building, built in 1885 and renovated 50 years later, along with other properties on Ste-Catherine Street, needed incentives to improve the built form and encourage renovation. “The reduction of our development potential will have the opposite effect and many properties in need of repair and requalification will deteriorate,” the company said. When asked about the letter, the City of Montreal said only that the borough reviewed Amcor’s brief as part of the public consultation on the modification of the Sainte-Catherine Street West block, held in August and September 2020. Amcor Holdings did not respond to requests for comment.
