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QUEBEC CITY — Everyone agrees we have a housing crisis on our hands. We also have a lot of under-utilized buildings, especially in cities. The maddening thing is that it’s the odd exception when someone is bright enough to put two-and-two together.

Enter Place Fleur de Lys, a typical North American mall built in the early 1960s around the corner from the hospital where I was born. When I was a kid, the Sears that used to be one of its anchors is where most of my clothes came from.

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Place Fleur de Lys is in the Vanier neighbourhood of Quebec City, not far from the Centre Vidéotron arena. The area is neither touristy nor luxurious. The mall itself is a lot of windowless brick and dreary parking, overlooking a snow dump. Today’s mall anchors include a Maxi grocery store, Walmart and JYSK. Savile Row, this ain’t.

What Fleur de Lys doesn’t have a lot of is shoppers buying things. People go to the Galeries de la Capitale where you find an IMAX theatre and also an amusement park, or the bigger suite of malls along Laurier Boulevard in Ste-Foy near the bridges and Université Laval.

Place Fleur de Lys changed owners a bunch of times. The current proprietor, Trudel Innovation, bought it in 2018. Founder and CEO William Trudel told me, when I paid him a visit on Wednesday, that after the company purchased the mall, its officials knew they needed to do something with it but weren’t sure exactly what.

They embarked on an extensive public consultation with, well, everyone. Dozens of merchants, about 60 community organizations and stakeholders — in total 2,500 people told the new mall owners what they needed.

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In short: housing, including affordable and accessible units, public spaces and amenities, green spaces, post-secondary education opportunities, a hotel and ways to connect area neighbourhoods currently separated by an urban freeway, car sewers and that giant mall.

Last summer the company unveiled a $1.5-billion, 10-year plan plan to revitalize the property that features 3,500 new housing units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, including 15 per cent affordable units and 10 per cent accessible units that will be available to tenants with disabilities at the same rate as regular units. A hotel. Reimagined retail space. Green roofs and more than 2,500 trees planted to reduce the heat island effect, entertainment opportunities, office spaces, a university satellite campus (already operating), and easy connections between neighbouring communities.

The first phase of the project, which will see around 480 housing units ready by the beginning of 2025, is well under way. Each of the first two buildings will include fully accessible public amenities and some hotel rooms for tenants to use for their guests, at rates lower than a regular hotel.

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The idea is to create a city within the city. This is real community-building. Yes, it’s an investment and one Trudel hopes will eventually pay off. But in order to do so, it must first answer the needs of the community.

In Ottawa, you’re starting to see mall owners build housing on their property. These include the new tower at Westgate, the Element complex at the Westboro Superstore and a couple of towers approved near Bayshore. It’s good to add housing units, for sure. But these are buildings on parking lots. Not communities.

William Trudel insists the key to rejuvenating underperforming malls is to take all the time needed to do proper consultations. “It may appear costly upfront,” he says, “but it helps design the best possible project, smoothes discussions with elected officials and shows respect for the community.” Strong community backing also helps convince municipal officials that they should agree swiftly to whatever zoning modifications are required.

We have struggling malls everywhere and people desperate for affordable housing. Quebec City’s Fleur de Lys example shows it’s possible to put that two-and-two together and create beautiful, livable communities with those assets and help alleviate the housing crisis — with style.

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

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