b'REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENTO d e a M o n t ra l : a g r o u n d b r e a k i n g d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t w i l l g e n e r a t e r e v e n u e f o r t h e C r e e N a t i o n , p r o v i d e r e t u r n s t o s t a k e h o l d e r s a n d s u p p o r t C r e e c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h e N o r t hBUILDING TOWARDS A MORE PROSPEROUS FUTUREBy Andrew SnookT heJamesBayCreewillbesaysNeeposh, as we restore collabora- a partner for the development and began leaving an impression on Roberttion and build on partnerships towardsa lengthy screening process. Moving into Bourassa once again, this timea new path. real estate meant finding a partner that onhisnamesakeboulevardthe board trusted; Mathieu Duguay, pres-(formerlyDukeStreet).TheThe property was highly sought after byident of Cogir Real Estate, was a great former Quebec premier championedcity real estate developers, with offersfit for the management style at CreeCo. the James Bay hydroelectric project incoming in from dozens of firms. In theIt was a grueling process, Neeposh the early 1970s that gave birth to crownend, CreeCo decided to implement asays. We eventually went with Cogir corporation Hydro-Quebc. long-term strategy for optimizing thesince part of the process was looking property value: they would keep it forat the developers reputation within the Through Eeyou Eenou Realty Properties,future development with partners. Icity and studying the projects they had the Cree Regional Economic Enterprisesrecall we had vetted at least 40 devel- going at that time. What was interesting Company (CreeCo) has partnered withopers that wanted to buy the prop- was the fact that Cogir was open with Cogir Real Estate, an established playererty from us. Between 2015 and 2020,us. We had a sense of welcoming and in Montral, to construct Odea Montral.the land value increased significantly[that] our friendship had begun.The impressive 25-storey mixed-usedue to the $100 million that was paid condominium tower is being built onfor a property up the street. NationalDESIGN RETHINKproperty owned and operated by theBank headquarters is being built there,To create the new design, Indigenous James Bay Cree since 1995 as office andsays Neeposh. architect Douglas Cardinal was hired. industrial space. This is a very excitingHe had previously worked with the Cree projectthe first of its kind for ourin the early 1990s when he designed company, says Derrick Neeposh, presi- Prior to partnering with a developer,the award-winning community of Ouje-dent of CreeCo. The Griffintown neigh- CreeCo hired a consultant and beganBougoumou. CreeCo also sought advice bourhood adjacent to Old Montralfeasibility studies. In a joint meetingfrom their own Cree Elders. Cardinal hasnt been revitalized since the landwith the Grand Chief of the Cree Nationwas fully on board. I always feel that was purchased more than 25 years ago.Government at that time, they had theprojects for our Indigenous communi-We are proud to add Odea Montral toopportunity to present the initial conceptties should come from our communi-this redevelopment. for the project to the City of Montral.ties, be their vision and their ideas, and The response from Montrals mayor,particularly, it should be Elder-driven, Odea Montral will feature 435 residen- Valerie Plante, was unexpected. WeCardinal says.tial unitsa combination of 264 rentalshowed her our concept and she said, apartments and 171 condominiums forThis is very generic; you can do some- We had a brainstorming session with purchaseas well as retail space on thething iconic on that site. We did notCree Elders in Montral where we main level. The name Odea is basedtake her opinion negatively, but used ittalked about different modes of trans-on uudh, the Cree word for canoe. Theas motivation to say, Lets do somethingport, explains Neeposh. That is where common vessel was a main form of trans- unique, Neeposh recalls. the canoe symbol came from, because portation for Indigenous peoples andhistorically, for every First Nation, it was a early settlers. The symbolism lies in theThe Eeyou Eenou Realty Properties Boardprimary mode of transportation. We went journey towards business reconciliation,of Directors decided it was time to selectto the site, and Cardinal stood on the Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT29'