Cadillac Fairview has decided to construct rental apartments instead of office space at a prominent downtown Montreal development site.

CF announced that it will build 510 rental housing units at 750 Peel Street in the company’s Quad Windsor district, which includes the Gare Windsor, Tour Deloitte and Tour des Canadiens condominium projects. (Gare is the French word for railway station. Tour is French for tower.)

Toronto-based CF previously announced plans to develop two office towers comprising 1.2 million square feet at Quad Windsor. In the revised development, Toronto-based CF will provide co-working and meeting spaces.

The switch comes after Ottawa scrapped the G.S.T. on rental-housing projects in September, a move that Wayne Barwise, CF’s vice-president of development, praised in the news release. Unlike some other provinces, the Quebec government has refused to lift its sales tax on rental-housing developments in conjunction with the federal move.

As part of its $4.7-billion residential program, CF aims to deliver 7,000 rental units in 20 buildings across Canada.

Image: Cadillac Fairview