Corporation Mainbourg has acquired 720 affordable housing units in Montreal for $120 million.

The units are located within Domaine La Rousselière, an eight-building complex in the Pointe-aux-Trembles district in east Montreal. The seller was not identified in a news release on the deal.

But CBC reported that Domaine La Rousselière was previously owned by a group of Ontario investors.

Mainbourg is a Montreal-based social housing developer, owner and manager. The company received funding help from the Quebec government ($20 million) and City of Montreal ($15.8 million). Desjardins provided a $75-million loan guaranteed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s APH Select program (known as MLI Select outside of Quebec.)

The Chagnon Foundation, an anti-poverty group, kicked in $5 million. Meanwhile, New Market Funds, a Vancouver-based company that provides financial support for community-benefits projects, furnished $4.7 million.

The acquisition comes as opponents want the City of Montreal to scrap its two-year-old housing bylaw. No new social, affordable and family housing units have been built since the bylaw took effect.

Developers blame high affordable-housing construction costs.

Photo: Greenwin