A group of developers has revived a $178-million lawsuit against the City of Montreal over a stalled multi-family project, The Montreal Gazette reported.

The developers cited years of unsuccessful negotiations over a proposed multi-family residential development in the Pierrefonds borough.

The developers—Développements Pierrefonds, Les Immeubles L’équerre, and Quartier de l’Ouest de l’île—originally sued the city and Mayor Valérie Plante in 2019, alleging disguised expropriation, according to the Gazette. Their planned 3,800-unit Cap-Nature Pierrefonds-Ouest project stalled after the city moved to create what it described as Canada’s largest municipal park.

The lawsuit was put on hold in hopes of a resolution, but after submitting 14 different plans over four years—all rejected—the developers have returned to court.

“My clients are reluctant litigators,” Ali Argun, the developers’ lawyer, told the Gazette. “My clients want to work hand-in-hand with all government bodies and authorities, city and borough included. My clients are making every effort to satisfy every request made of them, and those requests, it appears, are never-ending.

“If you ask me how do they feel, they’re frustrated, certainly. They would wish that they could advance in a professional manner for the greater good and they would hope that someone, somewhere would see reason.”

The city has argued that the landowners can still develop their properties under existing bylaws that allow for two-storey housing. It also contends that the lawsuit unfairly targets Plante personally and that past defamation claims in the suit were filed too late.

A Superior Court judge has given both parties 20 days to present a plan to move forward before a coordinating judge. Argun told the court that the developers have already spent $500,000 on expert consultations and were most recently denied approval based on a fire department policy that the city refused to justify, the Gazette reported.

Pictured: Proposed Cap-Nature Pierrefonds-Ouest multi-family project in Montreal.

Rendering: Luc Denis Architecte