A mixed-use development planned to include a water park, two hotels and a convention centre is a step closer to reality in Mirabel, a city of about 70,000 residents about an hour's drive north of downtown Montreal.
The proposed project, with an estimated development cost of $175 million to $200 million, has received all needed approvals from local authorities according to a statement from Investissement Ray Junior, a company led by local real estate developer Ray Junior Courtemanche.
He said the project ultimately will contain over 20 water attractions, an 11-floor hotel with a 70,000-square-foot convention centre on the top floor and a 14-storey hotel with a rooftop terrace.
It will also include a 1,500-seat performance hall and a variety of retail space, ranging from restaurants to spas to stores focused on recreational activities, the developer said.
Courtemanche plans to start building in the summer of 2026, and the first phase that would contain the water park and the first hotel "is expected to open within 24 months of the start of construction," the developer said.
The project is slated to be built on an area on Chaumont Street just north of Notre Dame Road near Highway 15. The adjacent Cité Mirabel area includes a four-floor medical centre built in 2018, a small strip mall among other buildings.
The location is the site where a 14,000-million-square-foot Rêveport water park project was proposed in 2006 before it was shelved due to difficult financial conditions.
The Mirabel area is perhaps best known for being home to a major international airport from 1975 to 2004. It remains a hub for aerospace companies such as Bell Helicopter.
Courtemanche is a veteran real estate developer known for racing stock cars early in his career. He has developed many properties in the Mirabel area and has a head office near the proposed water park.
Courtemanche's company also simultaneously announced the completion of the first phase of a 336-unit apartment complex branded Espace W, located a short distance away from the water park site.