The Cree Nation of Quebec is getting into the Montreal real estate development game, unveiling plans to build a 26-floor high-rise with condos, rental and commercial space that is steeped in symbolism. 

The Odea Montreal has been designed with a massive stylized canoe shape on its south-facing side and has other features to highlight Cree culture, language and a connection to land and water, according to Derrick Neeposh, the president of Creeco, the investment arm of the Cree Nation government and the parent company of Eeyou Eenou Realty Properties Inc.

The building will be located in Old Montreal on Robert Bourassa Boulevard at the corner of Ottawa Street, right at one of the main entrances to downtown. 

“The thought was always … we’re spending so much money in the South on lawyers, consultants, you name it. … we wanted to reverse that and say, ‘It’s time for us to create the wealth in the South for the benefit of the North,'” said Neeposh. 

The $100-million project includes 435 residential units, 264 rentals and 171 high-end condominiums units for sale. It also includes more than 10,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, green space, two rooftop pools and a sky lounge, according to a release.

The irony of Odea Montreal being located on a street named after the late Robert Bourassa, former Quebec premier and a foe of the Cree, is not lost on Neeposh.

“We had no say in naming the street Robert Bourassa Boulevard,” he said.

Bourassa was Quebec premier in the 1970s and was behind a massive and unannounced hydroelectric development in Cree territory. The Cree took Bourassa’s government to court over the development and won, forcing a negotiated settlement that led to the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975.

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