For the building itself to be built, most of the Faubourg à m'lasse working-class neighbourhood had to be demolished. On October 1, 1963, the last house was evacuated so the demolition project could go ahead to clear land for the facility.[1]
Redevelopment
As of November 2008, consultations are underway to redevelop the area around Maison de Radio-Canada.[citation needed]
The new plans for the eastern part of the present site includes 2000 housing units, offices, commercial space, and public spaces at 1450 René Lévesque Boulevard East, which will cover about three city blocks. Furthermore, the new development would relink the street grid through the site, following the 1960s razing of a working-class neighbourhood popularly known as Faubourg à m'lasse to make way for the Radio-Canada complex.[2]
As of May 2015, the project was halted.[3] The project was relaunched in November 2016, with Broccolini Group selected to construct the new building and Groupe Mach chosen to take over the existing building and reconvert it to new uses.[4] The project finally reached completion in 2020.[5]