Montreal's unfinished bus terminal, which nearly bankrupted one of the province's largest universities, has been sold for a fraction of the money spent so far.

Aquilini Construction has purchased the uncompleted structure, the 600 parking spaces, the local bus terminal and the rights to new construction on the Ilot Voyageur for $45.5 million. They will spent an additional $150 million to complete construction of 700 apartments and condos.

The company says that the majority of the units will be used for rental housing, which will be offered at a rate of around $750 per month.

Jean-Francois Lisée, minister for Montreal, says the buyer has been working for months to acquire the property at Berri and Ontario.

"It's signed and sealed. The promoter, Aquilini, has brought the property and has chosen its architect with AMF approval," said Lisée.

Aquilini expects to finish construction by 2018.

Premier Pauline Marois said Friday that the total loss to taxpayers would be in the range of $225 million.

Management of the bus station will be handed over to the AMT.

Ilot Voyageur nearly bankrupted UQAM

The original plan for the Ilot Voyageur building was for the lower levels to house a bus station, while the upper levels would be an expansion as student housing for l'Université du Quebec a Montreal.

Construction on the $300 million building began in 2005 and quickly ran into problems, when the university was on the brink of bankruptcy after $550 million was sunk into the building.

The provincial government handed over $200 million, but when that wasn't enough, the government stepped in and purchased the building outright in 2010.

That also convinced the Liberal government to keep post-secondary funding throughout Quebec on a tighter leash, and require schools to get approval from the government before engaging in new construction projects.

In 2011 the province spent $60,000 on a canvas cover to wrap around the upper floors of the eight-storey building, both to protect what hasn't been finished, and to present the illusion that the building was complete. That cover now covers sections of the lower three floors.

Six years after the project began the bus terminal portion of the building was completed now handles 300 arrivals and departures each day.

It remains to be determined what will be done with the unused part of the block on the south side, which is still owned by the province. Government representatives said Friday that they are considering a variety of scenarios, including installing a public health agency on the site.

In January UTILE, a group of students from UQAM with backing from several labour unions, proposed using the property for the creation of 1,000 housing co-op. Some variation of their proposed project could still go ahead, according to government authorities, on another site in the area.

-With files from The Canadian Press and CTV's Max Harrold.