A tenant threatened with homelessness is fighting before the Administrative Court for Housing (TAL) to prevent the demolition of a building that real estate giant Mondev wants to replace with a residential tower that would be built opposite Place Émilie-Gamelin. in downtown Montreal.
For years, Carla White lived “a nightmare”: she wandered from one metropolitan homeless shelter to another, unable to access housing that suited her limited financial means. “I slept on the sidewalk because I had no other place to go,” she told Le Devoir during a lengthy interview on Monday.
In 2013, the Montreal native finally found a studio on Saint-Hubert Street, near the intersection with Sainte-Catherine Street East, which she has lived in ever since. His monthly rent is currently $400 per month. The condition of her accommodation is anything but ideal, but the elderly lady notes that it is probably the only apartment she can afford.
That’s why she’s been struggling to keep them for several years.
Avoid the street
In 2019, the limited partnership that owns this 12-unit building — in which only one tenant remains to this day, the others having vacated the premises in recent years — opened a file against Carla White before the TAL. The company linked to Mondev’s leadership subsequently requested apartments to be repossessed to house one of its managers, according to court documents. However, the owner backed down ahead of a hearing before the TAL, which was scheduled to take place in October this year.
This largely boarded up building is now set to disappear to make way for a Mondev real estate project planned in front of Place Émilie-Gamelin, frequented by many downtown homeless people.
However, the low-income tenant claims she was not offered alternative housing by the developer, which nonetheless owns many downtown apartment buildings. She also considers the financial compensation offered to her in return for leaving the premises to be inadequate.
Carla White therefore opened a file before the TAL last November to oppose the demolition of the building in which she lives. A hearing in the case is scheduled for next Tuesday in Montreal.
“Mondev hasn’t offered me an apartment while they’re in the condominium industry,” laments the tenant, who fears she’ll be back on the streets if eviction occurs. “Where should I go? Do I have to go back to a homeless shelter? It’s terribly sad. »
“Our intentions are good”
A landlord who evicts one of his tenants must by law pay him the equivalent of three months’ rent and reimburse him for moving expenses. “Our last offer was more than 10 times what the law requires,” Michael Owen, co-president of Mondev, told Le Devoir. However, this “very reasonable” offer was turned down by Ms White, he says.
“Our intentions are good. We’re not a renovation business,” stresses the client, who claims that he wants to contribute more to the beautification of this sector, in which vacant commercial spaces follow one another. “We believe there are many possibilities [dans les environs]. I think it takes a project like ours to get the ball rolling in the right direction. »
Mondev will also present in the coming weeks a new version of the real estate project it wants to realize in front of the Berri-UQAM metro station, right next to the Archambault store, which will soon close its doors.
Its first version, presented to the Ville-Marie district in winter 2020, involved the construction of an 18-storey tower with a total of 258 rental units in front of Place Émilie-Gamelin and another of a similar size to the east of the intersection of Rue Sainte-Catherine Est and the Rue Saint-Hubert with a total of 481 units.
However, Le Devoir has learned that the real estate project will no longer include this second tower: it will only keep the tower planned on the west side of the project, just opposite Place Émilie-Gamelin, where some restaurants and shops are currently closed – could be demolished become. The number of apartments would, at least initially, be “about half” of the number originally stated, confirms Michael Owen.
“Construction costs have risen dramatically in recent years, and interest rates have risen significantly. The economic context has completely changed since the beginning of this file,” he explains, justifying the changes made to this project, intended for a diverse clientele. “We cater to young students, young professionals and people who want to live downtown,” says Mr. Owen.
This real estate project will also be subject to the City of Montreal’s mixed metropolitan regulations, which obliges developers to contribute to the creation of social and affordable housing, said Robert Beaudry, Chief Urban Planning Officer at the Ville-Marie Executive Committee and City Council.
However, the exact form of this contribution will only be determined after “the official submission” of the new version of the real estate project, which will again be analyzed by the district’s Planning Advisory Board, says Project Montreal’s elected official. “Our desire as an administration is to really revitalize this sector and this is the kind of project that can serve as a spark,” adds Mr Beaudry. But he has to blend in well with his surroundings. »