City officials find a way to save Manor Village homes from LRT destruction, “refurbishment” eliminates tenants

ryanniesMay 19, 2022

“Our team understands that having to move is inconvenient and stressful.”

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May 18, 2022 •• 42 minutes ago •• Read for 6 minutes •• Join the conversation

Members of Peggy Rafter, Alison Trowbridge, and ACORN on Thursday participated in a protest against the tenant’s “refurbishment” at Manor Village. Photo by Jean Levac / /Post media

City officials are proposing ways to rescue rental homes that were declared destroyed in 2020 by a Congress-approved route for future Barhaven LRT extensions. However, in Manor Village, where half of the units are located, low-rent townhouses, where residents struggled to save themselves from the train, have closed down and owners are trying to drive out tenants who refuse to move. Give way to unit upgrades.

A majority of the members of the council will need to expropriate 60 rental units at Manor Village and an additional 60 rental units at the nearby Cheryl Gardens Complex in November 2020, while simultaneously accommodating more than 300 tenants. Voted to approve the route.

Staff were instructed to form a working group to consider how to support the affected population. According to a report released Thursday, staff revisited the previous option of running the elevated LRT guideway along the center of Woodlov Avenue from Knockdale Road to Hunt Club Road.

City officials said in a report that they were not previously recommended for a variety of reasons, but they investigated options for addressing these issues and said, “This solution is for tenant migration, loss of housing stock. We conclude that we will avoid the increase in costs associated with buying real estate. “

This revised adjustment, recommended by staff, will cost an additional $ 35 to $ 50 million, with an estimated total cost of the Barrhaven LRT project of $ 3.52 billion, but the project is still in its infancy. It has not been decided and no funds have been secured. This proposal will be submitted to the Transport Safety Board and the Council for voting in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Manor Village owners are enthusiastic about remodeling the low-rent townhouse complex on Majestic Drive and Woodlov Avenue, offering buyouts. Recently, we have issued a move-out notice to tenants so that they can upgrade their occupied units. Already renovated townhouses are now sold to students and professionals who can rent a room or rent a house for over $ 3,000 a month.

Households in 35 Manor Villages have received N13 eviction notices. According to ACORN Canada, a community-based social justice organization to which many Manor Village tenants belong, their move-out date is August 31st. Tenants are not obliged to move out and some have vowed to stay. However, the landlord can apply for a move-out order from the landlord and the tenant committee.

“When we acquired this property last year, it was inadequately repaired, with all new roofs, interior refurbishments, new windows and additional windows, major electrical and plumbing upgrades, etc. A lot of renovation work was needed. ” Statement sent to this newspaper Smart Living Properties.

The Ottawa company manages and shares the Manor Village Complex purchased in September 2020. Its ownership is shared with Toronto-based Forum Equity Partners.

According to Smart Living, they’ve done as much work as possible with empty units in the last few months, but “to safely complete major repairs” empty all units. need to do it.

The company’s website promotes two rental options available at Woodlov Place, a rebranded Manor Village. A four-bedroom home with a private yard over $ 3,200 and a $ 750 roommate option for students and professionals who want to share their home with others in their renter category. According to the website, the unit is fully furnished, equipped with a granite countertop and smart TV, including utilities, internet and laundry in the suite.

“Our team understands that having to move is inconvenient and stressful,” said Smart Living. The company said it had “successfully negotiated a relocation transaction to generously indemnify eviction tenants for far more than the statutory amount,” providing housing search services and support for moving costs. These “transfer packages” will continue to be offered to tenants who have been offered N13.

Smart Living Properties said it will provide 111 “newly refurbished and highly needed modernized housing units” to the West Ottawa rental market once the Manor Village project is completed.

If the plan for the reworked LRT route proposed by the staff is approved, those units will survive undisturbed by the extension of the bar haven. However, what cannot survive the ongoing “refurbishment” at Manor Village is an affordable rental unit where tenants and supporters struggled to save in 2020, as explained.

That’s a shame, Knoxville-Meribert Coun. Keith Egli said Wednesday, but he added that he didn’t know what the answer was.

“They are real estate owners. They have certain rights. Tenants have certain rights. And many of these seem to end up in front of the … (landlord and tenant) board. This is appropriate. “

Peggy Rafter is one of the tenants of Manor Village and has vowed to challenge their eviction.

The 63-year-old retired has lived in this complex for over 30 years and pays $ 1,145 a month for a two-bedroom townhouse.

“I have to fight for my house. I live on a limited amount of money. The community is great,” Rafter said in an interview earlier this week.

She is a member of ACORN, and a group organized on Wednesday marched with fellow tenants in protests calling attention to the eviction of Manor Village, meeting with the landlord and demanding the withdrawal of N13.

“I can’t even explain how mentally exhausting it is, and it’s already the idea that it has to be replaced,” Rafter said. “Where am I going? As you know, only all the assumptions.”

Legally, Ontario tenants who receive N13 for repair or refurbishment are entitled to return to the rental unit when they are completed and pay the same rent that the landlord could have charged if the landlord did not leave. there is. To exercise this right, the tenant must inform the landlord in writing that he intends to do so and notify him of the change of address before leaving the unit.

However, Rafter does not believe that she and her fellow tenants will be allowed to return. ACORN claims that fines for not respecting tenants’ right to return are up to $ 50,000 for individuals and up to $ 250,000 for businesses.

Smart Living was asked if they were committed to granting the right to return to the unit of Manor Village (now Woodlov Place), the tenant who wanted it, but there was no guarantee.

“We are doing a major repair and in the process some of the units have been demolished and reconstructed, so we are terminating the tenant contracts for these units,” they said.

“We only want the (remaining) people to survive. We can live among our students, that is, we are all,” Rafter said. ..

“I know it’s all about money, but people who have been here for 30, 40, 45 years have some dignity.”

For those who have already left, Rafter and Amanda McMahon, long-time residents of another Manor Village, said they believed they had left because they resigned to the final destruction of the house by the LRT route.

When talking to protesters gathered on Wednesday, McMahon, who was struggling to stay calm, said he didn’t know where to go if he had to leave a rent to share with his mother and his four children. I will pay $ 1,414.

“We will be homeless. We live in my van.”