2024-07-23 04:00:00
A roof threatening to fall, cockroaches, water leaks: the tenants of the Olympic Village are rejecting all rent increases they consider offensive due to the lack of maintenance on the emblematic pyramids of the 1976 Games.
“I have been going through hell for three years. When I arrived, my apartment was a dump. The door was broken, it wouldn’t lock. The mosquito net was broken, the floors had to be redone…”, criticized Elaine Lavallée.
This retired teacher pays $1,686 in rent over four and a half years, plus $125 for parking.
On August 15, she will challenge a 4.5% rent increase.
At least 129 tenants in the building have refused increases, according to a list provided by the Administrative Housing Tribunal.
And that would only be the tip of the iceberg.
Horror stories
“There are no services, it’s as simple as that,” says Ms. Lavallée, who has hip and knee problems.
She moved to the pyramids for its services such as the indoor pool as well as the security and support staff.
The 980-unit complex was originally built to accommodate athletes for the 1976 Olympics.
Privatized in 1998, it belongs to CAPREIT, a real estate investment fund based in Toronto (see below).
“They don’t do anything. They do not provide a service. There is a lot of turnover among the employees,” said Guy Durand, another tenant who is opposing his rent increase.
The man in his sixties explains that it took a month and a formal notice to CAPREIT to call for eviction to finally get rid of a cockroach infestation on his floor.
Cockroaches have invaded one of the flats in Block A.
Anouk Lebel’s photo
As for the swimming pool, it was empty and unusable at the time of the visit. Magazine. According to tenants, it has been closed most of the time for at least two years.
The pool was empty and unusable when the Journal was run.
Anouk Lebel’s photo
disappeared
Five tenants shared horror stories at Magazinemost of them on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.
They say there are many vulnerable elderly tenants who have moved there to receive services in the complex.
But when you visit the building, The IS Magazine it was found that the floor was in poor condition and that there were many blisters on the ceiling in some areas.
The wall above this door is held together by two metal beams, Mr. Lavallée is angry.
An apartment was also confirmed to have been destroyed by fire The IS Magazine.
Two tenants claimed that there was a real danger of collapse on the roof of the 19th floor and on the upper floor.
“Unacceptable”
“It’s unacceptable,” says Ms. Lavallée.
She says she often had heating and cooling problems due to the lack of a heat pump.
She also claims she ran out of water at least 14 times a year, not counting condensation problems from her dryer, which she believes is attributable to the building’s poorly maintained duct system.
At the passage of Magazinehis car was surrounded by a puddle of brown, viscous water from a water leak in the parking lot.
A puddle of brown, viscous water spread across the parking lot as the Iris went on.
At the time of writing this report, CAPREIT had not responded to our requests.
From the 1976 Games
The Olympic Village opened its doors in the summer of 1976 to welcome athletes from the Montreal Games.
The 4 brutalist-style concrete half-pyramids, next to the Olympic Park, have a total of 980 housing units. The terraces were designed to give athletes from 92 countries a view of the city.
After the Games, the residences were converted into luxury apartments, with a golf course behind the pyramids.
Until 1998, the complex was under the control of the Olympic Facilities Authority. It is now owned by Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT), one of Canada’s largest residential property managers, with approximately 64,200 units across the country.
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