Having become a symbol of the housing crisis in Montreal, the Manoir Lafontaine, in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, is up for sale for $28 million. A situation that will not affect “the rights of tenants” who still live in this building, assure the owners of it.
“An unbeatable location and the possibility of carrying out a complete renovation will allow the potential buyer to maximize the rental value” of this building of some 90 units on Avenue Papineau, located a stone’s throw from Parc La Fontaine, indicates the real estate management firm Colliers on its website.
A 10-page brochure on this site includes several detailed plans of the building, built in 1966 and whose property value amounts to nearly $10 million, according to the assessment roll of the City of Montreal. It mentions the possibility of carrying out a “complete renovation” of the building to increase the rents of the apartments, which are currently offered at a price well below that of the market in this sector.
“We are currently exploring all the options open to us, including a partnership with a third party, the sale of the building or [d’autres possibilités]. In any case, the rights of tenants will be preserved and protected, ”assured Jeremy Kornbluth, who heads the company that manages this building with investor Brandon Shiller, on Friday.
The sale of this building therefore represents a new stage in the saga of Manoir Lafontaine, which last year quickly became a symbol of the resilience of tenants in the context of the housing crisis. They had first been threatened with temporary eviction last year, before forming a united front against their owners and winning a first round last May before the Administrative Housing Tribunal, which concluded that they could remain in the premises, the notices for major work that had been sent to the tenants not being valid.
The sale of the building also occurs while negotiations were underway in recent weeks between the lawyers of the owners and the tenants still in place concerning the terms of relocation of the latter during the major work necessary in this dilapidated building.
“It’s quite surprising,” says tenant Pascal Lavoie, about the sale of this building. “All I can say is that it’s still a turn of events that can be a great opportunity,” he says in an interview. “There is an opportunity to seize to make affordable housing” in this building.
The spokesperson for the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment, Véronique Laflamme, opines in the same direction: the City should seize this opportunity to acquire this building and then turn it into a social or affordable housing cooperative. “If the funds are there, it would be a very good opportunity to get out of the market for housing that is still affordable. »
However, at 311,000 dollars per door, a building offered at 28 million dollars is far too expensive compared to the “modest sums” available in government programs that finance this type of acquisition, notes for his part the spokesperson for the Regrouping of Housing Committees and Tenant Associations of Quebec, Martin Blanchard. “It’s a crazy price,” he notes.
Joined by The duty, the cabinet of the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, does not rule out any options. “Each opportunity is studied in order to determine the potential of a building according to the price and its condition, in particular”, indicates the press attaché Alicia Dufour.
In the coming months, the City will also look into “different solutions allowing us to save the existing affordable housing stock in Montreal, in particular by working with [organismes à but non lucratif] buyers in order to be able to equip them to facilitate this type of acquisition”, adds Ms. Dufour.