By purchasing a complex of 720 housing units in eastern Montreal, a non-profit organization is delighted to protect hundreds of tenants from renovations and exaggerated rent increases.
Even if this transaction does not add apartments to Montreal’s real estate portfolio, elected officials would like to see more acquisitions of this type.
“Yes, people might say that this is not new housing, but we are preserving the affordability of 720 housing units that would otherwise have remained in the speculative market. While there, we are preserving the environment where these people live, they will not have stress knowing that there is a new owner,” underlined the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, who participated in the press conference announcing the transaction on Friday.
The Mainbourg Corporation, an NPO which already manages social housing, has taken over the eight buildings of Domaine La Rousselière, in Pointe-aux-Trembles, where there are apartments ranging from studios to five and a half rooms, including rents vary between $800 and $1100 on average, including electricity, cable and parking.
“If a private owner had bought these housing units, he would have had no choice in raising the rents,” notes François Claveau, general director of the Mainbourg Corporation. “This is also what causes the housing crisis, when tenants have no choice but to find nothing. »
This 120 million transaction was made possible thanks to contributions from the Government of Quebec (20 million), the City of Montreal (15.8 million), as well as loans from Desjardins (75 million), New Market Fund ( 4.7 million) and the Chagnon Foundation (5 million).
“Such projects can give hope to Montrealers, because we hear their distress, when they have to make difficult choices between paying their rent or paying for their groceries,” rejoiced Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.