Lions Place residents, management clash at contentious meeting on tentative sale
Tempers flared at a meeting with residents and management of Lions Place, a non-profit housing complex near downtown Winnipeg that has been tentatively sold to new ownership.
Lions Housing Centres (LHC) confirmed to CTV News earlier this week it accepted an offer made by an unnamed, Alberta-based firm, which put in a bid to buy the 287-unit building.
The organization said if the buyer is satisfied after a review, the sale could be completed by the end of January, leaving some seniors concerned the new ownership could lead to higher rent.
Management held an information session Thursday, outlining the mounting expenses and financial woes associated with managing the over 30-year-old building.
Lions Housing Centres executive director Gilles Verrier spoke to the sometimes hostile crowd, as some residents shouted back and even stormed out.
Verrier said for over 20 years, management has not issued rental increases above guidelines outlined by the province’s residential tenancies branch.
He also said LHC covered additional rent subsidies since 2018, after the Tory government discontinued its subsidy agreement with the complex.
Verrier said they spent $3.6 million upgrading the aging building over the past three years, including hundreds of thousands of dollars for lighting upgrades to save from a larger electrical rate hike down the road, $220,000 to add 24/7 security, plus thousands more in measures to control the spread of COVID-19 in the building.
“Management pushed for none of these costs to be passed on to residents because it was the right thing to do,” Verrier told the audience.
A tentative agreement with an Alberta-based company has been reached to purchase Lions Place. Nov. 28, 2022. (Source: Josh Crabb/CTV News)
Many residents pushed back, often shouting in disagreement with some of Verrier’s claims. One attendee says she’s dealt with bed bugs in her suite for three years.
“I’m fed up with this,” she shouted.
Verrier said Lions Housing Centre can no longer afford to own the aging building, with millions more still needed to replace windows, renovate suites and replace heat pumps. He said two non-profits declined to put bids in on the building because rents were too low.
“If we can’t do it, why would they?” Verrier said.
RESIDENTS CALLING FOR PROVINCE TO INTERVENE
Gerald Brown, 85, has lived at Lions Place for the past eight years.
He formed an action committee in the summer of 2022 when he got word the building was up for sale.
He said he was disappointed that the meeting had a largely negative tone, and that there was not a commitment from Verrier to work with his committee.
He also feels management has not been transparent with tenants about the sale, adding the meeting did little to dispel fears that rents would rise under new ownership.
“I’m optimistic about the future and I want to be positive, but a private entrepreneur wants to make money. And if he wants to make money, he’s got to do it some way. Likely that will be to raise the rent,” Brown said.
Brown and his committee are calling on the province to legislate a five-year moratorium on any rent increases.
Families Minister Rochelle Squires told reporters Monday she is working to ensure that seniors at Lions Place won’t face rent hikes, but didn’t specify how she would do it.
"We certainly understand that there is a lot of uncertainty and with that uncertainty comes a lot of anxiety for the seniors,” Squires said. “And for that, I am greatly troubled and very concerned about.”
- With files from CTV’s Josh Crabb
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.