Their homes ‘no longer viable,’ tenants must leave by Sept. 30
150 Heron Gate units to be razed to make room for redevelopment
More residents in Heron Gate are being forced to move because a landlord is demolishing their aging rental homes as part of a long-term redevelopment of one of Ottawa’s most culturally diverse neighbourhoods.
Timbercreek Communities has notified 105 households they must move by Sept. 30 because the company will demolish 150 units in the area of Heron Road, Baycrest Drive and Sandalwood Drive. Forty-five of the units are already vacant. The wood-construction units are at the end of their lifecycle and need to be torn down, the company says.
Yazen Sadek, 20, lives in at small home on Sandalwood Drive with his six siblings, mother and father. His family moved to the home five years ago to be closer to their family and friends in the Muslim community. He said many of the families in neighbourhood are Muslim and very connected to their community. Now they are in a state of shock, their futures uncertain.
“This just came out of nowhere. We have nowhere to go,” Sadek said.
John Loubser, director of operations at Timbercreek Communities, said the company has to demolish all 150 units, even if only 25 per cent of them are considered “no longer viable.”
“They share sewage, they share water mains, they share hydro service, they share roofs, they share foundations. They’re indivisible in a way and that unfortunately makes them all compromised in the relatively near term,” Loubser said.
Timbercreek is offering tenants the provincially mandated three months of rent, plus moving expenses and help with relocation.
Loubser acknowledged there was “quite a bit of shock and awe and some anger” expressed during a meeting with tenants Monday when they learned more about the demolition plan.
The company went through a similar demolition-and-relocation program in 2016 affecting 53 families across 86 similar-style townhomes in Heron Gate. The relocation that year happened over the winter. Timbercreek’s HG7 complex is under development on the land now.
Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier said Timbercreek told him confidentially on April 18 that it would be notifying residents about the relocations.
“My objective is that the residents get the information they need to make the decisions they need to make, in the language of their choice, and in a way they understand so that they can make the best decisions for their families,” Cloutier said.
Timbercreek, which purchased the Heron Gate properties in 2012 and 2013, says it doesn’t plan to demolish more homes in the community. Loubser said the company has invested $44 million in the five highrises over the past five years, so those buildings are there for the long term.
A secondary plan, as part of the city ’s official plan, will create a development vision for the 16-hectare area. Residents have been participating in workshops.
“We envision a community of diversity and different sizes, types and forms of housing, potentially different ownership types of housing, alongside the revitalized towers,” Loubser said.
The chances are very good, Loubser said, that every displaced tenant will find a new home, possibly within Heron Gate, although he noted a limited availability in the community.
The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study says about 44 per cent of residents in the greater LedburyHeron Gate-Ridgemont community are immigrants.
“Everybody from all parts of the world live there,” said Clinton Cowan, president of the Alta Vista Community Association.
Cowan was “shocked” to learn about Timbercreek’s latest demolition plans. The community association will make sure the company and the local city councillor will live up to their commitments to be helpful to residents, he said.
Cowan is afraid people won’t be able to afford Timbercreek’s new replacement units, whenever they’re built. The community association wants to see housing for residents of all incomes, he said.
The average monthly rent for a townhouse in Heron Gate is roughly $1,400, according to Timbercreek.
James Gerior lives with a roommate in a unit on Sandalwood Drive. A labourer for a moving company, he recently went on disability leave after “breaking too many bones to work,” he said, pointing to the large cast around his leg. He said he’s lived in various homes in Heron Gate since 1989, before settling in his current residence nearly five years ago.
“I’m staying here until the end. I’m not going anywhere until they physically kick me out,” Gerior said.
Kelli Tonner, executive director of the South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre, said staff were at the tenants meeting on Monday to support residents. The health centre, which has multicultural services, can help people navigate the paperwork that comes with moving, which could include registering children at new schools.
“We are really there as a practical support to residents, as well as emotional support,” Tonner said.
Ben Ford, 32, lives in one of the units with his wife and five children. The kids are between 11 months and nine years old.
A freelance artist who homeschools his children, Ford came to Ottawa about 12 years ago to study animation at Algonquin College. He’s planning to leave Ottawa with his family by the end of the month.
“I have been here so long it’s hard to know what I miss,” Ford said. “I’m sure I’ll know when I’ll get there. I can’t really answer that. I haven’t travelled outside of Ottawa in a long, long time. I’m sure the world is a new and scary place.”