Affordable housing units in Lachine to be renovated
The northeast sector of Lachine is poised to undergo a major transformation that will improve the quality of life for people in need of affordable housing.
A $9.3-million interest-free loan will finance the renovation of 156 affordable-housing units in the Duff Court development.
Rents will not be affected by the overhaul of the three aging buildings tucked behind École secondaire Dalbé-Viau.
Magda Popeanu, the city executive committee member responsible for housing, made the announcement last week, accompanied by Lachine Mayor Maja Vodanovic, non-profit Bâtir son quartier director general Édith Cyr and head of the provincial order of the Soeurs de Ste-Anne, Sister Céline Dupuis.
The project will be managed by Bâtir son quartier and financed by the Fonds d’investissement de Montréal (FIM).
There are 2,800 units in the Duff Court development.
Currently, half of the units are owned by the Office Municipal d’Habitation de Montreal (OMHM) and the rest are privately owned. The loan will allow for both the purchase and renovation of three privately owned buildings. After the renovations are complete, two-thirds of the Duff Court development will be managed by the OMHM and the non-profit. It is a sector in need of support. The average income for the area is $21,000 and 62 per cent of the inhabitants of the Duff Court development are single parents.
Vodanovic said she had been fielding complaints about the living conditions in the private Duff Court buildings for years.
“What I heard was very disturbing,” she said. “If you want people to thrive, they can’t be living in difficult situations.”
Some renovations will be done while the tenants are still living in their units but when necessary, tenants will be moved temporarily to empty units on the property while the work is being done.
In 2006, eight Duff Court apartment buildings managed by the OMHM were renovated after a serious black mould problem was discovered. The complete overhaul cost $30 million.
Another big residential project in the northeast sector just got the green light from the city.
The Soeurs de Ste-Anne convent property will be transformed into housing for families, seniors and people with reduced independence. Condos, rentals and affordable-housing units will be included in the mix. The city’s consultation body — known by the acronym OCPM — said in its report on the proposed transformation that Duff Court should benefit from the project.
Duff Court residents will have access to what will become a neighbourhood park on the sprawling property. Vodanovic said that, eventually, the plan to further connect Duff Court with the rest of the neighbourhood will expand to include a bike path and pleasant pedestrian walkway that will stretch from the development to the north, to the shores of Lac St-Louis to the south.
Vodanovic said she has forged a close relationship with the Ste-Anne nuns and was moved when Dupuis told her that the nuns are getting older and are grateful that the borough has partnered with them to fulfil their mission — to tend to the needs of the economically-fragile sector.
Both the Duff Court development and École secondaire Dalbé-Viau are built on land that belonged to the Soeurs de Ste-Anne and now the mother house and surrounding property will become a hub for families and those in need of assistance.