Parkdale transforming into rental respectability

Building agents everywhere offer ‘ deals’ and spiels Renovation revolution boosts great slice of city

If there’s ever been a rental enigma, it’s Parkdale. The neighbourhood seems forever on the rise, always just turning that corner to respectability. Tucked into the city’s southwest corner, the neighbourhood seems to have all the right assets. It’s a short jaunt from the heart of the city, covered in public transit, and it’s as vibrant a slice of the city as you will find.

And, compared to places like Little Italy, the Annex and Yonge and Eglinton, the rent is a song. So, over the weekend, I went apartment hunting in that mini- metropolis, the corridor of highrises along Jameson Ave. near King St. West.

Things looked promising — as they invariably do on sunsplashed Saturdays — when I spotted a micro- mall, anchored by a No Frills, a pharmacy and Harry’s Charbroiled Burgers. Along Jameson, people sprawled on chairs in front of their buildings, hawking used stereos, furniture and beads.

“ It’s changed quite a bit,” said Joe Brosowski, perched in front of his building, running one of his weekly yard sales. “ It used to be nothing but doctors and lawyers back in the ’ 60s.”

Since then, he admits, the neighbourhood has taken a hit to its reputation — what with the wrong kind of nightlife, an occasional shooting and landlords that could charitably be called indifferent.

“ Sure, you get the odd a** hole like everywhere else,” concluded Brosowski, who has called Parkdale home for 46 years. “ I feel safe.” Around him, children scampered along sidewalks as families of every stripe strolled in great happy herds.

Just down the street, at 96 Jameson, a rental agent named Vira was delighted to show me around Baintree Apartments, where a one- bedroom went for $ 750, plus certain utilities. The place boasts laundry on every floor — with all units using a special card system to save tenants from the maddening frenzy for loose change. Inside the surprisingly clean apartment, Vira promised to scrub the hardwood floors, install a new mirror in the bathroom and bring in new appliances. But the real draw was the massive balcony that skirted the unit.

“ And you can see the lake if you bend a little bit,” she reminded.

I had to leave Vira because another rental agent was calling, reminding me just how competitive this little rental hive can be.

“ Where are you?” asked Kevin Sousa, a rental agent at 120 Jameson Ave. “ At 92? 96? You’re going to want to come over here. Our building is the best on the block. Come on down.” And so I shuffled up the street to meet a buoyant Sousa. The renewal effort going into 120 Jameson seemed obvious: shiny new elevators, clean halls, new laundry equipment, fresh paint.

“ This place is gonna be a palace when we’re done, dude,” Sousa declared. Some of the units were in the early stages of a thorough renovation, with floors, drawers and walls being entirely redone; others were almost there — clean, sunny and welcoming; still others remained in shambles.

“ When you’re looking at these nasty apartments,” Sousa said, surveying one dilapidated unit, “ It’ll give you an idea of who we kicked out of this building.” But the most promising sign of change was the apartment key itself. Too often I’ve seen places where keys are copied with gleeful abandon, letting all sorts of people into the building, sharing apartments and camping in stairwells. Not so with Sousa’s super- key. It’s loaded with technology, namely a microchip that thwarts any effort to copy it. On the down side, all that technology spells a one- time payment of $ 50. Still, once you factor in rent ranging from $800 to $870 ( without electricity) for a spacious one- bedroom, it’s hardly a deal- breaker.

Sousa wasn’t the only eager agent selling Jameson’s shiny future. There were signs in front of nearly every building touting open houses, hardwood floors and extra fine rates — whatever it takes to get those units filled.

There’s always been an eager sales drive on Jameson Ave. For years, the Parkdale scene has been a short vicious cycle: Woo tenants. Lose tenants. Woo more tenants. And if this neighbourhood is ever truly going to emerge as a rental destination, it won’t start with a martini bar beside the No Frills. It will start with these very rental behemoths lining streets like Jameson, Tyndall, Dowling and Spencer. And the landlords that own them. We’re talking money – for renovations, not fluffing; clean, safe halls, better neighbours, even those fancy keys.

So, a conditional hurray for Kevin Sousa. I’ll pay another visit in a few months, hoping it’s more than mere rental rhetoric.

After all, Parkdale is a perennial up- and- comer for a reason. Several buildings on the strip are yearly favourites for the Golden Cockroach Award — a dubious distinction awarded by the Parkdale Tenants Association to landlords who run their buildings into the ground.

Every year, tenants are up in arms, protesting living conditions, landlord apathy and even their neighbours. But here’s hoping the neighbourhood’s return to respectability won’t take a revolution so much as a renovation. Rental Confidential appears every two weeks. Got a story? Contact Christian Cotroneo at ccotron@thestar.ca