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plan to set up homeless shelter in ahuntsic is sunk, real-estate agent says
the owner of a building the city of montreal planned to buy is now refusing to sell it to the city, but mayor valérie plante's office says negotiations are continuing.
jul 25 2024
6 minute read
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the city of montreal’s plan to move an emergency homeless shelter that’s about to lose its space in verdun into a building in ahuntsic is sunk, according to a real-estate agent acting for the building’s owner. however, mayor valérie plante’s office insisted thursday that negotiations with the owner are continuing.
“the seller doesn’t want to sell to the city anymore,” denis perreault, the real-estate broker mandated to sell the building on bois-de-boulogne ave., told the gazette thursday. the property, known as the centre bois-de-boulogne, is owned by the fondation gracia, which operated a palliative-care facility in the building until recently.
city council approved the purchase of the bois-de-boulogne building from the foundation in june. in the interim, the city planned to sign a four-month lease with the foundation starting aug. 1 while the city carried out its due diligence to purchase the building. the city wanted to sublet the building to the société de développement social (sds), which manages a 24/7 homeless shelter that must vacate its temporary space on gordon st. in verdun on july 31.
however, sources have told the gazette that the fondation gracia was not aware of the city’s planned use of the centre and has taken note of the neighbourhood’s opposition since the plans for a 50-bed emergency homeless shelter in the building became known in june. among other things, neighbours say they worry about intoxicated people and drug use outside the shelter.
a daycare is located about 80 metres from the centre bois-de-boulogne. several schools with 3,500 students are also nearby.
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“nothing is signed with the city,” perreault said, referring to a sales contract and lease.
he added that it’s not his place to speak for his client on its reasons for not wanting to sell or rent to the city. however, perreault said it’s clear that the centre’s neighbours are opposed to the city’s plans.
last week, about 175 residents attended a meeting organized by neighbours where they discussed possible legal action and a petition to force the city to hold a public consultation on the homeless shelter project.
the fondation gracia refused to comment on the situation.
a spokesperson for the mayor, however, said negotiations are continuing with the foundation.
“we are still in discussion with the fondation gracia for bois-de-boulogne,” spokesperson marikym gaudreault wrote in a text message thursday.
city executive committee member robert beaudry, who is responsible for the homelessness file, issued a declaration stating: “the needs are glaring and multiple for the establishment of new permanent resources throughout montreal. this is why our team is increasing its efforts alongside the health network and community organizations to find new places to accommodate the most vulnerable in our society. it is our duty not to give up.
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“we also want this to be done in the right way,” the declaration continued, “taking into account the needs and concerns of the population.”
the confusion, meanwhile, leaves the verdun shelter in limbo. the city purchased the building with the long-term goal of converting it to affordable housing for seniors, and construction is set to begin after next week.
the sds, which runs the verdun shelter, did not return calls. however, according to news reports, the sds temporarily laid off 30 shelter employees on monday.
the opposition at city hall said it blames the plante administration for working piecemeal and not developing a plan for developing more resources for unhoused people.
“it’s always the same pattern, and it’s unfortunate because yet again we have vulnerable people who risk finding themselves on the street again by next week because of the incompetence of this administration,” ensemble montréal interim leader aref salem said, referring to the people served by the shelter that’s closing in verdun.
“the mayor should have brought everyone involved to the table to come up with an action plan for the city. you can’t proceed like it was an à la carte menu, where you chose one neighbourhood at a time. every time they’re choosing a neighbourhood (to open a shelter), they’re creating a problem.”
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salem said he has visited neighbourhoods experiencing problems with cohabitation with resources for unhoused people and finds the recurring complaint from residents is about not being listened to by the city.
“these aren’t people saying ‘not in my backyard,'” he said.
“they want to be involved and they want to find a vocation (for the resource) that makes sense and have a neighbourhood that’s livable.”
the mayor announced earlier this month that the office de consultation publique de montréal (ocpm) will conduct a public consultation on how to ensure cohabitation in neighbourhoods where the city sets up services for unhoused people.
however, salem calls it “smoke and mirrors” since the city has already run roughshod over residents’ concerns in different neighbourhoods. moreover, montreal has yet to implement all of the recommendations issued two years ago by the city’s ombudsman when she investigated milton park citizens’ complaints about integration problems with the open door .
among the recommendations in the report, titled don’t look the other way, ombudsman nadine mailloux urged the city to designate “a decision-maker who is accountable and responsible for consulting at every step of the shelter project, and (to) which every entity will have to submit a formal accounting report.”
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“the mayor, if she wants to hold a consultation, should at least start by applying the recommendations of her own ombudsman,” salem said.
one of the reasons residents fear the arrival of a resource for unhoused people is the experience of neighbours who live around the maison benoît labre in st-henri, he said. the facility, which opened next to an elementary school and children’s park in april, includes transitional housing and a supervised drug inhalation site. the centre had promised resource people would be on site 24/7, but the centre lacks resources and “we’re seeing people in the street and in crisis,” salem said.
ensuring that teams and services are available 24/7 is one of the “winning conditions” necessary for any resource for the unhoused, old brewery mission ceo and president james hughes said.
other winning conditions include a working environment focused on supporting individuals to “get on the journey towards permanent housing” and having dignified spaces and attractive meals for individuals so they feel respected, he said. outside the resource, it’s important to have control over the perimeter, he said, which means “eyes and ears on what’s going on outside the building.”
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it’s also important to have regular communication with organizations and neighbourhood representatives, hughes said, and ensure that neighbours have an emergency number for someone at the resource at any time.
hughes said he understands residents’ concerns in places like ahuntsic about the arrival of a shelter.
“everyone wants to protect kids,” he said. “we don’t want them intersecting with or even witnessing untoward behaviour. i totally get that.”
however, it is possible for a resource to focus in on the clientele it will serve, he said.
“there’s ways to do this that can work, that have been proven to work,” hughes said.
“organizations like ours, we want to be good neighbours. we want these things to work. we care that they work.”
and with at least 5,000 unhoused people in montreal, citizens have to understand that it’s a citywide issue, he said.
“i profoundly believe that every part of our city has to do their share,” hughes said of installing resources for unhoused people across neighbourhoods.
“and in a homelessness crisis, a housing crisis, an opioid crisis, you can’t stop developing projects for people in profound need. you just can’t.”
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