Co-op Board claims city hall’s plan to bail-out Tolpuddle apartment building falls short

Leadership at the Tolpuddle Housing Co-op are pushing back against a report by city staff. CTV London’s Daryl Newcombe explains.

Leadership at the Tolpuddle Housing Co-op are pushing back against a report by city staff recommending the apartment building be declared a Project in Difficulty (PID).

Board President Jo Dee Phoenix tells CTV News that the transition plan being recommended to the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee fails to address rising maintenance costs and systemic failures impacting public housing providers citywide.

“We were a little taken back,” Phoenix said about the report. “Their recommendations aren’t very clear [and] they talked about some governance issues that are factually incorrect.”

The report concluded, “There are several operational and governance concerns that increase risk to the long-term sustainability of the housing project, including prolonged vacancies, operational decision making and property management concerns impacting building operations.”

It goes on to warn, “Intervention and corrective action are necessary to prevent further deterioration and to stabilize the organization.”

When a housing provider is at risk of not ensuring that their building is well managed, City Hall has the authority to step-in by declaring it a Project in Difficulty.

An $877,071 transition plan would make essential repairs while other needs are assessed.

It would be funded from a municipal reserve account ($785,439) and the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative ($91,632).

However, Phoenix suggests the report doesn’t address long-term financial stability or other public housing providers facing similar challenges.

“There is no funding for increased operational costs,” she explained. “And the other thing that’s missing is the acknowledgment that this is a systemic problem, not just a problem at Tolpuddle.”

Located at the southeast corner of Adelaide Street and King Street, the co-op’s apartment building and three townhouse blocks contain 109 rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units and 23 market rent units.

The building is facing persistent problems with drug dealing, trespassers, vandalism, and a number of serious fires.

Twenty units inside the building are vacant and awaiting restoration.

In early March, the building was issued orders for non-compliance with the Property Standards By-law and Ontario Fire Code.

However, work to address some of the deficiencies has already been vandalized again.

A recently repaired and repainted stairwell has accumulated more threatening graffiti targeting Phoenix and her board members, and there are several new holes smashed into the drywall.

“This week was particularly bad, it’s about $6,000 of damage,” she admitted.

The security system at the entrances remains broken, requiring around-the-clock security guards who control access to the best of their abilities.

Phoenix argues city staff were kept apprised of the challenges - but took insufficient action for over a year-and-a-half.

“When they say they just now become aware of the problem, that is absolutely not factual,” she said. “We have been asking for the same things for a year and a half. Providers have been underfunded for years. Operational costs have not been looked at, such as real security (with) boots on the ground to protect the people.”

Phoenix will be bringing her concerns to the CAPS Committee meeting on April 13.

If the transition plan is approved by Council on April 28, staff will provide a progress report in Q4 of 2026.

The transition period is anticipated to occur over 12 to 24 months.

The city’s plan includes:

• Re-establish the Project In Difficulty designation to enable additional oversight and support
• Re-introduce external governance support and mentorship for the Board of Directors.
• Explore, procure and implement temporary supportive housing property management.
• Implementation of a deficit reduction plan.
• Identify changes to the subsidy calculations to support sustainable operations.
• Short-term financial support for the municipal compliance and fire orders.
• Detailed capital planning, including an updated building condition assessment report that is aligned and optimizes the CPTED plan.
• Development of a construction phasing and implementation plan, including the hiring of a project manager.
• Development of a unit restoration plan.