Montreal seniors' home to be converted into apartment building, upsetting residents

Seniors' home changed to apartments A seniors' home in Montreal is being converted into a regular apartment building, upsetting the residents who live there.

A seniors’ home of more than 200 units in Montreal is being converted to a regular apartment building, leaving the fate of the older but mostly autonomous residents in doubt.

“I freaked out. We only got the letter on the door on Monday. Everyone was standing in the hallway going, ‘What?!’” said Karen Wolff, who has lived at the seniors’ home on Rene-Levesque Boulevard in the Gay Village for four years.

Michael Hubert also received a notice from the new owners of the building, saying the on-site nurse, medical alert system and security will all disappear as of Aug. 1, and residents who stay will get a three per cent increase in their rent.

“That’s what they’re saying they’re offering, which of course is really ridiculous,” said Hubert, an eight-year resident.

A spokesperson for the company that now owns the building declined an interview with CTV News.

Some residents said that the current rental arrangement includes electricity and cable. A spokesperson for the company said it was unsure whether those utilities would be included in the new lease.

“They’re not telling the people here about their hydro and their Videotron, which was included,” said Wolff.

The building’s new ownership said the restaurant, bingo hall and computer room will all close.

Many residents said they’re distraught, because they sold off their possessions to move in.

“We’re in shock!” said two-year resident France Lefebvre. “I sold my house and my car because I didn’t want anymore responsibilities.”

The building changing from a retirement home to a regular apartment building doesn’t sit well with local MNA Manon Masse.

“These people, these elders, need this kind of service,” she said. “What’s going to happen to these people?”

For many, the move into the building was supposed to be their last.

“When I moved here originally, it was because I came here to die, not to move again,” said Hubert.