City steps in to prevent illegal demolition

Tenants of an apartment building in Montreal's Saint-Henri neighbourhood continue to pack their belongings, after learning from their landlord he is planning to demolish their building in what would be an illegal move.

Rick Trembles said a fire ravaged the building next to his a few weeks ago, but his Sainte-milie Streetapartment building seemed okay.

But he and other tenants said they got word just last weekthat they had to vacate their homes immediately, and they're worried that the building'sdemolition could happen at any time.

The southwest borough said landlord Jacques Cardinal does not have a permit to demolish the buildingstill occupied by tenants,andCardinal hasdenied he is planning to demolish it.

Landlordtalking todeveloper

But the CBC has confirmed the landlord is in talks with a condominium developer who is interested in buying either the burnt-out property or the adjacent one where Trembles and his neighbours live.

Trembles said when he learnedin a phone call from Cardinal thathe had to move out, he questioned his landlord's plans and recorded that call.

"When you demolish the other building, are you going to demolish this one, too?" Trembles asked.

"Most probably," Cardinal replied. "We got an opinion from an engineer, and he says it's dangerous."

When questioned about the content of that phone call by CBC, Cardinal denied mentioning demolition, but he said renovations may be necessary in the wake of the fire next door.

He explained that the engineer he consulted was someonewho had simply appeared at the premises following the fire, adding itwas not an engineer he had hired. He could not say whothe manwas or where he worked.

"He was just around, there were 10 or 20 inspectors that came around," said Cardinal. He said that theengineer told him vibrations from the demolition of the fire-damaged building would make the adjacent occupied building's foundation unsafe.

City inspector questions landlord's reasoning

The citycategorically deniedthatthe engineer was one of its employees and criticized Cardinal's explanation.

"There's other buildings around that might be affected with demolition, and we don't ask people [in them] to leave," said Stphane Bernaquez, the borough inspector. "I never heard about this report from this engineer."

The landlord could face fines of at least $10,000 if he proceeds with the demolition without a permit.

Another tenant, Denise Brennan, said she has also been told she had to leave.

Brennan said she suspects the owners are looking to contribute to the neighbourhood's gentrification.

"It is becoming not low income...and kind of tragically, I presume what will happen to this building is it will be torn down and condos will be put in," said Brennan.