There had been signs of a looming landlord shuffle in Mike Yearly’s Craig Henry Drive neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
The large signs the Minto Group, his former landlord, had propped up around the area had the “Minto” erased from “Minto South Centrepointe rental properties.”<\/p>\n
“I should have noticed,” said Yearly, who has been living in his Craig Henry Drive townhouse for just over three years. “There might have been some signs that something was going on.”<\/p>\n
It was after the fact that Yearly, along with residents in 369 townhomes and two apartment buildings in the area, heard the news of a large acquisition that got them a new landlord: Ottawa Community Housing (OCH).<\/p>\n
Historic transaction for OCH<\/p>\n
Yearly’s townhouse is among the 503 units included in “the largest acquisition” in OCH history. The transaction between OCH and Minto went live on OCH’s website Sept. 17.<\/p>\n
OCH announced the deal brought 73 townhouse blocks into OCH’s portfolio.<\/p>\n
“I had no idea this was going to happen,” Yearly said, echoing the same sentiments expressed by many residents along Craig Henry Drive who live in townhomes and say the transaction was abrupt, calling for more transparency.<\/p>\n
The acquisition is meant to protect long-term affordability for family-sized rental housing<\/a>, and is in line with Ottawa’s efforts to preserve affordable family homes, OCH stated. The townhomes will be part of the OCH’s ARRIV Properties portfolio.<\/p>\n Councillor wasn’t at liberty to discuss deal<\/p>\n “ARRIV is OCH’s affordable rental housing program and is different from traditional rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing,” Knoxdale-Merivale ward Coun. Sean Devine (who is seeking re-election) wrote in his announcement about the transaction.<\/p>\n Devine said his office was aware of the proposed acquisition “for a while” and had been in contact with OCH and Minto throughout the transfer. “However, because the transaction was still being finalized until (Sept.16), I was not at liberty to discuss it publicly before today’s announcement,” he wrote.<\/p>\n In his post, Devine acknowledged that while change can “understandably create uncertainty,” he said the acquisition is also an important milestone for Ottawa’s efforts to expand affordable housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Of the 503 homes, 491 have two or more bedrooms, and the (transaction) is intended for low- and moderate-income households and “helps bridge the gap between social housing and Ottawa’s increasingly expensive private rental market,” he continued.<\/p>\n Knoxdale-Merivale ward councillor candidate Cole Fraser Jones spoke out on social media about residents deserving to be informed in advance of large acquisitions such as this one.<\/p>\n “You’ve got a $150 million purchase of 500 homes and nobody knew what was going on,” Fraser Jones said in an interview, adding that his campaign inbox is “exploding” with concerns from affected Ward 9 residents.<\/p>\n “It was a surprise announcement.<\/p>\n