BUILDING A COMMUNITY

Some Landlords Make Life Better for Those Below Poverty
Line

All too often tenants in low-rent housing find themselves -- and
their homes -- held hostage by a host of problems. These can range
from the depressing -- filthy common areas, broken plumbing or
fixtures -- to the dangerous -- crack house apartments, drug dealing
and prostitution in the halls or parking garage or unsafe windows and
balconies.

An extreme example was brought to light in March when police raids in
a trio of east-end high rise buildings uncovered nearly 50 apartments
converted to pot farms containing almost 12,000 marijuana plants,
raising fears not just about the criminal presence in the buildings,
but also potential health hazards from fire, chemicals and mould.

The buildings owners, Di Cenzo Management Inc., protested that they
knew nothing of the criminal industry that had taken root in their
buildings.

But city Councillor Chad Collins described the buildings as longtime
trouble spots for tenants and for the city, suggesting the problems
ran deeper than just these pot farms.

Although tenants can theoretically turn to property standard bylaws
and even police to protect them, activists say that few do, either
because they feel powerless or because they are unaware of their
rights. So they just put up with it.

Can local landlords do no better for the 20 per cent of Hamiltonians
living below the poverty line?

The truth is, they can -- and some do. Take Wellington Place, a
283-unit high rise-low rise complex in the Beasley neighbourhood downtown.

Five years ago, the building was a mess -- physically rundown and
falling apart, and police were there almost nightly to deal with
trespassers, crack dealers and hookers who made life hell for
ordinary tenants.

Today the building is clean and secure, home to hundreds of families
and singles and rarely receives visits from the police.

Many of the tenants are on social assistance or are working poor.
After spending millions in renovations and improvements, the rents,
while higher than they were, are still affordable and about average
for the city.

And the building is profitable.

What happened? New owners, the Butera family from Niagara, bought the
building and turned it around, applying a formula that blends hard
work, trusted staff, constant vigilance and determination.

It's a formula they've used to rescue near-slum apartment buildings
in Ottawa, Sudbury, Windsor, Niagara and Hamilton and it's a formula
that pays off.