This building is still locked shut, a year after Montreal paid $6.5M to turn it into social housing 

In September 2020, the city of Montreal took the unusual step of forking over $6.5 million to buy back a sought-after property from developers in the city's Parc-Extension neighbourhood to turn into social housing.

But more than a year later, community groups working to develop the building — known as the Johnny Brown building or Plaza Hutchison — say they haven't seen any forward movement. 

The building's door has been locked shut and its inside hollowed out, in preparation for renovations that haven't started. 

Community groups in the area known as Park Ex say the city's current system is inadequate to provide housing for all those that need it. 

"In Parc-Extension alone we have around 700 people on the waiting list for social housing. So even with the plaza and the Acadie site, it's not enough," said Celia Dehouche, spokesperson from Comité d'Action de Parc-Extension. 

Across from Montreal's Parc Metro station, Plaza Hutchison used to be a bustling community centre with family-owned shops, prayer spaces, an immigrant aid centre and even a local radio station. 

In 2017, the building was bought out by real estate developer BSR Group to build luxury apartments. After all tenants were evicted, residents pushed back, saying the condos would price them out of their neighbourhood.

The city's move aimed to avoid that. But without funding from AccèsLogis, the province's social housing program, the project is at a standstill. 

Plaza Hutchison isn't the only building waiting to be revived. A report by the social housing commission says 1,800 units have been under construction for more than four years. 

In Montreal, there are about 24,000 people waiting for social housing, and the average development time for housing projects is four and a half years.

In August, the federal government announced it would invest nearly $338 million (at least $46 million of which must go to Montreal) to support the development of 1,300 new affordable housing units in Quebec over the next year. 

The Coalition Avenir Québec government has also put money into AccèsLogis to finish units promised by the previous Liberal government, but hasn't put any money into developing new projects like Plaza Hutchison.

In a statement, Bénédicte Trottier-Lavoie, a spokesperson for the province's housing minister, Andrée Laforest, said out of the 15,000 units promised by the Liberals, 7,000 have been built and as many are still being developed. 

Last Friday, Laforest announced $250 million toward renovating and creating social housing units through AccèsLogis and Logements Abordables Québec. In Montreal, 307 projects are eligible for funding through the program — falling short of the thousands of units left to build.