Re: 35 Niagara, St. Catharines.
Alex And Kaely Pal, owners of Pal Property Solutions in Hamilton recently bought 35 Niagara St, St. Catharines. It was a 20 unit rooming house of small affordable apartments for low income people, many with disabilities, substance use issues, and extremely difficult life circumstances. Immediately after closing on the property, Alex and Kaely renovicted everyone in the building, leaving them homeless.
Now Alex and Kaely are in the process of renovating 35 Niagara St from 20 affordable units into 8 high cost units. This will effectively eliminate 20 units of affordable housing from St. Catharines’ already non-existent affordable housing stock. The current wait list for subsidized units in St. Catharines at a similar price to 35 Niagara is approximately 20 years. Most of the people renovicted from this building will never find similarly priced housing and are now likely in tents outdoors, or struggling to find limited shelter beds in a violent and overcrowded shelter system during a pandemic.
While 35 Niagara St was poorly maintained and had many problems, it was far safer and more secure for vulnerable low income people than living on the street or in a shelter. And the concerns from the community about drug use, violence, crime, etc, will get worse now that people are forced into public spaces like parks and sidewalks rather than indoors. This will also increase the risk of overdose deaths as people will be more likely to use alone in secluded areas outdoors.
Greedy unscrupulous Real Estate profiteering like this is at the core of the housing crisis we face. Alex and Kaely’s profits and comfortable yuppie lifestyle are directly related to the masses of people we see every day living in encampments in parks and under bridges. Extreme poverty and homelessness often lead to health issues including premature death, as housing is a primary social determinant of health. Alex and Kaely’s profiting from making people homeless will certainly increase the public cost of healthcare and social services in the community, in addition to the brutal human toll. This is what structural violence looks like.
Feel free to let these greedy gentrifying parasites know what you think of them.
Alex and Kaely Pal
Pal Property Solutions
453 Wentworth St N, Hamilton, ON
289-426-2700
info@palpropertysolutions.com
https://www.facebook.com/PalPropertySolutions/
https://www.facebook.com/AlexPalPRG/
