St. James Town tenants affected by flooding won't get rent break

Tenants at a St. James Town apartment building will not be given a rent break even though they were without full access to electricity and hot water for days in the aftermath of a storm that drenched Toronto.

Danny Roth, a spokesperson for property management company Wellesley Parliament Square, said in an interview on Tuesday that there is no plan for compensation of any kind to more than 800 tenants who live at 77 Howard St., near Bloor Street E. and Parliament Street.

"There is no rent abatement that's being offered to tenants right now. There was compensation in the form of assistance provided with meals and refreshments throughout this episode," Roth said.

According to Roth, the highrise building sustained "catastrophic" damage to its electrical system due to flooding that occurred during the July 16 storm. A small fire that followed the flood was extinguished by Toronto Fire Services. Power was out in the building for days and power restoration still isn't fully complete.

Tenants have told CBC Toronto that the laundry room has not been working since the flooding.

Roth's comments come after NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam wrote a letter, dated July 26, to the company asking for rent abatements, reimbursements of expenses incurred caused by flooding and power outages, a freeze on rent increases for 2025, honouring of existing leases, prioritizing of repairs and renovations of damaged units and access to laundry facilities in neighbouring buildings that use similar systems.

Roth said the company urges tenants to use renters' insurance if they have it. He said there was no evacuation order issued for the building.

"By and large, the feedback from tenants was quite positive through this. We were quite grateful and appreciative for the patience and the co-operation that was shown throughout and in the following weeks from our residents," Roth said.

Roth said the company is communicating with tenants often, providing at least one update a day. He said power was lost on July 16, restored to units on the first few floors by July 19 and to all units in the building by July 21.

He said there will be power interruptions or periodic outages this week until the end of the week most likely as the building moves from external generators to the city's main electrical grid.

Wong-Tam, who represents Toronto Centre, said in the letter that more can be done to support the tenants during this period of "immense hardship." She said the tenants did nothing wrong and did not cause the power outage.

"I spent the past week speaking to residents, many of whom report receiving confusing information during such a volatile time," Wong-Tam said in the letter. 

"Every tenant who spoke with me reported that they had to throw away hundreds of dollars worth of food from their refrigerators and freezers. Others shared that without a functioning kitchen, they could not afford to purchase costly prepared meals or dine out as they are on fixed incomes. They had no access to a hot breakfast or lunch before accepting the pizza dinner provided by the property manager in the evening. After two nights of lukewarm pizza, tenants mentioned they couldn't eat it again."

Residents, for their part, said every week since the flooding there have been some days without power and they cannot do laundry.