City
Notorious: 1011 Lansdowne Ave.
This is the west tower of 1011 Lansdowne Ave., at the NE corner of Lansdowne and Dupont. This is the building that has been in the media a lot in the past.
- Toronto's Worst Landlords (NOW Magazine, March 2006)
- Down and Out at Lansdowne and Dupont (Globe and Mail, Jan 2006)
- Woman falls from 7th floor during police raid (CBC, Feb 2005)
The run-down 23-storey building is notorious for its many problems and past media reports have claimed that as more than half of the units within are vacant or occupied by illegal grow-ops, squatting crack dealers, prostitutes, and homeless.
I called Lansdowne Property Management to inquire about vacancy and ask some general questions about the building. I was told that of the 351 total units, just 6 are available (3 bachelor at $550, 1 one bdrm at $750, and 2 two bdrm at $950). Other units were being "cleaned or repaired" but how many was not known. When I asked about the building's reputation as being unsafe, and laden with drug and prostitution problems, I was told that 1011 Lansdowne did not see these problems to any greater extent than anywhere else.
Has the situation here drastically improved in recent months, or are the representatives at the rental office simply trying to get me to come for a tour in hopes that I'll be the next tenant?
(photo: Jerrold Litwinenko)
Discussion
44 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
Friday the thirteenth lived up to its reputation.
I went to the west tower today and was told nothing of the horrible reputation. I was shown 3 bachelors I found the nicest was on the 22 floor It was renovated had new fake hardwood the walls were painted the bathroom was clean and looked somewhat new and so I paid a $400 deposit and signed a 1 year term. arrggh! I feel that I have somewhat been conned / duped into living in the most unsafe neighborhood and apartment building in Toronto. I now wonder when I am going to be robbed or beaten. I think there is no way for me to get out of this lease. What can I do. They told me that they have security I never saw one camera on any of the floors. They did tell me one thing that they have a lot of drug dealers. This did not really bother me as I grew up in Scarborough and am used to that. One thing they did not tell me is that the upper floors are used by prostitutes . The room I singed a one year lease on is on the top floor. I have been informed by my employers that I should keep anything of value at a friends or in a safe deposit box and to never dress nice and act like I have absolutely no money. I feel that I should get surveillance system for when I am not home but feel this would be of no use anyways. I will be having nothing at the apartment accept an air mattress some food and cleaning supplies. I am going to go as far as to even keep my bank card in my safe deposit box and only withdraw cash from the teller. All I wanted was a safe place with my own bathroom. Now I fear I may loose my life or become homeless because of robberies. what can I do?
Thats my rant folks ENJOY
That being said, the real issue I have is with the management, the issue is that I had a very special pet die on the property due to a failure to provide screens in the windows in the building by the management. Once that I informed them that I work at a law firm, and that I know that I had grounds to sue them, they offered an out of court deal, where I got 3 months rent free before moving out. The deal went down as expected (I thought), until I found out that they tried to take me to Court and get a judgment in their name. The funny part was how they forged the documents to say that they served me properly (which they did not), and therefor the Judge assumed I was not attending due to ignorance. I think the only ignorant people are the scumbags that run that building, and they are pathetic assholes for tricking people into thinking that the building is a proper living establishment.
I think that the city should be held accountable for what has happened in that building, as well as protect the people from pieces of shit like this management company and others.
I dont care what you think, drug addicts and their activities should never be condemned or used as a reason to inconvenience the rest of society. Segregating these people to certain areas is not the answer. These people should be thrown in jail if they done live there, or have no valid reason for being in the building. The management can enforce this, but they donw want there # 1 tenants, the crack dealers, to move out or complain that their "customers" are being sent away or denied access.
To finish, that building is a complete waste of space, as are the management people who work there.
p.s. I will be taking legal action against them for the illegal judgment.. and too the manager, I'll see your wrinkly old ass in Court!!!!!!!!
Also, get rid of that frikking Coffee Time!
The corner of Dupont and Lansdowne consists of recently build townhouses, six apartment buildings, with another currently being built, a couple of stores, a coffee shop, a men's shelter and a dentist office. The corner in itself is a microcosim of the city of Toronto and the country of Canada as a whole. With a large portion of families, with 50% or more, having children (the largest percentage in Toronto), a large immigrant population where English is being learned as a second language, the working poor, middle class labourers, the unemployable and increasingly well off individuals. With the erecting of a new building on the northwest corner, and the addition of a shopping plaza in the next few years, will continue to create a more diverse and multicultural comunity. All that is lacking is leadership in the neighbourhood. Not politicians who provide lip service at the time of elections, and the dismissal of the neighbourhood in non election years.
The economic investments within the neighbourhood that are currently being embarked upon provides an opportunity for all residents of the Dupont/Lansdown area to come together and work towards the betterment of all living situations in the neighbourhood. And if asked, the residents of 1011 Lansdowne would be more than willing to address the issues that effect them every day. Until this happens, the outside view of the building will always be in stark contrast to the reality of the lives that the individuals at 1011 Lansdowne face. Carrying a sense of shame and worthlessness that has been bestowed upon them for choosing to live in the greatest city in the world. Although ther are few who would have you believe that the residents are not worth the time or effort and are a hopeless cause. To believe this is to believe that a resident of 1011 Lansdowne is not worthy of being treated like a human being. Instead of offering a segratory and dismissive attitude towards the building, perhaps an attitude of compassion and a willingness to correct these misaligned attitudes would create a community worthy of being calling the greatest in the world.
There are so many court cases right now with contractors trying to get the money they are owed. Even security. At present, there are six different security companies that have taken 1011 Lansdowne to court and are trying to get paid. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time and money for lawyers. A lot of contractors have just given up trying, which is not right! They now call themselves LPM Management, but don't be fooled. It's still the same terrible management!
Sad to learn nothing has improved.
Security guards, ESPECIALLY THE nosy poke Portuguese security guard who peeks inside peoples apartments and comments in the lobby as to what she sees in peoples private dwellings. The nosy poke not so cleaning staff pose with the broom for show and tell. THE NOT SO SUPERINTENDENT Cant even fix a fan or screw in a light bulb with out blaming the so called low pay for his inadequacy and lazy ass poor attitude. Fire them ALL .including the Owner and racist security guard from India or Packystan.
The building received its $5m government funding just before I moved in and so my apartment was freshly renovated. Not to incredible standards—just one coat of paint??—but not the worst either. After I moved in, the lobby also received a modern renovation including a new glass entrance and a new security counter, which is a nice touch.
There are still a few problems here and there: The biggest problem we've encountered so far were the cockroaches. They didn't appear until a month after moving in but boy do they take over quickly! After trying a lot of things I bought P.F. Harris Cockroach Tablets from eBay for about $8 and they worked beautifully! The cockroaches started disappearing almost immediately. It's important to combine them with strong cleanliness — don't leave dirty dishes, don't leave out food, always wipe down counters — and they will go elsewhere. We've never seen any bedbugs while being in our apartment but that could be due to the rooms being cleanly renovated. The building doesn't get window cleaners to come wash the windows, even though I'm sure it wouldn't be that expensive to do it once per year. There's the occasional bad smell, but generally it comes from the lower floors, so I'd recommend living as high as possible if you can. I wouldn't recommend leaving the building at night as there are still some unsavory characters around the Coffee Time next door, sometimes prostitutes do still get let into the building by tenants but I've only seen this happen once at 3am — otherwise you wouldn't notice it.
Saying that, I've never felt unsafe living here with the 24-hr security in the lobby, which is usually staffed by a big black chap, Sheldon! He's incredibly nice, bubbly and everybody seems to like him. Even with the security in the lobby, there are also electronic key tags needed to get into the building.
I had to move away from a great apartment at Bloor Yonge prior to moving here, and I consider myself to have pretty-high standards, but this place is actually quite good for the money I'm paying ($550 to share a 2 BDR with my friend) and while I wouldn't like to live here forever, it's constantly improving and nowhere near as bad as the previous stories written above. It's a decent place for those on a budget who want to live downtown.