Businesses say fire at Westcourt Place reduced downtown customers as residents still displaced

A year after more than 200 residents were forced to flee their homes in Westcourt Place due to a fire, some businesses say they have noticed Windsor's downtown streets are less busy. 

Jody Curley and Michael Stojcic, owners of Panache Restaurant And Lounge on Pitt Street East, say they're considering moving to another location downtown or to Tecumseh due to the declining numbers of downtown go-ers. 

"People that lived in [Westcourt] would frequent our place, but now that they are out of the building, they just don't come downtown as often anymore," Curley said, adding that she hopes the building reopens soon and brings more life to the city's core. 

One year ago, hundreds of residents of Westcourt Place in downtown Windsor didn't expect they'd still be out of their homes months after an accidental electrical fire broke out in the building's parking garage. Yet people are still in limbo as they aren't allowed to move back in.

The fire displaced approximately 200 residents across 166 units, as well as 30 commercial tenants. Alexis Hand and her boyfriend were among those who were forced out.

In August, Hand said, they decided not to wait any longer and moved to a new place by Riverside.

"We had intentions of still keeping our lease with Westcourt and then possibly moving back in once we were able to do so, but we love our new place so much," she said. 

Prior to settling into her new apartment, Hand and her boyfriend spent time living with each of their families for months. She only brought a gym bag full of clothes and her work uniform after being displaced from Westcourt.

"We didn't want to bring all of that stuff to our parents' place. So we kind of just operated pretty minimally for seven months. So it's like 90 per cent of our stuff was still at Westcourt up until we moved in June" she said. 

They got their full $1,100 deposit back from Westcourt, which included their first month's rent and the deposits for their key and parking spaces. They used that money toward their new apartment.

Hand said she tried to get her belongings tested for smoke damage, but Westcourt denied her request. So, she got the class action lawyers involved but they didn't respond either, at first. By the time the lawyer stepped in, and pushed Westcourt for access, it was too late for her.  

"I have already hired a moving company. Like, they're not going to be able to come ... within five days of me moving to be able to test my belongings. So at the end of it, we never got to test our belongings," she said.

Restoration taking too long, says councillor

"It just felt very stressful and like we were alone, like we don't have a voice," she said. "It's absolutely ridiculous the way that they're treating residents. Like the whole entire time I felt like I had no rights to my own belongings."

Hand, who is part of the residents' Facebook group, believes about half the tenants have decided to move on and the other half are still waiting for Westcourt to reopen so they can move back in.

"I think as time goes on, the longer it goes, the less communication there is, more and more people just kind of trickle in and give up," she said, adding that the city has given Westcourt many extensions.

Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin said it's reasonable for restoration to have taken this long, but he is concerned that it's been dragging on. 

"The work that needed to be done obviously did need a certain level of time to complete because of how much and how extensive the work is," he said, adding there were delays partly due to COVID-19 and securing contractors who would be willing to work during the pandemic.

He also said the city has been trying to put pressure on Westcourt to restore the building as soon as possible, but because the city only deals with issues related to property standards, not landlord and tenancy laws, their power is limited.

"We've been trying to push them by all means, all legal means and legislative means that we have," he said. "We can put pressure on them to restore the building to issues with building conditions and property standards. We cannot force them to meet tenancy deadline by any stretch."

"That being said, for sure, there is a concern. And that's why when they did come to the property standards committee, we were as heavy handed and strong as we could be to make sure that from a property standards and from a building code perspective that we are pushing them as hard as we could."

Earlier this week, CBC News received a statement from Westcourt Place spokesperson Danny Roth. 

He said that the investigation into the effects of the fire and the work that needs to be done before reconstruction can begin were delayed due to COVID-19 and are ongoing. 

"Our experts anticipate concluding this phase of the project in the near future, and then being able to begin the lengthy and difficult process of restoring this building," part of the statement reads. 

The statement said reconstruction could take between one and two years. 

Bortolin said he realizes the impact this will have on local businesses and suggested shops relocate to other areas in downtown.

Less people in downtown

Nicolas Puim, the owner of The Dugout Sport Lounge on Ouellette Avenue, also noticed fewer people roaming the streets of downtown, but isn't sure if it's due to COVID-19 or people moving away.

"It's frustrating," he said, "There's a lot less people to spread around through the restaurants downtown."

Puim said he's had to cut back on staff as a result of slower business.

Bortolin said there are options for businesses looking for help.

"If anybody is interested, you can reach out to me or the [business improvement association] and we could help find you other space in the downtown core that would be suitable," he said.