Sixteen long-vacant homes in Windsor’s west end are expected to come down over the summer after the city issued emergency demolition and safety orders.
The properties, owned by the Canadian Transit Company, are located on Bloomfield Road, Edison Street, Felix Avenue, Indian Road and Mill Street.
Speaking on AM800’s The Kyle Horner Show, Ward 2 Councillor Frazier Fathers, said many of the homes were purchased decades ago as part of plans tied to Ambassador Bridge expansion, but have sat empty for years and have deteriorated to the point where they pose a safety risk.
“You can’t actually see it from the road, but, you put a drone up in the air you can actually see the roof that sort of collapsed on top of the house,” Fathers said.
“So these are the signs that the building officials are looking for that the building has gotten to a point where it’s completely structurally unsound and there’s broader risk.”
While the city prevented demolition without a redevelopment plan, Fathers said the company could have restored, sold or redeveloped the homes.
“At any point in time, the CTC could have come to us, could have come to the city with a plan, hey, we want to tear down these two homes and build an apartment building or build new family homes. They could have done those things and those homes, demolition orders could have been processed, they chose not to,” he said.
“So those homes have been sitting there, in some cases, for 25 plus years uninhabited.”
The demolition orders carry end-of-July deadlines, though some flexibility may be needed because the properties are spread across several streets.
Fathers expects the work to continue through the summer.
He said the next challenge is bringing new life to the area.
“I would like to see these properties reactivated,” he said.
“The CTC at any point in time can put them for sale or put in a planning permit to put something on those properties. And the city will consider that planning permit. And if they sell it to, say, a private developer who wants to build housing, that would be amazing.”
According to Fathers, the properties with demolition orders are as follows:
- 3543 Bloomfield Road
- 3621 Bloomfield Road
- 3627 Bloomfield Road
- 3249 Edison Street
- 3261 Edison Street
- 3267/3269 Edison Street
- 3275-3277 Edison Street
- 738 Felix Avenue
- 774 Felix Avenue
- 882-888 Felix Avenue
- 895 Felix Avenue
- 894-896 Felix Avenue
- 319 Indian Road
- 457 Indian Road
- 744 Mill Street
- 750 Mill Street
-With files from CTV Windsor’s Robert Lothian