Extreme neglect: Vacant, derelict buildings across Montreal

Extreme Neglect is a CBC Montreal Investigates series about rundown buildings in the City of Montreal that are no longer in use.

Some of Montreal's oldest boroughsthe Sud-Ouest, Ville-Marie and the PlateauMont-Royal have the largest number of vacant, derelict buildings.

They include homes, businesses and industrial properties. Some aresurrounded by fences because they are not structurally sound. Others have been abandoned for years.

Here are the stories we explored in our one-week series.

An abandoned building on St-Dominique Street

Neighbours have been angry with the city's inaction over an abandoned, crumbling building located at3476St-DominiqueStreet.

Empty for at least a decade and a frequent hangout for squatters, Montreal was forced to put barricades around this building due to concerns about falling debris.

• Extreme neglect: On St-Dominique St., neighbours angered by Montreal's inaction
• Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council to force demolition of St-Dominique St. building

The borough had actually given the the building's owner permission to demolish the building back in 2014, calling it an "imminent safety risk" but it never happened.

AfterCBC'sreporton the state of abuilding published earlier this week, the PlateauMont-Royal borough council is nowtaking legal stepsto force the owner to demolish it.

Greystonesonde l'Esplanade Avenue

A pair of once stately buildings on de l'Esplanade Avenue near Mont-RoyalAvenue have been falling apart for decades and have brought down the property values alongthe entire block.

• Extreme neglect: Montreal powerless to act as heritage greystones on de l'Esplanade crumble

The city's efforts to force the owner to maintain the building including fines, inspections, evacuation noticesand legal action have gone nowhere.

The properties, which are heritage greystonesbuilt in the early 1900s, are nowboarded up. Construction work had started, but hasbeen stalled indefinitely afterthe owner and the city drew up two different engineering options to rebuild.

The aftermath of a fire on Roy Street

A five-alarm fire tore through a building housing both apartments and a dpanneurat the corner of Roy Street and Laval Avenueforced and families from their homes in 2015.

• Extreme neglect: Aftermath of Roy St. fire leaves neighbours coping with squatters, mould, vermin

If firefighters don't call for theimmediate demolition of a building they deem unsafe, then tearing it down can take months.The building now sits empty and dilapidated after the former owner quickly sold it following the fire.

Delaysreplacing the ruined structurehave left neighbourscoping with squatters, mould and vermin.

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