After their landlord Tamer Abaza, CEO of Smart Living properties (SLP), has refused to meet for over a year despite multiple requests, on Sunday, November 10 the Bank Block Tenants (BBT) demanded a meeting at his home in Rockcliffe Park. To date, Abaza has ignored tenants’ exhaustive attempts to discuss with him an alternative to their mass eviction.

BBT was joined by community supporters in Rockcliffe Park, where together they marched to Abaza’s mansion, surrounded by a tall black metal fence. The tenants managed to approach and knock on the front door, but Abaza refused to answer. The tenants left a letter of their demands at his doorstep, which included that Abaza withdraw the N13 eviction notices, meet with the tenants, and cease threats of eviction and intimidation tactics. The tenants and supporters continued their march through the neighbourhood, informing Rockcliffe Park residents of BBT’s fight to save their homes.

Sunday’s attempt to confront Abaza at his home follows an earlier attempt this fall to demand a meeting. In September, BBT marched alongside neighbours and community supporters to the SLP head office in Centretown. The tenants demanded Abaza and COO Rakan Abushaar meet with them, but were met with locked doors, closed blinds, and unanswered phone calls despite people being in the office. SLP executive Jules Lauzon was caught entering the SLP office, and when asked if Abaza and Abushaar would meet with the tenants, responded, “That’s not going to happen.”

There has been unprecedented opposition from the community to SLP’s proposed development in the City of Ottawa’s feedback portal. The project has not yet been approved by the City of Ottawa, and BBT has worked tirelessly in their outreach to connect with neighbours and community members. The tenants’ struggle to defend their homes has struck a chord with renters downtown Ottawa, who are increasingly concerned with the rise of displacement and housing insecurity through “renovictions” and “demovictions” throughout the city. SLP’s development project on Bank St. proposes to replace the current tenants’ homes with small, poorly designed, short-term rentals (mostly studios and 1-bedrooms), which would be approximately three to five times the current rental rates in the building.

“The rent controlled, low-income households currently targeted on this block are extremely limited relative to demand. On the other hand, there is already an abundant supply of units similar to the proposed units. What are we trying to achieve with increased density?” - Eric, tenant living at 227, Bank St.

SLP has tried to distance themself from the criticism they are receiving from BBT supporters, and have since undertaken a rebranding process, changing their name to “Dwell”. SLP has earned a negative reputation amongst renters in Ottawa, who are aware of SLP’s contentious local history of targeting working class housing for evictions, squeezing students for rent, and suspicious fires in their properties. Multiple apartment buildings have been subject to mass eviction under Tamar Abaza’s ownership and control, suggesting these violations are practiced systematically and are part of SLP’s profit-making plan across the city.

“What Tamer Abaza and Smart Living Properties are doing on Bank Street, and what they are doing throughout Ottawa, is destroying affordable housing and replacing it with smaller, unaffordable housing. Actions like this are the reason we are facing a housing crisis today. We stand in support of the Bank Block Tenants because we recognize that tomorrow, any of us could be facing the same thing. We will continue to come out in support of the Bank Block Tenants until Tamer Abaza drops the N13s and agrees to meet with the tenants.” - Ethan, a community supporter and member of the Neighbourhood Organizing Centre

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The Bank Block Tenants live in some of the last affordable rental housing in downtown Ottawa, and some are at risk of homelessness if evicted. There is no plan to offer the current tenants units at similar rents in the new building. They came together as a group in 2022 after their buildings at 227 Bank Street and 178 Nepean St. were bought by a subsidiary company, SLP. They were served eviction notices in October 2023, and are resisting their displacement in the face of ongoing intimidation and scare-tactics employed by SLP. The Bank Block Tenants are supported by the Neighbourhood Organizing Centre, which is a platform for tenants to oppose the exploitative housing system. For more information, please visit bankblocktenants.ca and linktr.ee/ottawanoc.