Recovery clients out of condo after court decision

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This article was published 28/03/2025 (212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A private addiction treatment centre housed in a Linden Woods condominium development has moved its clients out and put the units up for sale.

The for-sale signs mark a victory for condo owners, who successfully argued to a Court of King’s Bench judge last year that the Aurora Recovery Centre violated an agreement that no businesses could operate in the units intended for residential use.

Canadian Corporate Real Estate Services is advertising 25 condo units for sale with “immediate and summer possession available” at the 873 Waverley St. development. An open house was held last weekend.

A spokesman for the residents who took the business to court declined to comment on the selling of the units.

Michael Bruneau, the Gimli-based president and CEO of Aurora, said all of the clients and families who were receiving treatment in the building have been moved to other Aurora facilities.

“They’re all gone,” Bruneau said this week.

“A lot of them moved out and came back to Gimli. We have a place in Brandon (and) we have a location in Estevan (Saskatchewan), now.”

Bruneau said he is busy renovating the suites while he has them listed.

“We are going to make them more marketable,” he said. “We’re putting a fresh coat of paint, countertops… they’re quite nice with the new floors and paint.

“We sold two right away.”

Bruneau admitted he never thought he would be putting the units up for sale 10 months after clients moved in.

“Lesson learned,” he said. “I’ll be losing a bit, but it’s not the first of my losses.

“I’m not sure why that happened, but what are you going to do? At the end of the day, I probably could have stayed there. I had a pretty good legal case, but when you know you’re not wanted.

“You can’t have that when you are there for recovery.”

The ad notes the condos are 1,130 square foot, with two bedroom and baths, range in price from $309,000 to $324,900, have updated kitchens and baths, new flooring and paint, and come with balconies and indoor parking.

Most of the condo units are in two three-storey buildings tucked behind a strip mall on Waverley Street.

For years, the Salvation Army owned one of the buildings, using the condo units to house cadets attending its downtown College for Officer Training program.

When the college moved to Toronto, all of the condo units in the building were put up for sale and Bruneau purchased 23 of the 24 available and moved Aurora clients into the units.

Condo owners in the other building said while they appreciated the work Aurora was doing, it was violating bylaws under the province’s Condominium Act by using the suites for business purposes.

At the time, Robert Murdoch, one of the condo owners and vice-president of the condo board, said the judge’s decision to order the treatment centre out was clear, fair and reasonable.

“I live here, this is my home, and you’re running a business,” he said.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca