ICE Condominiums, home to many Toronto residents and scandals, is back in the news once again.
Former resident Kylene Loucks posted part one of her living in ICE Condo's TikTok series on July 18, alleging issues such as habitual weekend fire alarms, broken down trash shutes, stray bullets fired in units and the lobby, and out of order elevators. All while paying $2,600 a month in rent.
She posted part two of the series, which depicted visits from the police explosive disposal unit, police dogs, emergency task force and mentioned shootings, crime scenes, and even showed what appeared to be a bullet hole in a panel of glass one month later on August 26.
ICE Condominiums responded to the viral TikTok video in a statement on September 2, saying, "With respect to a TikTok video and comments circulating, ICE Condominiums disagrees with many of the comments made. We hope any viewers will find that the information provided below demonstrates the inaccurate and outdated nature of these comments."
The statement went on to address concerns mentioned in the TikTok's and clarified that "Currently, all 16 elevators are running," and "Although an elevator outage may sometimes last a few weeks if a part is on-order or if a detailed safety inspection is required, there have only been eight incidents in the past six months when an elevator was down for longer than two days."
27-year-old Loucks told Narcity in a statement that she moved into her unit at 12 York Street in July 2020.
She said no one warned her about the condo's reputation and that although she and her roommate viewed three to four other buildings, her realtor "really sold the Ice Condos," and she ended up signing a lease she would come to regret.
The next year of living there, Louks says she and her roommate were often harassed by Airbnb guests, which she says there were more of than actual residents in the building, and dealt with poor living conditions in terms of COVID-19 safety, cleanliness, crime, and functionality of elevators, amenities and garbage shutes.
Despite safety concerns and a hefty monthly rent, Loucks claims that she couldn't get out of her lease.
"So then it became a countdown until we could escape. We stayed inside the apartment as much as we could, and on the advice of the security guards, avoided groups of 4-5 people in hallways and lobbies."
Louks says their lease ended on June 31. However, she estimates she and her roommate moved out about two months prior and respectively lived with their partners or families while still paying rent.
"I waited to share the video until I was moved out of the unit and safely away from there. I decided to share it because I'm hopeful that people in the GTA will see it and not make the same mistake we did by not researching the building before signing a lease. Or possibly, that potential Airbnb guests see the video and decide not to book there."
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