The owner of a downtown London highrise is planning to fix 136 illegal windowless bedrooms by adding windows along interior walls and frosted glass doors in an attempt to let in more natural light and bring the building up to code.

Centurion Properties was served with a city order last fall to fix the problem after it was discovered the landlord had been renting out 136 windowless bedrooms for hundreds of dollars a month since it bought the building eight years ago.

Under the Ontario Building Code and the city's property standards bylaw, bedrooms must have windows to be considered fit for human habitation.

City officials said the proposal has been received, reviewed and returned to Centurion Properties with comments, but the plans have yet to be given final approval.

CBC News has obtained a copy of the proposed plan, including the architectural drawings and emails exchanged between city officials, residents of 75 Ann Street and staff at Centurion Properties, which can now be publicly reported for the first time.

'Almost impossible' to come up with a fix

This bedroom appears to have been converted from a den or storage area in the apartment. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

The emails reveal that after CBC News first reported the story last fall, city bylaw enforcement received a dozen written complaints illustrating the simmering displeasure from residents over the living conditions at 75 Ann Street.

"A very uncomfortable living situation," one tenant wrote. Another called it "unacceptable," while someone else described feeling "very stressed and upset" about a situation they called "extremely frustrating."

Emails also reveal information exchanged between city officials and company agents from Centurion Properties, who met in the fall to discuss potential solutions to remedy the 136 illegal bedrooms inside the building

"The only solution would be to not use it as a bedroom," Ryan Mueller, a city building inspector wrote in a November 7 2019 email. "The room is required to have ventilation/natural lighting and that is almost impossible if they are not located on an exterior wall."

Privacy achieved 'by using a blind or drape'

(Colin Butler/CBC News)

The estimated $300,000 renovation project proposes more natural light could be allowed into the windowless bedrooms by adding windows at or above eye level, to common areas and to bedrooms along interior walls. The plan also proposes replacing opaque doors with frosted glass doors in order to allow more light into the rooms.

"As these are interior windows, care must be taken to judiciously balance the requirement for natural light with privacy considerations – both accoustical and visual," Lance Kaprielian, the Toronto-based architect hired by Centurion Properties to draw up the plan to fix the building, wrote.

Kaprielian suggests visual privacy can be achieved "by the bedroom occupant using a blind or drape." He notes that a blind "may not be necessary" in the case of the windows above eye level, particularly with the clerestory windows, a type of window at the top of a structure's wall.

"Privacy in the master bedroom is provided by a frosted glass in the door and a film on the window," he wrote. Adding the rooms would also be sound-proofed for privacy using a double glaze on the glass.

Kaprielian said the city has already returned his proposal and he is currently reworking the plan with ideas that could include using high light reflective paint and other modifications.

"We're trying to find the right solution," he said Monday. "The clerestory thing is not going to happen now."

Proposal 'too little, too late'

Jeremy Roberts on what's wrong with the proposed design 1:21

Jeremy Roberts, who filed a Freedom of Information request with city hall on behalf of the 75 Ann Street Residents Association in order to obtain the landlord's proposal, calls it "too little too late."

"I thought Centurion is scrambling to resolve a problem that they should have caught in their due diligence when they bought the building eight years ago. They're saying 'no, we don't want to stop renting these rooms out.'"

Roberts said given the fact the $300,000 proposed renovation breaks down to a $2,200 cost per bedroom illustrates Centurion Properties isn't taking the problem seriously.

"They're going to do as little as they can to do the barest possible minimal compliance with code. I don't think in some cases it would comply, and I've made that argument to the city," he said.

Roberts has written a letter on behalf of the residents' association expressing his opposition to the proposed renovation, arguing city hall should consider the fact that for years Centurion collected millions of dollars worth of rent from people who likely didn't know they rent bedrooms that were considered unfit for human habitation.

"It's not too much to ask to have a window where you can actually see outside," Roberts said.

Centurion will also appear before the Ontario Landlord and Tenants Board later this month in connection to a spate of complaints from residents of 75 Ann Street over the windowless rooms along with a number of other grievances.

City officials wouldn't comment on the case. A final decision on the proposed renovation plan still hasn't been reached and city staff offered no timeline for when that could happen.

A request for comment from CBC News was not returned by Centurion Properties.