[LINK] "Hungarian House for sale"

[rfmcdonald]

A central institution of Toronto's Hungarian-Canadian diaspora, the Hungarian House, is on the auction block as the more recent generations of the community assimilate and lose interest. The best that the centre's leaders can hopw for, it seems, is that real estate prices in the gentrifying the Dufferin/St. Clair West Street area where the centre is found might let it start over in a less expensive neighbourhood.

Lehel Ilyés inspects a new For Sale sign attached to the exterior of the Hungarian House on St. Clair Avenue near Dufferin Street. It went up the day before.

The youth leader knows the house has become an albatross around the neck of a Hungarian community that's struggling to promote their culture.

"The community should be thriving," he says. "You've got 60,000 members and you have events with only 20 people. People aren't coming. They don't care."

He hopes they can catch a break thanks to recent gentrification in the area brought on by council's plan to develop city "avenues" and expand rail transit.

As funds from membership dues decrease as the older generations slowly die off and renovation costs reach into the six digits each year, they desperately need the cash from the sale of the valuable land, he says.

[. . .]

The 50,000 sq. ft. building was listed at $5.7 million on January 11. Observers say whatever happens to the property, it will be emblematic of the possibilities emerging from the City's Avenue Study for the area, and the effects of the TTC Transit City plan.

"This is a hot area," says Ward 21 councillor Joe Mihevc. "It means property values are higher and (landlords) are raising rents."

Because the Avenue Study promotes intesification -- up to a point -- in mid-rise zones, he says the Hungarian community stands profit, especially since their own focus is shifting.

"The younger generation live in the suburbs," he says. "For the Hungarian community, it's a chance to renew."