Tenants of a Dartmouth, N.S., complex are mourning the loss of their community as demolition begins this week for a new housing development.
Ocean Breeze consists of nearly 400 units of apartment buildings and townhouses — and is known for its affordable rents.
For Deborah MacDonald, who has called Ocean Breeze home for 17 years, the sight of excavators and demolition crews is heartbreaking.
“It’s demoralizing to think you can’t stay here and you can’t find another place to live,” said MacDonald, who is also a board member with the Ocean Breeze Residents Association.
The association’s vice-president, Celine Porcheron, has lived in her unit since 2017. While they haven’t been evicted yet, they know it’ll happen soon.
“It’s upsetting, even though it’s not my home — I know eventually this is what’s going to happen to all of our homes here,” Porcheron said.
Both Porcheron and MacDonald pay about $1,100 a month on rent, and they say it’s difficult to find something similar amid the city’s housing crunch.
Breaking news from Canada and around the world
sent to your email, as it happens.
Get breaking National news
“You’re checking rents and everything is over $2,100 or $2,800 or whatever,” MacDonald said.
“Bless my younger sister. She’s come through and she’s offered me a bedroom. The only trouble is with a bedroom, I’ve got to sell or store everything.”
In addition to the concerns around affordable rent, tenants say they’re losing a sense of community and a family-friendly neighbourhood many have grown up in.
“My daughter lives here, 80 metres from me. I got to help her while she went through nursing school and got to live with my grandsons — watch them grow up here,” Porcheron said.
Susan Leblanc, the MLA representing Dartmouth North, says there needs to be an emphasis on building affordable housing.
“They’re townhouses so they’re three- and four-bedroom houses, which are essentially impossible to find now,” Leblanc said.
Basin Heights took over ownership of the land in 2021 after it was up for sale. It’s expected the redevelopment will house 10 times the current population.
In a statement to Global News, Basin Heights said impacted community members were given the option to relocate to other units, but say those opportunities have become increasingly rare as the development progresses.
The company advises tenants to start to plan their relocation sooner, rather than later.
Meanwhile, Porcheron says she plans to stay in her home for as long as possible.
“I’m not going anywhere until I have to,” she said. “Until they come knocking on my door and say, ‘Get out.’”
— with a file from Rebecca Lau