1,500 residents facing ‘demoviction’ in Dartmouth community of Ocean Breeze

DARTMOUTH, N.S. — Residents in the Dartmouth community of Ocean Breeze are facing eviction to make way for a large-scale residential construction project.

The ‘demoviction’ would displace approximately 1,500 residents living in the 400-unit affordable-housing community over the course of several years.

“We had a gathering here at my house and it was very emotional,” resident Céline Dragaon said in an interview. “A lot of people were crying. They don’t know where to go.”

Some residents will be evicted as early as the end of May next year, clearing seven buildings that currently house roughly 45 people.

Basin Heights Community Limited is working to provide residents with a package as they leave the community. While some residents are satisfied with the offerings, others believe it simply isn’t enough in the midst of a housing crisis.

“The day-to-day insecurity and unbalancing it does for everyone here … the level of mental stress is extreme,” Dragaon said. “These are people’s lives that are really going to be changed forever.”

As some residents prepare to leave the community, they face some of the lowest vacancy rates in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, the average vacancy rate in HRM last year was 0.9 per cent.

The community of Ocean Breeze was listed for sale in 2021 by Ontario-based company The Elia Corporation and was purchased by Basin Heights Community Limited Partnership late last year. The partnership, involving Fares Real Estate and Cresco, is set to demolish the residential buildings in Ocean Breeze and replace them with towers.

The towers are projected to hold around 4,000 units across the 57-acre space. Green spaces and walking paths will also be constructed. Construction will happen in phases, the first of which is set to begin as early as spring next year.

There is currently no established timeline for the final product. The partnership says it will take “years to complete.” Phases two and three are planned to begin in June 2024 and 2025 respectively. Other phases are yet to be announced. The first three phases encompass development in roughly one quarter of the existing land.

Whether or not the new units will still be considered affordable housing remains to be seen. Representatives for the Basin Heights Community Partnership say they are “early in our discussions and will continue to work with the residents, various levels of government and community agencies to develop plans for non-market housing options.”

Residents are being offered two options by the new owners: they can either be relocated to a different unit in Ocean Breeze that is not affected by construction and demolition, or they can receive financial compensation from the development partnership.

“We understand the redevelopment work can be inconvenient,” Basin Heights Community Partnership said in a statement.

For now, residents are in talks with municipal government and partnership representatives to ensure that everyone displaced by the development has the information and resources they need.

“This is a conversation that … could set a precedent for things like this that are happening across Canada,” Dragaon said. “Middle, lower income people don’t have choices.”