Demolition of Dartmouth housing complex to begin this month

Parts of an expansive Dartmouth, N.S., apartment complex that was once home to more than 1,000 people and loved by tenants for its low rents will soon be torn down to make way for denser housing.

Ocean Breeze Village is made up of more than 40 low-rise buildings and townhouses built in the 1960s on a 23-hectare plot just north of the MacKay Bridge.

A notice delivered to residents last week says the first phase of redevelopment will start this month with the demolition of seven buildings. Upgrades to sidewalks and water, power, gas and phone lines are scheduled to start in July.

People living in another seven buildings have been told to leave by the end of the year. The timeline for the rest of the complex is not clear, but the notice recommends all tenants prepare to leave "sooner rather than later."

When Celine Porcheron read the notice she said she felt one thing: fear.

"We were told that we have to get out now if we can," she said. "And, and to be honest, we can't. Most of us can't."

Many of the buildings are falling into disrepair, and the property owners say they are not worth saving, especially given the municipality's shortage of housing and the land's potential to accommodate taller buildings with several thousand units.

But residents say they love living there because of the low rents and unique character of the community. Some have already been evicted because of the upcoming demolitions, while others are waiting anxiously to find out when they'll have to leave.

Porcheron has lived in an Ocean Breeze apartment since 2017 and pays a little over $1,000 a month, plus electricity, for three bedrooms. 

"You're not finding that anywhere else," she said.

According to the latest data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the average market rent for a three-bedroom unit in Halifax Regional Municipality is more than $1,900.

"I want to stay in Nova Scotia, I really do," said the Quebec native.

"I'm just getting priced out."

Porcheron has known for more than two years that her time at Ocean Breeze is finite. The original owners put the property up for sale in 2021, and when it sold in 2022, the new owners, Basin Heights Community Partnership LP, told residents they were planning to completely redevelop the site.