Some Ocean Breeze tenants in Dartmouth forced to vacate as redevelopment continues

Some tenants of the Ocean Breeze neighbourhood in Dartmouth, N.S., now have a date by which time they have to leave.

Some residents living in Ocean Breeze Village in Dartmouth, N.S., will soon be forced to find somewhere else to live as the next phase of the neighbourhood’s redevelopment approaches.

In an email to CTV Atlantic, Basin Heights Community Limited Partnership says residents who would be impacted by the next phase of the redevelopment plan were told on April 2 they must vacate their units by March 31, 2026.

“They gave, I think it’s 144 people, notice that they have to sign a document by the end of June this year stating what date they’re moving out and it has to be before March 31, 2026,” says Celine Pocheron, Ocean Breeze Residents Association president and tenant.

Basin Heights Community Limited Partnership – a group of local real estate investors that bought the property about four years ago – says since 2022, it has communicated openly with residents about the necessary relocations that will take place as part of the redevelopment plan, which is expected to take eight to 10 years.

Ocean Breeze is a mix of roughly 400 townhouse-style apartments located next to Halifax’s MacKay Bridge. The property offers some of the lowest rent prices in the city – ranging from $800 to $1,400 a month.

At its peak, close to 1,500 people were living in Ocean Breeze. As of last year, 1,000 people called the community home.

The developers who own the property say the area will be redeveloped and will have higher-density housing with high rises and townhouses.

“The community is expected to eventually be home to 10 times the current population, providing much-needed housing for Halifax and Dartmouth,” reads the email from Basin Heights.

“Consistent with the area’s high-density zoning, the master plan envisions creating 35 newly serviced lots for over 5,000 new residential units and multiple new commercial opportunities, depending on the building designs and capacity pursued by third-party builders.”

The email goes on to say Basin Height’s goal remains to secure support for long-term residents of the neighbourhood, with affordable rental options delivered through government subsidies.

“Our ability to fulfill this goal relies on support from Nova Scotia’s affordable Housing Development Program and other programs such as those offered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation,” writes Basin Heights.

Letter to tenants

In a “Notice of Termination Lease” letter sent to the affected tenants, Basin Heights says relocation within the Ocean Breeze Village is not an option. It adds the advance notice provided to tenants is intended to give them as much time as possible to secure housing outside of the community.

The letter also notes, under the Residential Tenancies Act, residents are entitled to receive either payment equivalent of three months’ rent or the final three months of tenure rent-free.

Basin Heights says all impacted residents who confirm by June 30 their intent to leave Ocean Breeze by March 31, 2026, “will receive a payment equivalent to three month’s rent, plus a one-time payment of $3,500 for extra support and relocation assistance.”

“I think the community deserves more not only from the owners, but from the government,” says Pocheron.

“That’s strong arming a community. That’s forcing a community into a housing market that doesn’t really have any answers for them and basically, some of them are moving out of the province and out of the city.”

Redevelopment plan background of Ocean Breeze

Ocean Breeze was built in the 1950s and 1960s.

Basin Heights says the community’s buildings and infrastructure services, including water and wastewater piping, have reached the end of their lifecycle and need comprehensive renewal to support the redevelopment.

“Ocean Breeze Village’s redevelopment will unfold in phases over the coming years. We understand the impact such a significant project can have on residents and are committed to keeping residents informed as early as possible, and determining realistic timelines based on the information we have at hand,” says Basin Heights.

Infrastructure upgrades are scheduled to start in the spring and continue in phases over the next eight to 10 years.

In earlier phases, Basin Heights says it was able to offer residents a chance to relocate within Ocean Breeze Village.

“This was accomplished by holding units vacated through natural tenant attrition in later phases to provide these units to existing residents impacted by earlier phases. Unfortunately, this approach is no longer viable,” says Basin Heights.

The developer says since the project started, residents have been advised that availability within the community will become increasingly limited as the redevelopment progresses.

“This was reemphasized during our updates and communications in 2024, which recommended that residents who have an opportunity to relocate outside of Ocean Breeze Village do so sooner rather than later to have greater control over the timing and specifics of their relocation,” Basin Heights says.

However, some residents living in the affected area say they feel blindsided, adding they were told they had time before needing to move out.

“That it would be a year at least, maybe two years. I heard from people say they were told five years but now they just got relocated six months ago and now they’re in the zone where they have to move out,” says Pocheron.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Hafsa Arif.

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