Renters who live in two apartment buildings set to be demolished to make way for a 21-storey rental tower near CFB Esquimalt are banding together in hopes of staving off their eviction.
Residents at the nearly identical 1970s-era four-storey apartment buildings at 1340 Sussex St. and 1337 Saunders St. have formed a tenants association linked to the Victoria Tenants Union, a renter advocacy group.
The Nelson Street Tenant Association, named after the street fronting the two apartment complexes, said a majority of the 68 households in the two buildings have joined the association, which is demanding to be recognized as a collective bargaining unit.
In June, Intracorp Homes BC submitted a rezoning application to replace the two apartment buildings owned by Belmont Properties with a 335-unit, 21-storey rental tower, which would also include commercial space.
Nelson Street Tenant Association member Sean Sullivan, who lives at 1337 Saunders St., said residents have been told they have to be out of the building by next fall.
Tenants first began receiving notice that the building was going to be torn down about three months ago, but no formal eviction notices have been served, he said.
Sullivan, who shares an $1,800 monthly rent bill with a roommate, said an equivalent two-bedroom apartment in today’s rental market would likely cost $800 more per month.
“Nobody should have to choose between whether they can have lights on in their house or [whether] they eat,” he said. “You make $30,000 a year, you should be able to have a roof over your head.”
Sullivan said he personally appealed to Premier David Eby last month when Eby visited his workplace, a downtown vinyl shop, as part of a pre-election campaign tour.
“He said he’d look into it, but I don’t think he’s gonna — that’s just lip service,” he said.
Eby’s office did not respond on Monday to questions about his remarks to Sullivan.
Nelson Street Tenant Association member Dan McDonald, who lives at 1340 Sussex St., said he’s worried that his building’s residents, many of whom are low-income workers and seniors who have lived there for decades, will end up homeless because they can’t afford market rents.
“Our stance is that we’re not leaving our homes. This corporation — out of corporate greed — is stealing our homes from us,” he said.
McDonald and his wife are both close to retirement and had hoped to live out their years in their 750-square-foot two-bedroom apartment with a view of Esquimalt Harbour.
A resident of Victoria for more than three decades, McDonald said they may have to relocate elsewhere in B.C. if they are forced to leave their home. “We just don’t think we can survive here with the high cost of living,” said the security guard, who makes $20 an hour.
He said his wife works as a housekeeper earning around the same amount.
They currently pay $950 a month for the space, a price that has only risen slightly in the 12 years they’ve lived in the Sussex Street building.
He said when he moved in, a family owned the building, which was purchased in December 2018 by Belmont Properties.
Over the years, he said, the building has undergone major renovations, including a new roof and heating system. “They’ve been maintaining the buildings and they’re in good shape.”
In July 2023, 1337 Saunders St. was also sold to Belmont for $8.4 million.
Intracorp Homes BC president Evan Allegretto said in a statement that if the rezoning application is approved, construction of the rental tower would begin in early 2026 and be complete by the spring of 2028.
Allegretto said an all-tenant meeting was held on July 24 about the development and relocation assistance will be available through a third-party tenant co-ordinator, who has already begun contacting tenants in the two buildings.
Allegretto said it hasn’t been decided how many of the units would be offered at market — or below-market — rates, as the application is early in the review process, and still has to go through staff review and a community consultation.
A public-hearing date for the development has yet to be set, according to a sign posted in front of the building.
Allegretto said he expects Esquimalt council to consider the application this winter or in early 2025.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
