Carla Peiez and Beverly Tirschman knew they were taking a risk when they rented their separate suites at Pyramid apartments, a three-storey 91原创 City apartment building facing demolition to make way for a newer, bigger building. But it was the best deal they could find.

Both tenants signed a waiver acknowledging the impending demolition before they moved in.

"I was told six months to a year," Tirschman, 67, explained to the 91原创 Advance Times, but she was hoping it would be longer.

Peiez has health problems that only allow her to work part-time, while Tirschman is dealing with a resurgence of her cancer.

About two-thirds of the Pyramid tenants covered by municipal relocation regulations moved out after news of the impending redevelopment was announced in 2022, opening up short-term, below-market rentals.

Now, roughly six months after they moved in, Peiez and Tirschman will have to find somewhere else to live, after a narrow vote by 91原创 City council giving approval through first and second readings to an application by Whitetail Homes to build a six-storey residential building on the site at 5360 204 St.

Peiez, 54, said she has looked at other suites in the neighbourhood, but can't find anything she can afford. 

Despite the insecurity, the two women say it was the best deal they could find in a rental market where the average rate for a one-bedroom apartment is more than $1,500, and many landlords won't allow pets.

"We both have small dogs, and neither one of us is willing to give them up," said Tirschman, whose dog, Hade, is 14.

Peiez said her pet, 12-year-old Tequila, is a registered emotional support dog.

Even below-market rates, like the $1,000 a month for a one-bedroom a Pyramid, is a struggle, they said.

"We've got to get into subsidized housing," Tirschman said, "housing where it's only 30 per cent of our income."

Tirschman estimated she has been on the waiting list for subsidized housing for six years.

The replacement building on this site was originally going to be a , but has since been updated and scaled down to a six-storey, wood-frame building for what was described as economic reasons in a staff memo to council.

That became an issue when the revised project at their Nov. 18 meeting, because the design changes were filed before June 2024.

On July 2024, the city more than doubled the amount of compensation builders must pay displaced tenants, but because the design changes were considered part of an ongoing application and the new tenant compensation had not yet been approved by Council, the original tenant compensation terms remained in effect.

Some members of council argued the revised project was a new building, and should proceed as a new application under the new compensation rules, while others argued the building has the same footprint as the 12-storey design and had merely trimmed six storeys off the top.

Council narrowly gave initial approval, first and second reading, of a bylaw to rezone the property and allow construction, by a 4-3 vote, with Mayor Nathan Pachal, Councillors Teri James, Paul Albrecht and Mike Solyom in support, and Delaney Mack, Leith White, and Rosemary Wallace opposed.

Third reading, approval in principle, passed with the same 4-3 margin at the Monday, Dec. 2 meeting.

A notice posted to the Whitetail website anticipated final approval by Dec. 9, which would then allow the company to give tenants four months notice after obtaining a demolition permit.