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The owners of Obladee Wine Bar won a temporary reprieve in court Tuesday after their landlord served notice of an early lease termination because of renovations to the Tramway Building in downtown Halifax.
The original lease termination was for Jan. 31, 2026. The injunction granted in Nova Scotia Supreme Court Tuesday lasts until midnight on April 30, 2026.
“Today we received an interim injunction from the Court. This provides protection from termination and interference with our lease until the end of April. We are grateful for this additional time, but the problem of pending eviction has not gone away,” Heather and Christian Rankin, the owners of Obladee, wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday night.
“We have unfortunately had no HRM response to our urgent request for building permit records (Jan 31 post), so we are now going through the formal Access to Information process. We hope that, in the public interest, these documents will be provided quickly.”
Justice Glen McDougall said in court the temporary pause on the lease termination isn’t intended to prevent the owners of the Tramway Building from doing repairs, but to carry out that work with minimal negative impacts to Obladee.
In a social media post last week, the Rankins wrote their landlord told them the eviction was necessary to comply with an HRM order dated Sept. 9, 2025.
The facade of the Tramway Building, where Obladee is housed, is in need of repairs because of falling debris. Scaffolding has surrounded the business since 2023.
In the Instagram post on Jan. 31, the Rankins wrote the repair work to the building had begun on Jan. 12 and that they were able to operate safely and welcome guests as normal.
The pair wrote that they aren’t opposed to the necessary remediation of the Tramway Building, but that they’re asking to be treated fairly and for their lease to be respected.
The Rankins and their landlord, Starfish Properties, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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