Fifty new affordable homes will be built in Yellowknife by 2025, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during a press conference at Somba K’e Park on Thursday morning.
NNSL Media has learned that three city-owned lots sitting vacant on 50 Street for more than a decade will see development as an apartment complex.
Jeanne Yurris, manager of communications with Housing NWT, confirmed that the GNWT was granted approval to begin construction of a 50-unit apartment building.
“The City of Yellowknife contributed land to the project through an initiative to dispose of three vacant downtown city-owned lots through a public request for proposals process which sought developer-led solutions to developing the lots for a mixed-use building with an affordable housing component,” Yurris said. “Housing NWT submitted a successful proposal.”
Details of the agreement for the transfer of land were still being finalized on Thursday, Yurris added, which will eventually include a final price. The purchase, however, is expected to come from $20.8 million in Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Rapid Housing Initiative funding, which was announced during Thursday’s press conference in Yellowknife.
“The project will create 50 new affordable homes in a highly energy-efficient mixed-use multi-storey building comprising 25 one-bedroom and 25 two-bedroom units for seniors, singles and small families,” Yurris stated in an email.
Trudeau said the Rapid Housing Initiative, introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, is intended to “specifically to address the needs of vulnerable people.”
The 50 new affordable homes coming to the NWT capital “for people who need it the most” will be constructed with the GNWT as a financial partner and the city of Yellowknife as a contributor of the land, the prime minister stated.
“Work on the construction site is already underway,” he said.
The complex, to be completed during the 2024-25 fiscal year, will also house two separate office spaces for Housing NWT’s North Slave District Office and the Yellowknife Housing Authority to provide tenant support and building oversight.
Yurris said the GNWT took part in a public request for proposals for the lot over the last year and a public open house is to take place at an unspecified date to present the project.
Downtown revitalization
While the project promises to provide much needed housing for different demographics while also providing new and sustainable units for lease, Yurris said the GNWT hopes to contribute to the revitalization of downtown Yellowknife.
“While helping meet the urgent need for homes for seniors, singles and small families in Yellowknife, this new project forms part of a downtown revitalization strategy through quality architecture, increased housing options and new social infrastructure,” Yurris stated.
During the press conference, Housing NWT Minister Paulie Chinna concluded her remarks by adding, “Today’s announcement represents real progress towards increasing the stock of affordable homes… like many communities in the North, there is a massive need, and one government cannot complete this alone, so this is a great example of federal, territorial and municipal governments working together… I look forward to seeing the results of this continued partnership.”
—with files from Kira Wronska Dorward
