Housing development permit approved for empty downtown Yellowknife lots

The City of Yellowknife issued a development permit last week for a 50-unit, affordable housing complex that will be built downtown.

The permit follows a $20.8 million grant announced in 2023 from the federal government's rapid housing initiative.

The complex is set to be built on empty lots on 50th Street between the Raven Pub and the Gold Range Bistro. Housing N.W.T. is developing the site and said it's on track to be complete in 2026. Site activity is currently underway to prepare for foundation work in spring 2025. 

Those that will move into the new spaces will include current public housing tenants living in units that are owned by a third party. 

Eleanor Young, president and CEO of Housing N.W.T. said this will free up more rental units to be available in Yellowknife and will reduce Housing N.W.T.'s reliance on third party landlords. Young added that half of the units will accommodate seniors.

"We are very excited to see a piece of infrastructure in the downtown core," Young said. "It will be close to services for seniors, which is one of the target groups for the units because they are being designed to be accessible."

The building will include Housing N.W.T.'s North Slave district office and the Yellowknife Housing Authority through a separate entrance.

Another Housing N.W.T. building will soon open. The Aspen Apartments are scheduled to be complete in 2025. That building will also be moving public housing tenants from third party landlords and not those on the waitlist.

Young said that they currently lease a little over 100 units from a third party and that 86 units will be freed up for the general public from the two new buildings opening. 

The territory's public housing waitlist sits at 906 households, 349 of which are in Yellowknife. Young said those on the waitlist may be eligible to move into freed-up third party units.

"We really are tied to how many units we can operate as to how much money we have to pay for operating costs. So it's the larger budget conversation that we continue to work on to try to find solutions in terms of expanding our housing inventory," Young said. 

City covering cost of land for empty lots

The City of Yellowknife is covering the cost of the lots on 50th Street.  

This also includes the 50/50 lot, named for its location on 50th Street and 50th Ave.

The total cost to cover the value for the affordable housing complex land and 50/50 lot was the city transferring $2.2 million dollars from the revitalization initiative fund to the land administration fund.

That allows them to sell the properties for less than the appraised value.

The future of the 50/50 lot is still uncertain. In the past the lot was considered to be a public library location or being sold to a real estate company for a dollar.

Most recently it was a potential site for a non-commercial art space from the N.W.T. Art Centre Initiative.

Project director for the N.W.T. Art Centre Initiative Adrian Bell said that the 50/50 lot did not make it onto their final shortlist.  

Bell added that it's not impossible that their steering committee might revisit the decision in the future, "but it would require a significant commitment by other partners, including the City of Yellowknife and the (N.W.T. government), to mitigate concerns about safety and the overall atmosphere of the area."

CBC News reached out to the City of Yellowknife for comment on the 50/50 lot but no one was available this week.