Uquutaq wins downtown Iqaluit lots, plans 48-unit apartment complex
Non-profit was sole bidder for ATCO loop site
Uquutaq Society is moving forward on plans to build a 48-unit apartment building on three lots in Iqaluit’s downtown core, pictured here, currently occupied by mostly derelict homes. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Uquutaq Society is moving ahead with plans to develop a 48-unit apartment building in Iqaluit after the city’s planning and development committee awarded the non-profit organization the downtown lot it had entered a bid to build on.
“I’m pleased to be able to give Iqalummiut more options for their housing,” said Laurel McCorriston, who has returned to Uquutaq Society as interim executive director.
The combined lots on Queen Elizabeth II Way are currently occupied by derelict and boarded-up homes.
The society, during a public meeting last October, revealed it was planning to enter a bid with the city, which was setting those lots aside for a potential non-profit housing project.
City planner Mathew Dodds said during Tuesday’s planning and development meeting that Uquutaq was the only bidder.
The four-storey mixed-use building will have 24 one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units. Sixteen of those units will be designated as “affordable,” according to a report presented to councillors.
The building will also have commercial space which, McCorriston said, Uquutaq hopes to lease to a non-profit organization in Iqaluit.
Most councillors asked Dodds questions about the project.
Coun. Harry Flaherty raised some concerns around what he described as a lack of a general plan for the downtown, lack of specific designs, questions about what “affordable” means, and the location. He also referred to the project as a “facility,” which was met with clarification that it is an apartment building and not a homeless or transitional shelter similar to some of Uquutaq’s other projects.
“How could the city council keep approving the type of buildings [that] are put in places all over the city with no plan?” Flaherty said.
Deputy Mayor Kim Smith, who chairs the planning and development committee, responded to Flaherty’s concerns about a lack of a plan.
“The people in this room made that plan for this area and this fits into that plan,” Smith said.
The planning committee approved a “lot consolidation” plan for the ATCO loop area in November 2023, with the intent to replace derelict homes with new, denser housing.
Mayor Solomon Awa raised concerns as well Tuesday, mainly about the environmental assessment and contaminant cleanup needed on the site.
Coun. Kyle Sheppard spoke enthusiastically in favour of Uquutaq’s proposal, saying it’s “exactly what the city was asking for” for that lot.
“I’m hopeful that we can move forward and at least allocate the land at this point in time so that the proponent can develop their project and bring it forward for a development permit,” he said.
“I’m sure they’ll take our feedback today and work it into their proposal as that comes forward in the coming months. But again, this is land that was allocated specifically for a project like this.”
Councillors voted mostly in favour of awarding the lots to Uquutaq, but Flaherty and Awa voted against it.
Lots of steps are still ahead and months away in the city’s development process, including the granting of a development permit.
For McCorristion and Uquutaq Society, the project still requires a final design and to secure the funding to build. She did not have a budget or completion timeline Tuesday.
But clearing this hurdle means Uquutaq can move forward.
“We can roll up our sleeves and get down to work finding the money to build it and start working on the design,” she said.
Congratulations to Uquutaq! It will be fabulous to have more housing – and affordable housing at that – in Iqaluit. And to see those ugly, sad boarded up units gone forever. Well done to the visionaries and how sad that Inuit voted against this project.
I can’t believe that the City has awarded this project to this organization. They were awarded a lot in 2022 and 3 years later no construction has started.
Most likely they won’t be able to actually start/complete the building.
Yep.
way to go Uquutaq ! Maybe they don’t have a plan because they needed the approval first before hand to start the specific plan, idk how it goes but it seems they would benefit from that.
“For McCorristion and Uquutaq Society, the project still requires a final design and to secure the funding to build. She did not have a budget or completion timeline Tuesday.”
im sure they’re alot of fundraising ideas or companies in town willing to pitch in on this awesome project.
lets put our best foot forward and roll up our sleeves and start making this into reality
Apparently Uquutaq wants to be a developer now. A commercial space and 48 units, only 16 of which will be “affordable”, while they currently have no money.
FYI, “affordable housing” means the cost is less than 30% of a household’s before-tax income. The average household income in Iqaluit is $177,800 (StatsCan 2020), the median household income is $157,000 (StatsCan 2020). That means, even using the lower figure, that “affordable housing” has to cost less than $3,925 per month. Hooray for those 16 affordable units! While the other 32 get rented out by the GN for $5K/month?
Sounds like this is going to cost taxpayers a lot of money, when really this should go to an actual developer who can finance building without taxpayer money. Too bad they’re all too busy raking in taxpayer money through Nunavut 3000 to even bid.
Those figures of income you state would not be allowed in public housing
Housing has a rule you make over $80 K
You are not eligible for housing
If your household brings in over $80k
Then you will be asked to vacate
You’re confusing “affordable housing” and “public housing”. Affordable housing just means housing that rents at a certain rate of income. Public housing is housing that is managed by the government. There’s no commitment that any of the units will be public housing, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the GN snatched up a few of the non-affordable units and offered them out at $60/month.
Good for Uquutaq, as always someone who never been homeless will never truly understand or appreciate what Uquutaq is going.
Being Homeless is very hard, it leads to substance abuse among other thing and after a long while it take a toll on the mental state.
anyone who oppose to this has never been homeless and therefore is in no position to have say, my 2 cent
formally Homeless Local
The problem with “affordable housing” is that there is no such thing as “affordable housing”.
It just means someone else pays the costs.
My lord talk about poor planning
And city council
This is all prime location tear those buildings down so we can have more businesses
Put the shelter they want to build close the the uquutaq shelter
Or better yet
Let the shelter buy those apartments aeroplex and all those right beside Uquutaq Shelter work something with the city exchange lots
I am sure Uquutaq Shelter wants to help the homeless
I applaud them for that
But
The town need to do some lot shuffling make sense of the real-estate that is available to make the town grow and not jumble everything around
Even offer the people to buy the lots at trailer park beside cops station
Or expropriate the area
The city was able to buy frosty refrigeration lots and turn them to a parking lot
Come on
Congratulation Uquutaq.
There needs to be diversification of the housing available in Iqaluit.
Why the complaining if Uquutaq was the only bidder?
Would this not be a strong, if not the strongest, contender for GN housing funds under the Nunavut 3000 umbrella?
The lots were only open for bidding for not for profits. All of the other NPOs realize they aren’t developers (correctly). Uquutaq will try to get funding to build for 2 million per unit and take 10 years.
I really hope this turns out to be a success but I think that the city is taking a big and unnecessary risk here. What experience does Uquutaq has as a property developer? I suspect none. If the project ever gets built, what experience does Uquutaq have as a property manager? I suspect none.
If you want a project like this to be done successfully, you want to go with an established developer with a track record of success. However, those types of developers are not charities and won’t develop and manage that property if there is no money to be made. So that brings us back to Uquutaq. I just hope this doesn’t turn into a disaster.
There’s a reason no one else bid on those lots… The utilidor for that area flows thru each of those old houses. That’s why the city has been keeping the heat on and periodically checking on them over the years… to make sure the water main doesn’t freeze up for that area.
Uquutaq are starin down a major infrastructure + development project that they don’t really have the expertise for, nor would they as it’s not part of their mandate.
Give it a few years and they will sell to a developer.