Province Offers Prime Downtown Dartmouth Property For Affordable Housing Project

DARTMOUTH—Develop Nova Scotia is offering up prime downtown Dartmouth real estate for a project that injects new affordable housing into the city.

The organization has put out a call for proposals for a parcel of land on King Street, a stone’s throw from the Alderney Ferry Terminal.

The property’s prime location and generous zoning mean it would typically end up as high-priced condos or another flashy development.

But Develop Nova Scotia has different plans.

The organization wants to use the property for a project that puts a significant emphasis on affordable housing.

Jennifer Angel, the president and CEO of Develop Nova Scotia, doesn’t yet know what the project will be. However, if it’s done right, it could be a critical next step in the city’s affordable housing plan.

Angel tells Huddle the King Street property is special because it eliminates one of the biggest problems affordable housing developments bump up against.

“Often, a key barrier to affordable housing is the cost of land… particularly in an urban center,” she says. “What we’re saying here is, we own the site and that barrier can be reduced through our participation in the value equation.”

She hopes removing the high cost of land from the equation will free organizations up to create a more innovative development—or maybe even reimagine how to create affordable housing.

That’s exactly why Develop Nova Scotia is leaving its guidelines for proposals deliberately vague.

The King Street lot is zoned for the highest possible density allowed in the city. That means options on the land are wide open.

“It could be one building, it could be multiple buildings, there could be low rise and high rise together, or it could be a point tower,” Angel says. “There’s a variety of different ways that can manifest on the site—it’s all possible.”

Develop Nova Scotia is open to proposals from not-for-profit organizations or service providers. But it will also look at proposals from private developers.

Advocacy groups often point out that “affordable” housing in private developers’ buildings is often wildly out of reach for low-income residents.

An “affordable” unit in a major new development might rent for 60 percent of market value. In some parts of the city, that can still mean rent well above $1,000.

While Develop Nova Scotia isn’t putting many limits on proposals, Angel says the organization is keeping meaningful affordability front and centre.

“This is not a typical go-to-market-and-look-for-the-highest-price scenario, not at all,” she says.

If the government was only interested in wringing value out of the property, Angel says it would just sell it—after all, it is an incredibly valuable piece of real estate.

Instead, Develop Nova Scotia is making “a very deliberate effort to build actual affordable housing that’s sustainable.”

What that looks like will depend on the type of proposals that come through. Angel says that could be “mid-market affordable” units, “more traditional affordable” units, or a mix of both.

It could also mean a development that offers both full-priced and “affordable” units.

Whatever the project ends up being, Angel stresses that Develop Nova Scotia does see it as an opportunity to really innovate in the affordable housing space.

The organization is accepting submissions for the project until the end of March. It hopes to get the project started in a “timely manner.”

Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].