7 more federal properties available for housing in Ottawa, including 3 near busy transit station

More federal properties available for housing Seven more federal properties will soon be available to build housing on in Ottawa. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

Seven more federal properties will soon be available to build housing on in Ottawa, including three properties near the O-Train Hurdman station.

The federal government announced 14 new properties will be added to the Canada Public Land Bank on Tuesday, the list of federal properties that could be turned into new homes, including seven in Ottawa and two in Gatineau, Que. The Canada Public Land Bank was launched in August, featuring an initial 56 federal properties identified to support housing, including 22 in Ottawa.

"We have made it clear at that time that this was only a first step," Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, told reporters.

"Today, we are honouring our promise by adding 14 new land and buildings to build stronger communities and more affordable homes for Quebecers and other Canadians. This should lead to construction of approximately 7,600 homes."

Three federal properties available in Ottawa are located near Hurdman Station, the busy connection point for Ottawa's east-west light-rail transit line. The properties include Hurdman North, a 44.9 acre parcel of land west of Riverside Drive and south of Highway 417; 2.5 acres of land at 315 Terminal Avenue; and 2.2 acres of land at 1460 Riverside Drive.

"Three properties here in Ottawa close to Hurdman Station," Duclos said. "Those three properties in particular will allow the construction of more housing units easily accessible by public transit."

The other properties available in Ottawa announced on Tuesday include 1250 Ledbury Avenue; land called the "Ottawa Southern Corridor," north of West Hunt Club Road between Woodroffe Avenue and Merivale Road; Baseline Road at Cedarview Road; and 1730 Robertson Road.

The new federal land available for housing in Ottawa comes one day after the Ottawa Real Estate Board said Ottawa has a "chronic supply issue" for housing.

"We’re not building enough homes in the city, and we’re not building enough of the right homes to address the ‘missing middle,'" Curtis Fillier, OREB president, said in a statement.

Fillier tells CTV News Ottawa the federal announcement for new land is a "positive step in the right direction."

"Our biggest issue with housing right now is supply, the demand is there and demand is increasing," Filier said, noting the type of development could be impacted because the federal land will be leased and not sold.

"Developers are going to want to maximize their profitability, obviously, so the likely use is probably going to be to build a high-rise type units, you know, one bedroom, two bedrooms possibly, which that's not really the housing that we're needing right now or rentals as you know, there's a ton of towers going up around the Ottawa area right now."

John Devries from the Ottawa Construction Assoication says it's a "rosy future" for construction in the city.

"All these announcements by the federal government to deliver more land to the city, is good news for the overall construction industry because, we need housing. We have a lot of people coming into the city and the industry and needs that activity to keep up its employment and, the profitability of the whole industry," he said in an interview.

Two new properties in Gatineau are also being added to the Canada Public Land Bank: 210 Rue Laurier Avenue and 1055 Aylmer.

Here is the initial list of 22 public lands available in Ottawa:

The federal budget in April included a direction to Public Services and Procurement Canada to reduce its office portfolio by 50 per cent, as it looks to cut costs under the hybrid work model.

The federal government says the list of buildings and land available on the Canada Public Land Bank will continue to grow in the "coming months."

With files from CTV News Ottawa's William Eltherington and Tyler Fleming