City-Owned Vacant Land

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Graphic of colourful houses and the words Affordable Housing St. John's

The City's Affordable Housing Strategy, outlines a commitment to identify city-owned vacant land for potential redevelopment as affordable housing.

The process for doing this is quite lengthy. It involves identifying parcels of land that may be City-owned then circulating this list to various City departments including Legal, Public Works, and Planning, Engineering and Regulatory Services for comments about the parcel's potential for redevelopment as affordable housing. Next, subject to Council approval, title searches on the parcels of land are completed. If the title search indicates that the land is in fact City-owned and Council approves, the land is then expropriated to eliminate any potential claim prior to the commencement of projects on these sites.

Four parcels of land have been expropriated and identified for potential redevelopment as affordable housing to date. These include: 245 Forest Road, 80-90 Empire Avenue, 375 Waterford Bridge Road, and 28 Eric Street. A project is already planned for 28 Eric Street. There are no planned projects for the other three sites at this time. We would like to engage with residents, businesses, and other stakeholders about these parcels of land.

The City's Affordable Housing Strategy, outlines a commitment to identify city-owned vacant land for potential redevelopment as affordable housing.

The process for doing this is quite lengthy. It involves identifying parcels of land that may be City-owned then circulating this list to various City departments including Legal, Public Works, and Planning, Engineering and Regulatory Services for comments about the parcel's potential for redevelopment as affordable housing. Next, subject to Council approval, title searches on the parcels of land are completed. If the title search indicates that the land is in fact City-owned and Council approves, the land is then expropriated to eliminate any potential claim prior to the commencement of projects on these sites.

Four parcels of land have been expropriated and identified for potential redevelopment as affordable housing to date. These include: 245 Forest Road, 80-90 Empire Avenue, 375 Waterford Bridge Road, and 28 Eric Street. A project is already planned for 28 Eric Street. There are no planned projects for the other three sites at this time. We would like to engage with residents, businesses, and other stakeholders about these parcels of land.

  • Update on 375 Waterford Bridge Road

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    On January 23, 2023, St. John's City Council passed a motion to remove 375 Waterford Bridge Road from the list of land parcels previously identified and approved by Council as potential sites for affordable housing developments.

  • What We Heard: Public Engagement for City-Owned Vacant Land Identified for Potential Redevelopment as Affordable Housing

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    The City of St. John’s 10-Year Affordable Housing Strategy outlines a commitment to identify city-owned vacant land for potential redevelopment as affordable housing. During summer and fall 2021 public engagement took place to collect feedback from the community regarding City-owned land at 375 Waterford Bridge Road, 245 Forest Road and 80-90 Empire Avenue.

    The What We Heard document for engagement on these locations is now available in the documents on this page and will be presented to City Council during the Committee of the Whole meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

    The purpose of the engagement was to better understand how stakeholders use these parcels of land, learn about their concerns with developing the sites, and gather ideas about what the community would like to see if the sites were developed as affordable housing.

    Residents and businesses in the areas surrounding properties were notified by direct mail, and the city announced each engagement opportunity via Public Service Announcement and shared the information on social media to encourage participation.

    For all three parcels of land, key concerns were:

    • The impact of potential development on the environment

    • Parking and/or traffic related concerns

    • Impact on property values, either due to affordable housing or loss of greenspace/view

    Stakeholder ideas about what they would like to see if the sites were developed varied. Some common suggestions included Seniors’ housing, accessible housing, one and two-bedroom units to meet current need, and housing that preserves the natural environment as much as possible.

    Staff will utilize the information from the What We Heard document and other forms of feedback to develop a list of recommendations for Council consideration on next steps for these parcels of land.


  • Parcels of land identified for potential redevelopment as affordable housing

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    80-90 Empire Avenue - consultation has now closed

    375 Waterford Bridge Road - consultation has now closed

    245 Forest Road - consultation has now closed


Page last updated: 12 Mar 2024, 03:14 PM