The Nova Scotia government is pulling out as the developer of the Bloomfield Housing Project, a long promised housing project in Halifax’s north end.
The former school in the city’s north end is slated to be converted into 500 residential units, with about 40 per cent of those units set aside as affordable housing.
Under the previous NDP government, Housing Nova Scotia was the winning bidder of a request for proposals for the Bloomfield Centre redevelopment project, estimated to be $100 million, in December 2012.
Briefing notes to Nova Scotia Community Services Minister Joanne Bernard indicated the project’s first phase was slated for completion by spring 2017, but work has yet to begin at the site.
Now the Liberal government says, while it still supports the project, it will no longer proceed as the developer, following feedback from stakeholders.
"This project will become an iconic part of north end Halifax and we want to see it developed,” said Bernard in a statement Thursday.“Given the housing market and the city's eagerness to move forward quickly, we are confident that a private developer will be able to bring Bloomfield to life."
The province says it will share information from the design and planning stages, as well as feedback received during the public consultation, and work with the city and any future developer to ensure affordable housing options are available at Bloomfield.
Meanwhile, the councilor for the area and a community group welcome the news, saying they’ve worked hard to come up with a vision for the property, they only wish it hadn’t taken more than two years for a government to make this decision.
“It is a very significant piece of property in the north end and that is what we are working toward,” says Susanna Fuller of Imagine Bloomfield.
The vacant building remains the property of the Halifax Regional Municipality and has been on the city’s surplus list since 2009.The city will now decide how to best move forward. Those discussions begin next week. Councillors will look at a staff report with recommendations on what to do with the property.
According to numbers obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, it costs taxpayers several thousand dollars a month to maintain the site; last year it cost more than $135,000, although the municipality expects that to drop to $90,000 for the coming fiscal year.
While the province has pulled out of the deal, tax payers won’t be getting back the $750,000 from the bid.
With files from The Canadian Press & CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl.
