Housing NWT says tenants are beginning to move into Yellowknife’s Nordic Arms after the building was purchased for public housing last year.
The 24-unit building on Franklin Avenue, built in the early 1970s, was owned by the YK1 school district until the February 2022 sale.
Housing NWT says it has since spent $1.3 million upgrading the building, though the cost of the transaction itself is not clear.
However, the purchase does not mean the number of public housing units available in Yellowknife has gone up.
Instead, Housing NWT said this month it is using the Nordic Arms units to replace apartments it was previously renting in the city.
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In April last year, housing minister Paulie Chinna said the GNWT held 124 leases with Northview – the dominant local landlord – specifically for public housing. Opening the Nordic Arms means 22 of the Nordic Arms units will be used to reduce reliance on third-party landlords.
Two units will remain as market rentals rather than public housing for the time being, Housing NWT said, though that could change in future.
