This former Dartmouth office building will soon be affordable housing

A vacant building that used to house federal government offices will soon be an affordable home for more than 60 people.

The federal government announced Thursday it has completed the sale of the Marine House building in downtown Dartmouth, N.S., to the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Society.

The building will be renovated to create at least 61 apartments for urban Indigenous people.

According to Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Society executive director Pamela Glode-Desrochers, the goal is for all of the units to cost only 30 per cent of the renter's income.

"The need is huge," Glode-Desrochers said Friday. "It's big for everybody, to be honest ... truly affordable housing, it's disappearing very quickly."

Glode-Desrochers said the renovated building will house a mix of tenants, from seniors to students, and will provide all the programs available through the Friendship Centre, including health, educational and employment support. 

The 61,000-square-foot Marine House building on Portland Street was formerly home to offices of the Canadian Coast Guard and then the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but has been unoccupied for years. 

The six-storey office building was built in 1984. It is considered in critical condition, according to a directory of federal property.

Glode-Desrochers said her organization took out a $2.4-million mortgage with the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation to buy the building, in consultation with the Assembly of Mi'kmaw Chiefs.

The Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Society is working with Castone Construction and East Port Properties. The estimated cost of renovations is $20 million.

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Glode-Desrochers said tearing down the building would be a last resort.

"I think it can be fixed," she said. "The government had done some major repairs to it already. So, we'll work with what's there and fix what we need to and make it safe and truly affordable."

She said the Nova Scotia government will provide some of the funding required for renovations, and the society is also hoping to receive support from Halifax Regional Municipality.

Glode-Desrochers said she hopes a construction plan will be in place by September. The goal is to be ready for residents by mid-2027. 

"It's a huge relief to know, while it's not immediate impact, that we will have impact within the next two years that could make a huge difference in somebody's household income," she said.