With surplus government buildings scarce in Charlottetown, feds look to public land for potential housing

The federal government has announced plans to repurpose its surplus buildings into housing, but the pickings will be slim in Charlottetown.

The Daniel J. MacDonald Building on Grafton Street is currently undergoing a $100-million renovation, while the Jean Canfield Building is still relatively new.

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey said he'd be "hard pressed" to find any surplus federal buildings that would be suitable for housing in the city, but there could be some land available to build on.

"At this point in time, we're really looking at mapping what are the lands that are available and then from there we'll be able to determine which lands that we'll be able to use in order to build homes quicker and in a way that's more affordable as well," he said. "That is really our number one priority."

Federal Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor was on P.E.I. Wednesday to highlight the government's recent investments in housing.

The federal budget lays out a strategy to build 3.87 million new homes by 2031, which includes building homes on public land and transforming surplus buildings, including some of Canada Post's 1,700 post offices.

Casey said it's too early to identify specific parcels of land, but one that may be worth exploring is the Department of National Defence's Brighton compound, which sits on prime real estate near Victoria Park in Charlottetown.

The experimental farm, located in the heart of Charlottetown, is also federally owned. It makes up more than 30 hectares of green space and is surrounded on all sides by residential and commercial development.

But Casey said Wednesday that the farm will remain off-limits.

"Let's be crystal clear, the budget has not changed one thing with respect to the prospects of the experimental farm. Nothing," he said. 

"Before the budget, there was interest from developers. There still is. There has been no obstacles that have been removed by the budget to expedite those plans."

Casey has said in the past that conversations with Indigenous groups and Friends of the Farm, a group that fights for the preservation of the experimental farm as green space, need to happen first before any development could ever take place there.