City council votes in favour of real estate developer building more apartments

A renowned real estate developer with a long history in Yellowknife wants to add potentially hundreds more apartments in the city, on a property he's owned for years.

"We've tried to have conversations about this for 15 years," Mike Mrdjenovich told city council on Feb. 10.

He owns a large lot in the city that could accommodate up to 300 apartments. The development would take about a decade to complete, he said. About half that time is approving plans before any shovels hit the dirt, he added. 

To speed up Mrdjenovich's plan, city council voted in favour of amending its community plan bylaw. Specifically, council voted in favour of including Mrdjenovich's lot in the west residential area, outside of Kam Lake.

Those are important boundaries. Moving the boundaries of that property allows Mrdjenovich to build the quantity of units he's proposing. If he was still in Kam Lake, which is an industrial area meant for businesses, this type of project wouldn't be possible.

Mayor Rebecca Alty first brought up the motion to amend the bylaw on Feb. 3 during a governance and priorities committee meeting. 

"To address housing, we frequently and sometimes only consider the land that the city owns or vacant Commissioner's land," said Alty.

The mayor acknowledged how long it can take to develop city land, and even to acquire Commissioner's land — property that the GNWT owns. 

"We asked for vacant land on Gitzel back in 2015 and just got the land last fall. So, that took nine years," Alty noted as an example.

That leads the city towards the prospect of private property, Mrdjenovich's in particular. Alty suggested amending the bylaw since the lot already shares a border with the west residential zoning area. That means all current zoning policies for the west residential area would apply to Mrdjenovich's property, rather than the municipality having to create new policies for one specific property.

The development would require between $85 million to $100 million of private equity, said Mrdjenovich.

Mrdjenovich pointed out that this project is needed in the city. He told council it's very difficult to build houses in Yellowknife.

"We are now turning our attention to the south," he said. "Basically, there's no more land available here and there's lots of opportunity down south right now."

Amending the bylaw comes with additional steps. Alty noted there still needs to be a public hearing and Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Vince McKay would also need to approve it.

Despite the hoops to jump through, she said Yellowknife has to build more homes.

"I don't think the city will solve the housing issue alone. We need to work with all partners, federal, territorial, Indigenous, private land owners, NGOs and residents to address this issue," said Alty.

Coun. Ben Hendriksen, who did not vote in favour of the amendment, said he wasn't sure about what impacts amending the bylaw might have. In addition, the city is undertaking a review of the community plan bylaw already, he noted. 

Hendriksen also cited a need for fairness.

"If we do it for this for these properties, other property owners, they don't get the same luxury," he maintained.