Ottawa offers up a dozen more public properties to be turned into affordable housing

For years, officials in Whitehorse could only dream of turning this gold mine into housing treasure: a rare 12-acre parcel of partially empty federal land in the middle of a city with one of the fastest growing populations in the country.City officials had asked Ottawa about the land repeatedly. They made a strong case. The city needed more homes, and the land was located on a major road with sewage upgrades, next door to the hockey arena and fronting on the municipal hiking trail. Hundreds of families could potentially live there, with plenty of space for businesses – and yet, on that tantalizing, square parcel, there was an aging heritage office building, a few smaller offices and parking.Tuesday, Ottawa finally makes it official: The land is up for grabs, making it number 83 of the federally owned properties now on the block to be leased out and redeveloped into much-needed homes for Canadians.