Feds to sell site of former Gladstone Avenue warehouse

A chunk of land in Ottawa's Little Italy neighbourhood that was once home to a federal munitions warehouse has been deemed surplus land by the government and is being sold off.

The former Plouffe Park warehouse complex extended from Somerset Street West to Gladstone Avenue, and from the O-Train green corridor/multi-use path in the west to Plant Bath and Plouffe Park in the east.

Built in the 1940s and originally used as a munitions and equipment depot during World War II, the 31,250-square-metre warehouse had reached the end of its life cycle and was demolished in 2015.

Now, PublicServices and Procurement Canada is transferring two parcels from the property to the Canada Lands Company, the arms-length corporation in charge of selling off properties the government no longer needs.

The 2.5 hectares of land for sale is composedof two parcels south of Oak Street, extending to Gladstone Avenue.

The southern parcels still need to be remediated. In a statement to CBC News, PublicServices and Procurement Canada said they did not take undertake any remediation prior to the planned transfer to CLC.

CLC told CBC News in a statement they "continue to finalize the details" of the acquisition and could not speak about specific plans for the property until they owned it.

PSPC said it's keeping the land north of Oak Street for now, but that it too has been declared surplus.The departmentis"developing a disposal strategy" for it.

Because of its location in Little Italy and its proximity to both park space and the O-Train corridor, the land is likely to attract attention as a residential property site. Community groups have also taken an active interest in its fate.