Work on new housing complex at CFB Esquimalt to start this month

The Department of National Defence had planned to put temporary accommodations on the site, but now says they will be permanent.

The federal government says it plans to build permanent military accommodations at CFB Esquimalt near the intersection of Colville and Admirals roads. It’s a change from previous Department of National Defence plans to build 400 units of temporary accommodations in the same area. The recently announced North Naden Accommodations project, set to get underway this month, will consist of five two-storey modular buildings.

The first building is expected to be completed early next year, and all five buildings will be built by 2030. No details of the number of units in the project were released. Pre-construction work for the temporary accommodations project began in March with a number of mature trees ringing the former Upper Naden sports field cut down.

The goal of that project was to house non-commissioned members in training while a more permanent facility was built to replace the aging 480-unit Nelles Block. The project called for three blocks of three-storey hotel-style accommodations on the decommissioned soccer field at Colville and Admirals. Rear Admiral David Patchell, Maritime Forces Pacific Commander, said in March that construction for the North Naden Temporary Accommodations would begin this year, but that the military was still determining how long the structure would be in use.

The base did not immediately respond to questions about the change from temporary to permanent accommodation, as well as the difference in building configuration of the two projects. The prominent 480-unit E-shaped Nelles Block, which has been used as accommodations for non-commissioned members in training since the 1950s, is expected to be torn down in the next decade. Work on its replacement, which is being built on a nearby parking lot, is also expected to start this year.

DND said construction activity for the North Naden development may affect traffic, and it will continue to work with community stakeholders, including the Township of Esquimalt and the Esquimalt Fire Rescue, while work on the buildings takes place. CFB Esquimalt’s workforce, which includes about 6,500 military and civilian workers, is expected to grow to more than 9,000 in the next decade.