New life is coming to the former St. Patrick’s School on the west side of Saint John.

Council approved the third and final reading of a rezoning application on Tuesday night.

Developer Eric de Jong plans to turn the old school on City Line into a 37-unit residential building.

Built in 1924, the school had been owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint John but was closed in 2014 due to structural problems.

It was later sold to private developers in 2016, who had planned to repurpose the space, but they later put it back on the market.

De Jong previously told council he hopes to have people living in the building by either December 2024 or mid-spring 2025.

The developer also plans to add a number of townhouses on the site as part of a future phase of development.

Several conditions have been placed on the site, such as retaining the existing mature tree along City Line if possible, adding one tree or shrub for every 45 square metres of required yard, and landscaping and/or alternative screening along the site boundaries.