St. Clair College, developer partner to build 400 student housing units

A plan to house 400 students near Windsor's downtown core is a step closer to reality after St. Clair College signed a memorandum of understanding with a developer.

According to a joint news release from the school and the Ohio-based real estate company Fairmount Properties, a new residence, called Global Village Windsor, will be built on the site of the former Salvation Army Grace Hospital at the intersection of University Ave. and Crawford Ave.

Patti France, St. Clair College president, said in the release that the partnership with Fairmount will help alleviate some of the pressure on students to find suitable housing.

Almost all of the 400 students that will be housed there will be enrolled in the school's downtown campus, with tuition and rental fees combined, in the same way that fees are combined for students staying in the school's GEM residence.

Fairmount was chosen by the City of Windsor to be the developer of the site, and construction was supposed to begin by the end of 2021. However, their plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Fairmount CEO Randy Ruttenburg.

The developer's "due diligence research" is expected to be complete by the end of the year, "after which more definitive details about the project (including its scheduling) are expected to be unveiled."

Students also seemed to favour the school's ambitions to housing international students.

"I think it's great," said international student Saiyam Shah. "For some students, they might not get accommodations; it's really hard for [students] in the January intake and more students are coming."

As does Nour Takach. Although she's a domestic student, she is the president of St. Clair College's student union, the Student Representative Council (SRC).

"I think it's an amazing idea," Takach said. "I see it going really well for the student body for the next coming years."

The residence comes after alarm was raised over substandard student housing being offered by some landlords.

"I think it's outrageous," says Takach. "Six mattresses in one bedroom? Where's the privacy? When international students come to Canada, they should expect good living conditions, not sharing a bedroom with multiple roommates or housemates."

Takach says one story sticks out to her.

"One of my international friends couldn't find a house, so she became homeless," Takach recalls. "She reached out to a friend of a friend and he offered her his living room. So she had to sleep on the couch until she found a proper room to live in."

Takach says the SRC met with the school last week to discuss what both parties could do to help international students navigate the housing crisis. She says the school told the union that the new residence would be built as part of the solution.