New building will erect on Gordon Street and Stone Road
Plans for high-density student housing will soon be underway as a result of a recent ruling from the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Both Adobe Varsity Living and the OMB came to an agreement for an 11 storey building near the intersection, and up to nine stories for the building(s) on the remainder of this location. The proposed complex is aimed to provide residence to an estimated 1,100 University of Guelph students.
The original proposed plan was to erect a 16 storey building, but it was opposed by various parties including the city council, the University of Guelph and the Mayfair Park Community Association. Some negativity stemmed from the actuality that the university already acquired approval to build student housing across the street from this project, but they disclosed that they did not yet have plans to start it.
“A number of planning issues were raised during the application review for this site, including proposed building height, density, impact on the neighbourhood to the east, impact on the existing streetscape,” said Katie Nasswetter, Senior Development Planner for the City of Guelph. Nasswetter said that the city and neighbourhood generally supported the proposal of student housing in that area, but the main concern stemmed from the scale of the proposed buildings. Many felt that the height was “not a good fit for the neighbourhood.”
The OMB “imposed building setbacks and height limits that will limit the impact of the building on both the streetscape and neighbourhood,” said Nasswetter. But the Adobe Varsity Living and the Mayfield Park Community Association came to an agreement on a layout that represented the character of the neighbourhood, in both height and appearance.
Despite some negative feedback, many have suggested the positives of this new development. Some suggested that students should be located close to campus, grocery stores, the downtown core and public transit – and this location serves all those needs. It’s completion would assist to solve the shortage of on-campus student housing and would also decrease the amount of students living in low-density housing in the south end. Furthermore, this structure would concentrate more students around the campus, which would boost businesses surrounding the university.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Adobe accomplishes in the future in terms of this high-density student housing, even with all the setbacks and restrictions.