Two new, privately run student housing buildings are coming to the former Holiday Inn site on Scottsdale Drive.
City council approved the housing plan for 601 Scottsdale Dr. – located between Stone Road Mall and the Hanlon Expressway – during its monthly planning session on Wednesday evening, though a company spokesperson asked it not to, believing it's exempt from municipal planning rules put in place during the summer.
Rather, Forum Asset Management asked council to direct staff to continue to work with it on technical details of the project.
The city staff report says Forum has applied for a court ruling that would exclude it from paying property taxes at the location. Those taxes, city staff estimate, would be in the range of $400,000 to $500,000 annually.
"This is an extremely important project for us," Forum's Dayna Gilbert told council, claiming because the site is owned by the University of Guelph, it's therefore exempt from municipal planning requirements.
Forum leases the property from the post-secondary institution with an agreement to provide housing exclusively for the school.
Efforts to reach a spokesperson from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to confirm or correct the company's belief weren't immediately successful. Nor did city staff comment during Wednesday's meeting on Forum's assertion.
Several members of council noted Forum is a private business and the development will not be a student residence, but rather student housing.
The renovated, former hotel property – now run under the moniker ‘Alma’ – will see the addition of two seven or more-storey structures connected by a single-storey amenity area, containing 489 units with 589 beds.
“While the concept plans and renderings show two, seven-storey buildings, the applicant will need to revise their plans to accommodate the required Ministry of Transportation (MTO) setback to Highway 6 and Stone Road West,” states a staff report, which recommended approval. “These revisions will most likely include an increase in building height if the applicant wishes to build a certain number of residential suites.”
The MTO requires a 14-metre setback from Stone Road West and a 25-metre setback from the Hanlon Expressway.
The former hotel structure contains 164 student units.
A total of 191 parking spaces are planned for the entire site.
During Wednesday’s meeting, city council amended Guelph’s official plan to allow for the increased density, as well as numerous zoning bylaw amendments. Among them are reduced setbacks, lessened parking requirements and decreased buffer strips.
The plan saw no opposition during a public meeting held in June.
