The former Holiday Inn beside Stone Road Mall may be converted into a student residence, show documents filed with the city.
A proposal from Forum Equity Partners, which leases the land from the University of Guelph, would see the building at 601 Scottsdale Dr. undergo a series of internal renovations, as well as some facade and surface parking work in order for it to become a “student residence” featuring 151 rooms with 177 beds, as well as 13 apartment units.
“The use of the lands with student residence suites in place of hotel suites is not expected to impact the surrounding neighbourhood, or the existing commercial uses,” states a planning justification report submitted to the city. “Rather, the future students occupying the units are likely to frequent the commercial uses in the area in the same (or greater) manner as past hotel guests, continuing to support those uses.”
In order for the proposal to go ahead, Forum Equity Partners is requesting the property be rezoned to allow for residential uses, while retaining the existing commercial zoning.
As university property, one parking space is required for every five beds under the requested zoning, but Forum is seeking permission to offer one space for every two bedrooms.
The 2.2-hectare property sits on the northwest corner of the intersection of Stone Road and Scottsdale Drive and extends much of the way to the Hanlon Expressway.
A public meeting on the proposed zone changes is set for Dec. 13, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed live at guelph.ca/live.
The Holiday Inn closed in August. A previous booking website for the hotel noted it included 136 guest rooms, as well as a variety of amenities.
The deadline to register as a delegate or make a written submission for the Dec. 13 public meeting is Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. To register, visit guelph.ca/delegation, call 519-837-5603 or email [email protected].