Community News

STUDENT HOUSING PROPOSED TO REPLACE DAYS INN

520-BEDROOM STUDENT RESIDENCE PROPOSED FOR 785 GORDON ST.

A Guelph hotel could one day make way for student housing.

According to documents posted on the city's website, developers have submitted an application for a 10-storey, 389-unit building at 785 Gordon St., currently home to the Days Inn hotel. While the building would have 389 units, there would be 520 bedrooms, all intended for students at the nearby University of Guelph.

Along with student housing, there are plans for 587 square metres of commercial use on the main floor, with a planning justification report indicating this could include a convenience store, financial establishment, restaurant or retail.

For the building, the developer is proposing 220 vehicular parking spaces, 175 of which would be underground, and another 432 long- and short-term bicycle parking spaces.

The numbered company putting the development application forward is the same that has owned the Days Inn since 2013, according to property records.

Corporate records indicate that numbered entity is linked to Stacey Ciancone, the president of Rise Real Estate, the company that has previously looked to build student housing at nearby 716 Gordon St., a vacant lot previously home to the Royal Brock Hotel and Conference Centre.

That student housing proposal was appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal last year, but Rise's appeal was later withdrawn.

According to the urban design brief included with the application, there are now plans for a 264-unit project on that property. A post on the website for Society Developments, which shares the same address as Rise and the numbered company putting the 785 Gordon development forward, says this property "will soon be the new home to Society Developments."

This is not the first proposal to replace a hotel with student housing. In April, city council unanimously approved a pitch from Forum Equity Partners to convert the former Holiday Inn on Scottsdale Drive into a student residence, with 151 suites and 13 apartment units.

As for when residents can expect to see the latest Gordon development application in front of council, a meeting has not yet been scheduled.

This is the second proposal for more residences on Gordon to be made public in recent days. Earlier this month, developers' plans for two six-storey apartment buildings with a total of 134 units, along with 22 three-storey onstreet townhouse units at 1166-1204 Gordon St., just north of the street's intersection with Edinburgh Road, were published on the city's website.

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281608129041356

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