City hoping little-used parking lot could be turned into 'walkable development'

A parking lot at Caron Avenue and University Avenue is a block outside of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Area's zone, but chair Brian Yeomans thinks putting up some kind of residential space in that spot would be beneficial for the downtown core.

"We have so many students downtown, we've heard of transit being a problem with an overload of students ... to have residential for students to be in the downtown core would be great," said Yeomans.

The lot was purchased by the City of Windsor in 1993 from CP Rail for about $744,000. It covers more than two acres, but rarely has more than a few cars parked in it. It's now up for grabs as the City of Windsor spends more than it brings in to keep the lot maintained.

Yeomans said mixed use development would be a good option for the space, including affordable housing.

According to the scope for the expression of interest, the City of Windsor is looking for a "walkable development that understands the context of the existing built environment."

"Developments should also address and emphasize the importance of adjacent streets, and be supportive of public transit and alternative forms for transportation," the document said.

Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin explained that the idea is to make the site available for "a good concentration of residents who either work or want to reside in the core and spend a lot of their time downtown."

"It becomes an opportunity for it to be creating that density we want, with the right mix ofeither students, seniors, young professionals[and an] affordable housing component as well," he said. "The whole idea is to get more and more people living downtown in the core."

Bortolin said the City hopes for a mix of different residential use-cases not just a single option like affordable or low-income housing.

"We want a mix of affordability and incomes, even a mix of age, as far as seniors with students with mid-level families as well," he said. "We want to get away from concentrating a lot of affordable housing or low-income housing in certain areas."

Bortolin added that creating any category of housing units would help alleviate pressure for affordable housing.

"We have such a stress on housing in every category that even if this development was all middle-income or seniors, the people moving in there would help alleviate the pressure on the low-income housing," he said. "Because they're renting currently housing that is either not fulfilling their needs or is an old stock."

Expressions of interest for the space will be accepted until March 31.