TORONTO—A partnership of Campus Suites Inc. and Forum Equity Partners Inc. will build a new student housing community for York University here. The institution’s Board of Governors approved the deal and the development JV, dubbed the York Forum Development Consortium.
The new student lifestyle community, Pond’s Edge, will be developed in four phases at the south end of York University’s main campus. When complete, the project will consist of a residential component, retail and office space and consolidated parking.
“We’re excited to take our extensive development experience and bring it to the Canadian marketplace,” says Henry Morton, president of Campus Suites and an alumnus of York University. “We will develop a relationship with York University and its community to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders will be heard and incorporated in the final designs.”
Plans thus far call for ensuite units and a full amenity package including cardio and work out theatres, multi-purpose rooms, electronic and physical gaming centers, business facilities and study rooms. Phase I will include some 770 beds in suite-style units, amenities and in-line retail, as well as central courtyards, landscaped plazas, green roofs and pedestrian-friendly walkways.
“This development will become a model for other leading universities across Canada seeking to provide a top-quality student experience that compliments and supports the universities’ core academic mission,” believes Richard Abboud, president and CEO of Forum Equity Partners, a Canadian infrastructure and real estate investment and development firm.
York is the third-largest university in Canada, and a premier interdisciplinary research and teaching institution. Some 54,000 students attend the school, which has two campuses in the heart of the Greater Toronto Area. The York Forum Development Consortium and the York University Board of Governors are in the process of finalizing the agreed upon terms in a formal term sheet.
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