RORY MACLEAN
News Editor

The University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors has approved the master plan for the College Quarter development, which could brings scores of new services to the area around Cumberland Avenue and College Drive.

The plan outlines the potential uses for the land that may be pursued over the next few decades, including more student residences, shops, sports facilities, cultural destinations and a hotel.

Richard Florizone, U of S vice-president of finance and resources, said the primary focus for the next 10 years would be on developing more student housing.

“We know that our lands are critically important,” he said. “The way that we develop them will be critical to the future of Saskatoon.”

The quarter section of land runs between Cumberland and Preston avenues from 14th Street to College Drive. This includes the Agriculture Research Fields, which have been slated as a site for future development, though no plans have yet been made.

For now, the focus is on the west side of the quarter section, which is set for the development of student housing and related services.

The first project in College Quarter includes a five-storey undergraduate residence, thanks to a $15 million commitment from the provincial government.

Located just east of the Williams Building, the first phase of the project will provide 400 new beds in four-room, two bathroom suites.

Sod has already been turned and the university is hoping to get a crane in soon, said Florizone.

“We are on track to open that building, if everything goes as planned, in the fall of 2011,” he said.

The original plan was to pursue a townhouse development, but that has been changed to a five-storey apartment style building.

Keeping student housing closer to the core of the university is essential, said Florizone.

“When we think about our lands, we have to think about the lands that are core to academic needs and lands that are less core to academic needs,” he said.

The private businesses that College Quarter attracts could also bring a significant new revenue stream to the university through lease fees.

In 2002, the university leased 4.6 acres of land for construction of the big box mall Preston Crossing for a term of 50 years, agreeing to pay for the initial construction of roadways and water lines.

The agreement now generates $1 million in revenue each year. According to Florizone, all of that money goes to student scholarships and bursaries.

When asked about the possibility of a hotel being developed near the university, Florizone admitted it was beginning to look like an enticing prospect, given the number of visitors to campus and the lack of other hotels in the immediate area.

“We’ve seen much higher demand exceeding supply in the hotel market,” he said.

The possibility of building a hotel adjacent to the campus core has been around for many years, but in the past the surrounding community has not been amenable to the idea, he said.

“If we did develop a hotel, you’ve got to think about finding the right partner,” he said.

It would also likely require zoning changes, so the university would have to get the city on board, he said.

It is, however, only one of many possibilities and no business plans have yet been developed to attract private investors, said Florizone.

Much changes between planning and development, and the planning stage is naturally idealistic. For example, an old graphic representation of Preston Crossing from the first phase of development shows a wooded, pedestrian wonderland where now there is a barren parking lot.

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photo: Raisa Pezderic / graphic: Danni Siemens