Alex Kvaskov
Assistant News Editor
Construction on York’s newest student residence has begun to a barrage of criticism.
According to Christopher Edey, director of Commercial Land Use Development, York University Development Corporation, the new Quad residence will offer dining, shopping, and service options.
Some students are skeptical.
Second-year professional writing student James Zhan, who lives in the Village, says York can’t entice him to live on campus.
“Residence costs a lot more money and the York campus does not have a lot of healthy restaurants,” says Zhan.
Edey couldn’t elaborate which food and service vendors are expected to find a home at Quad.
Quad, meant to satisfy a growing demand for student housing, will be built on the site of the Sentinel and Pond Road parking lots, raising concerns that on-campus parking will get worse.
Janice Walls, York media, says there will be no further reduction to on-campus parking.
“However, there will be the occasional temporary closure of spaces immediately surrounding the construction site while the Quad is built,” says Walls.
“These numbers will be small.”
There are over 9,000 parking spots currently at Keele campus. York is expecting a $500,000 decline in monthly parking permit revenues from lost parking space, as various construction sites eat away at parking space.
Additionally, Quad will have access control, falling in line with York’s recent drive to secure campus buildings against intruders.
Access and perimeter control, now increasingly being installed at Keele campus, has been a potent issue at York for several years. Originally, the Student Centre was slated to be equipped with an access control system following the 2014 firearm incident in the Student Centre.
FCS Development Corporation is leasing the Quad site from York and is responsible for the design, construction, financing, and maintenance of the facilities.
Move-in date is tentatively set for the Fall 2017 semester.
