A high-rise hotel located at Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue in downtown Ottawa is now the University of Ottawa’s (U of O) newest off-campus student residence.
The Quality Inn hotel reopened as U of O’s “Rideau Residence,” just in time for the start of the 2015-16 academic year.
The residence holds 400 beds and includes double bedrooms, a lounge area, community kitchens, and a coffee shop at the ground level. The building also has air conditioning.
The building’s conversion into a student residence follows a former senior citizen home on Friel Street that was transformed into an off-campus residence in 2014.
U of O’s housing services director Michel Guilbeault said limited space on campus to build additional residences was a factor in the conversion of the hotel.
He also cited the short distance between the building and U of O’s campus as another reason for the conversion.
“Being in the downtown core, the residence is basically five minutes away from campus,” Guilbeault said.
Guilbeault said students living in Rideau Residence will have easier access to the amenities on Rideau Street and is “good for the local economy there.”
The Friel Street residence had also “proven to be extremely successful,” he said.
In addition to building several recent off-campus residences, the university also opened the new 173-bed Henderson residence located at the south end of campus this year.
Action Sandy Hill (ASH), a volunteer-led organization acting to represent and promote the Sandy Hill area, has previously supported on-campus residences for U of O students as opposed to off-campus buildings.
“Our position has always been that we would like to see the university build new residences on its campus, which is now quite large thanks to the Lees campus, and not in the community,” said Robert Forbes, vice-president of ASH.
“However, if there needs to be off-campus residences to increase capacity quickly . . . we have no issue with residences on streets such as Rideau or King Edward,” he said.
Carleton currently does not own any off-campus housing.
In February, the Ontario Municipal Board approved a 180-unit private student residence at the corner of Laurier Avenue and Friel Street in Sandy Hill.
ASH, local city councillor Mathieu Fleury, and mayor Jim Watson were against its construction.
“Personally, I think Sandy Hill residents are pleased about the new residence at the former Quality Inn,” Forbes said. “It seems like a great location for a large residence.”
Guilbeault said the university’s master plan opens the possibility for future campus residence buildings. He also said a recent land acquisition could provide more space for student residence.
“The university has acquired some land down by Lees Avenue, so we’re looking at some development for the south over the next few years,” he said.
There is now enough residence space to accommodate all first-year U of O students, according to Forbes, who heard the news at a recent Town and Gown committee.
“This is excellent news,” Forbes said. “It takes some pressure off the local community and perhaps slows down the developers who have been converting family homes into very unpleasant—and probably unsafe—illegal rooming houses.”
