FRONTLINES New St. Clair Residence Guaranteed To Be A GEM
An artist’s rendering of the GEM Residence at St. Clair College is illustrated here, which will house 512 students, with five floors. Local firms Petretta Construction Inc. and Architecttura worked closely with Z Modular to develop one of the first modular student residences to be built in Canada.
Recognizing that Windsor faces a critical housing shortage, St. Clair College has developed a unique approach to solving a problem facing its growing international student population. By the end of December, there will be a new 512-bed student residence on campus, built phase-by-phase within 45 days of the arrival of the initial modular unit. “This welcome wave of newcomers desperately needs a home away from home and this new residence project will provide just that,” states St. Clair College President Patti France. The $23 million project is a partnership involving St. Clair, Global Education Mihome (GEM) and the Z Modular Corporation, a subsidiary of Zekelman Industries, which is owned by the college’s corporate patrons Barry and Stephanie Zekelman. “It’s a truly collaborative public/private sector effort,” adds Nancy Jammu-Taylor, Chairwoman of St. Clair College’s Board of Governors. “It will ease the stress of hundreds of our students as they find comfortable, convenient and affordable accommodations right on campus.” The 296 individual modular units will be constructed in a factory and shipped to the site complete with plumbing, electrical systems and even furniture. Once stacked and locked into place, under the supervision of Petretta Construction Inc., the interior systems will be connected, with occupancy expected in time for St. Clair’s 2020 winter semester. Architecttura is also on board as the architects and engineers responsible for the architectural design and civil, mechanical and electrical engineering on the project. The first modular unit is scheduled to arrive on campus in late May. France indicates, “The innovative phase-byphase construction will provide a place for our
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B I Z X M A G A Z IN E • A P R IL / M A Y 2 0 2 0
On hand for the announcement on February 28 at the campus for the new residence from left were: John Wu of the GEM Corporation, which will manage the building; David Piccini, Parliamentary Assistant to Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities; St. Clair College President Patti France; Jonathon Lot of Petretta Construction, which will oversee the 45-day build; Rick Nicholls, MPP for Chatham-KentLeamington and Oliver Mason of Z Modular, which is building the individual modules. Photo by Dave Hall.
students to lay their heads, at a time when such accommodations are in short supply in this area.” The GEM Student Residence at St. Clair will include 62 eight-bed units, four four-bed units, a common kitchen area, cafeteria, lounge and laundry spread out over five floors and almost 111,000 square feet. “There’s been a dire need for on-campus housing where students are able to develop lifelong friendships,” says Kiara Clement, President of the college’s Student Representative Council. “We commend the administration and its project partners for recognizing this dire need and doing something to remedy this shortcoming.” John Fairley, St. Clair’s Vice-President of Communications and Corporate Relations, points out that the project is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada. Fairley informs Biz X that rental prices for the units are still to be determined. “We’ll have a better idea when we start accepting applications for residency,” he indicates.
