Condo plan sees private sector step in to fill need for student housing near UTSC campus

Safapour said the housing shortage also left an impression on his brother Safa, another UTSC alumnus and a partner in the proposed 26-storey building at the corner of Ellesmere Road and Morningside Avenue.

"They went through the same struggle that other students go through" at UTSC, and later decided "there has to be an opportunity to fix the situation," said Safapour, who attended another university.

He added UTSC is not unique in having a population growing faster than its residence space, but The Academy in its promotional materials took aim at investors "who wish to rent or lease out to students or faculty."

The campus next door to the long-vacant property, it said, was "bursting with more than 12,000 students but currently only providing on-campus residences for 769," and therefore "offered purchasers the reassurance of long term demand and positive cash flow from Day 1."

Starting on June 20, sales of the 339 suites, some bought fully furnished, were closed speedily over two and a half weeks in an office on Yonge Street in North York. It may be the fastest a condominium building of such size has sold out in Scarborough, Safapour said.

Residents of the single-family Highland Creek area east of the campus have complained for years about homes illegally converted there into rooming houses for students.

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Scarborough East Councillor Ron Moeser had the city assign bylaw enforcers to the area and formed a working group with UTSC administrators and homeowners.

House prices in the neighbourhood have been rising as buildings are added to the campus.

The university, meanwhile, continues with townhouse units as its only on-campus housing, requiring planned shuttle service to area grocery stores because there is no student cafeteria or meal plan.

It has promised a new residence building with about 750 units, in which more traditional elements, such as meals, will be included.

"We’re currently in full planning for that residence," said UTSC CAO Andrew Arifuzzaman, who expects the university will issue a request for proposal in 2015.

He said the builders of The Academy, despite their marketing, have no connection to the campus.

"They see a business opportunity, but I don’t think it’s stepping into what the university does," Arifuzzaman said this week.

Paul Ainslie, councillor for the ward west of the UTSC, said the proposal, which requires four minor variances but has raised no strong objections from the city’s planners, would fit the area and clean up a property "that’s been an eyesore" for as long as he’s been in office.

The highrise, he said, is similar to another builder’s plan for 3070 Ellesmere, one which had been approved but "fell apart" in 2006.

The Academy wasn’t just meant to house students; professionals who work at the Centenary hospital campus and some retired people from the area also bought units, said Ainslie.

Ainslie was also pleased with retail proposed for the ground floor - Safapour said a small grocery store, a coffee shop and a bank are all possible - which he said the previous proposal lacked.

Residents of nearby Mornelle Court, he added, have complained there is little retail space and no bank in their community.

A density bonus from the developers, called Section 37 money, would be spent to build washrooms at a cricket pitch north of Ellesmere just east of Nielson Road, where the city sets up portable toilets each year.

Safapour confirmed Liu and Wang also plan to put a portion of their sales profits towards bursaries that would be available to a few categories of people attending UTSC.