The lights are much brighter there.
You can forget all your troubles,
forget all your cares.
So, go downtown.
Things will be great when you're downtown.
No finer place for sure – downtown.
Everything's waiting for you.
- “Downtown”, composed by Tony Hatch, sung by Petula Clark (1964)
What will be waiting for some St. Clair students in the fall will be almost 32,000 square feet of new classroom space in another downtown Windsor setting, as the college has acquired space in the One Riverside Drive (West) office building to accommodate the school’s exploding enrolment.
St. Clair’s administration announced the architectural development on June 19.
It has obtained space in One Riverside Drive – originally known as the Canderel Building – immediately to the east of the St. Clair Centre for the Arts.
The new campus will house students enrolled in the two-year-long Business program, and the brand-new Data Analytics for Business program.
That means that approximately 1,000 students will be joining a similar number who will be attending classes at the downtown’s Centre for the Arts and MediaPlex. The other college-operated facility in the commercial core is the TD Student Success Centre (corner of University and Victoria).
In a media release, college President Patti France said, “With St. Clair’s current growth in enrolment, this opportunity to expand our presence in this downtown anchor is a 'win/win' for everyone. It recognizes Windsor's effort to revitalize the downtown, and achieves the college's paramount goal of accommodating our students in state-of-the-art facilities.
“This creates a wonderful environment for students, providing extra space for classrooms, meeting facilities, and study areas,” she added. “The addition of approximately 1,000 students to our downtown campus also means more foot traffic for nearby businesses, providing them with opportunities for growth.”
One Riverside Drive is managed by Europro Real Estate. President Josef Jakubovic said the company is thrilled to be working with the college: “One Riverside is a prominent building in the core, and we are excited to add to the revitalization of downtown by attracting St. Clair College as a tenant. The college has a culture of excellence and is a great fit for this Class A building. Cities all over North America are rediscovering their soul in their inner-city cores. The visionary planning of St. Clair College is spearheading the big comeback by bringing youth and vitality back to the downtown.”
St. Clair had, previously, announced plans to construct a new “academic tower” at Windsor’s Main/South Campus. Those several storeys atop the existing Student Centre would house the programs of the School of Business and Information Technology.
Those plans are still in the works, but the college has not yet received approval of its financing for the construction project from the provincial government.
In the meantime, space was desperately needed to accommodate another massive enrolment increase that it is expected to occur this September – chiefly (again) in the form of international students. That is expected to increase the school’s full-time population from approximately 10,000 to 12,500. So, the addition of the One Riverside Drive space will accommodate approximately half of the enrolment increase.
Recent media stories, also, had suggested that the college’s administration and city’s municipal government had been looking at jointly acquiring a downtown property – something sizeable enough to house the relocated main branch of the city’s library system, plus college classroom space.
One Riverside Drive was considered for that partnered initiative, but it wasn’t quite large enough for such shared, dual-purpose usage.
Because of the time constraints associated with the college’s situation (having to create classrooms within the building in time for the launch of the academic year in September), St. Clair had to defer its involvement in the search for a joint-use property. Instead, it had to immediately proceed to arrange its One Riverside tenancy.
The building, originally constructed in the late-1990s to house Chrysler Canada’s head office, also features a parking garage and a great deal of (undeveloped) commercial space on its first floor – plus an outlet of The Keg steakhouse restaurant chain.
Europro’s website (europro.ca) describes the building:
14-storey tower and four-storey parking garage spanning an entire city block, with 170,136 sq.ft. of office space and 33,864 sq.ft. of ground floor retail space, totalling 204,000sq.ft. of mixed use space.
Encompassing the most prestigious block of the downtown core, One Riverside Drive is Windsor’s premiere office tower and retail location. As the only Class A designated building in the city, this property is the prominent choice for professional and discerning tenants. Enter through the stately lobby, with soaring ceilings and a glass front looking out over the Detroit Eiver and its impressive cityscape. Anchor tenant FCA Canada (formerly Chrysler) pulls out all the stops to adorn this grand reception area with the very latest of its colourful and gleaming automotive displays. With marbling and high-end finishes throughout the entire building, onsite parking garage, and 24-hour security services, One Riverside Drive is rich in quality, class and convenience.
