U.S. developer behind nixed downtown Windsor student housing project sues city

An Ohio-based developer says it's suing the City of Windsor after council nixed plans to turn the old Grace Hospital site into student housing.

Fairmount Properties LLC issued a statement on Monday, saying it's been left "with no choice" but to pursue the city in court — in an effort to quash "secret in-camera resolutions."

The city decided not to sell the developer the land after a closed meeting on Dec. 1, 2023.

In response to the lawsuit, Windsor's head of communications emailed that the city can't say much because it's an issue now before the courts.

"The city stands behind its decisions as it relates to this file and will vigorously defend our position on this matter," said Jason Moore.

At the time, Coun. Renaldo Agostino (Ward 3, downtown) said they wanted to see faster progress.

In an interview on Tuesday, Agostino said he expects the city to soon put out a call for applications to develop the site.

He said he's frustrated that many prime lots in the downtown core are going unused, including this one.

"I always thought, what an incredible opportunity for something that would be special for our downtown...we thought that we had something that we landed on, but clearly, we're now working on something else."

The month before the project was scrapped, St. Clair College signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Fairmount.

"We were surprised [it was nixed] to be honest with you," Ron Seguin previously stated. Seguin is the school's vice-president of international relations and campus development.

"We thought we were close to a really unique project, and we've done a lot of development here at the college."

The "global village" project was designed to create housing units for 400 students enrolled at the college's downtown campus — with tuition and rental fees combined. Fairmount was selected to spearhead the mixed-use project by the municipality in 2020.

In the statement, Fairmount alleges the city terminated their agreement unilaterally, without notice and "in bad faith."

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Despite filing documents to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Fairmount said it "remains fully invested in collaborating" with the city on the project.