U.S. developer and city end legal battle over Windsor's former Grace hospital site

The City of Windsor and the company that had sought to turn the old Grace Hospital site into student housing have announced an end to their legal battle over the development.

In a joint statement released by the two parties, Fairmount Properties LLC said it has elected to focus on more U.S.-based initiatives.

"Fairmount Properties LLC is thankful to the mayor, city council and the wonderful leaders in both higher education institutions who worked to support this initiative over the last four years," the statement said.

Coun. Renaldo Agostino likened the agreement to "a good mutual breakup where everybody shakes hands and walks away."

But he would not comment on how much the breakup might cost taxpayers.

'A lot of confidentiality'

"There's a lot of confidentiality stuff that's in here," he said. 

Agostino also declined to comment on the circumstances that lead to the dispute, saying only, "Your eyes tell the story, right? It's not a question of what went down. I think it's a question of what didn't go down, and I'm glad we're moving forward."

The Ohio-based developer sued the city earlier this year after council decided in a closed meeting in December 2023 to nix its plans to turn the hospital site into housing.

Fairmount said at the time that it had been left "with no choice" but to pursue the city in court.

The statement released Tuesday described the resolution as amicable, but neither Fairmount nor the City of Windsor would provide further comment.

Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare bid against Fairmount during the 2019 expressions of interest process with a proposal to develop a mix-use residential and assisted living facility on the site.

However, that bid was unsuccessful.

The president and CEO of HDGH said he hopes the city will move immediately now to develop the land.

"It disappointed us as an organization that we didn't get a chance to develop the land," Bill Marra said. 

"But I think what exacerbated that disappointment was the fact that it didn't proceed at all."

Agostino said it would make sense now for Windsor to open the old Grace Hospital site for expressions of interest through its Housing Solutions Made for Windsor process. 

But Marra said Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare won't revive its bid to develop on the land, even if it's given the option. 

If it goes through with constructing a long-term care home now, it will do so on its existing land, he said.

But, he said, they would be "very interested  in being at the table to see if there's a role for us to play" if any future plans include a health care component.