The City of Windsor has issued an expression of interest for a former school property in the Riverside area. Development proposals are now being accepted for the former Concord Elementary School site located at 6700 Raymond Avenue, right behind the Farrow Riverside Miracle Park. Proposals will be accepted until Wednesday, November 18. The property in Ward 6 covers approximately 0.90 hectares (2.23 acres) and is zoned residential. This marks the sixth property to be made available for redevelopment under the city’s Housing Solutions Made for Windsor strategy, which aimed to increase the housing supply by offering municipal lands for residential development. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says the city acquired the property in 2018 from the public school board and demolished the school to make way for housing on the site. “There is a big limitation in the types of housing that can be built there because there is a giant trunk sewer underneath the site. Frankly, on half of it, you can’t even have a basement. I will naturally limit what can happen there. We’ve had many public consultations; we’re very sensitive to what is built there to make sure it’s compatible with the neighbourhood,” he says. Dilkens says the property is surrounded by a park and housing. “It’s actually a really good spot to have more housing, to help facilitate more housing in the city of Windsor at a time when that’s a big issue. That was always the plan from the beginning. Before Housing Solutions Made for Windsor was even officially a concept, we acquired that property for the purpose of making it housing,” he says. Dilkens says they want to be respectful of what else is in that neighbourhood. “We have consulted every step of the way with the residents; we want to be very consultative, and we want to be very respectful of what else is in that neighbourhood and doing something that is not too intrusive. We want to be very respectful to have this land in a way that we think everyone would appreciate and certainly, hopefully, maybe even want to live there maybe one day,” he says. Click here for details on the Expression of Interest, including requirements and timelines. Other properties available as part of the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor plan include the former W.D. Lowe Secondary School site, Caron Avenue Parking Lot, Pelissier Street Parking Lot, and the Roseland Golf Club Parking Lot.
