McMaster has submitted its final proposal to the city for its first ever off-campus student residence - a multistorey building with close to 1,373 beds located across the street from the university.

The university says it has altered the design of the Main Street West development based on community feedback, with the latest proposal scaling back the western wing from 18 to 15 storeys, the Main Street frontage from 13 to 10 storeys and the Dalewood Avenue section from 10 to 8 storeys.

Over the past couple years, the project has been met with some neighbourhood opposition, including from the Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association, which supports high-density student housing but says the plan is too much for the site.

The university says the Main Street West proposal is significant because, combined with the on-campus Peter George Centre for Living and Learning - a joint academic and residence building scheduled to open in August - it will allow them to offer all first-year students a residence room for the first time in many years.

"We have a challenge at Mac - it's been built up over the years - because we've never provided enough student housing for our students, particularly our undergraduate students," Roger Couldrey, vice-president of administration, recently told a Spectator editorial board meeting.

"We believe that by improving the number of residences, we're going to improve the calibre of education for our students," he said, pointing to a correlation between academic achievement and living in residence during a student's first year.

In a typical year, there are 6,000 first-year students admitted to Mac and 3,600 of them are able to secure a residence room.

Of the remaining 2,400, it's not clear how many students live at home and commute versus renting somewhere in the community, Couldrey said.

The Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association is not opposed to the university building a residence at the site, but the group believes what's being proposed is "too much" and "too high" for the location, said vice-president of the board of directors Kenneth Moyle.

"This is just three times the size of anything they've done on campus itself, and they see fit to do this off campus," he said.

He said the group supports increased density on Main West and has been asking McMaster to build additional housing for years, but the proposed development will be "too much in one place."

The university says it has worked with the neighbourhood over the last couple of years to try and reach a compromise on the development, which is a joint project between McMaster and Knightstone Capital.

In addition to the changes to height, the university has also said the latest proposal includes more parking - increasing the number of spots to 42 from 23.

Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson said she has upcoming meetings with neighbourhood residents and city planning staff to review the final proposal.

She has heard from residents who are opposed to, feel indifferent to and support the project, she said, noting the community has long been asking McMaster to build additional student housing.

"But of course it always comes down to what is the design and what could and will its impact be?" she said. "Certainly the community is sensitive, as we are all, to issues of height, and bulk and traffic impacts, and those are the sort of details that I will be anxious to receive when I meet with staff."

An official plan amendment is being reviewed and will be brought before the planning committee for a decision this summer, city spokesperson Aisling Higgins said in an email.

The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal is also considering the appeal of nondecision for the project at 1190 Main St. W., she said.

The city has also received a formal consultation application for McMaster's proposed off-campus graduate residence, which would house 600 students on the southwest corner of Bay Street South and King Street West where there is currently a parking lot.

Earlier this month, officials from McMaster pleaded with councillors to oppose Hamilton's proposed plan to eliminate the exemptions for the university when it updates its development charge bylaw.

McMaster president Patrick Deane stated in a letter to councillors that if the university's exemption is eliminated, officials will have to re-examine a number of planned projects, which could put several of their building projects in jeopardy.

npaddon@thespec.com

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-With files from Hamilton Community News