With a developer in place for the former Grace Hospital site, the City of Windsor wants to continue talks with Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in the hopes of finding an alternate site for its multi-use development proposal.
The hospital had expressed interest in developing the six-acre property, but council ultimately decided to go with Ohio-based Fairmount Properties.
"There are a couple of sites that we're thinking of and we won't disclose them yet,” says Mayor Drew Dilkens. “We want to talk with Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare first, but you can think of, in the city, the number of sites that would be available that could accommodate a large development like the one proposed for the Grace Hospital site. There are only a few."
Dilkens says there was one aspect of the hospital's proposal city really liked.
"The seniors living and making sure that there are additional spaces for senior living was an important part of their proposal,” he says. “It was important to them, but also important to us. I think, to the extent that we could help find other city land that this project could be realized or at least a portion of the project, I think it would be a win for the city and a win for Hotel-Dieu."
According to Dilkens, preliminary talks have already been set up.
"I know a meeting is being set up in the next week or so with folks to sit down and talk about those particular options and hopefully there can be some traction found on one of the sites that is being proposed to see whether we can realize two great projects in the city through this process."
Fairmount Properties plans to transform the former Grace site at University Avenue and Crawford Avenue into a mixed-use international village including residential, retail, dining, and office space.
— With files from AM800's Rob Hindi