A $300 million housing investment is planned along Windsor's riverfront as part of the city's Housing Solutions Made for Windsor.
On Wednesday, the city announced Farhi Holdings Corporation as the successful proponent to develop housing on the city-owned Caron Avenue parking lot near the intersection with Pitt Street West, not far from Riverside Drive West.
The Housing Solutions Made for Windsor strategy announced in March 2024 is focused on increasing the supply of housing and meeting aggressive housing targets by identifying and making shovel-ready various municipal lands with high potential for residential development.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says when they put the expression of interest out for the Caron Avenue parking lot, they had four respondents and narrowed it down to two.
"We did due diligence with two respondents, and we ended up getting to the end with Mr. Farhi and Farhi Holdings Corporation on a wonderful plan," he says. "We're excited about this plan, 387 units, the redevelopment of the Caron Avenue parking lot, and a new building on Riverside Drive with a prime waterfront view. At the end of the day, everything was transacted at fair market value and approved by city council."
The Caron Avenue development is also going to unlock the proposed development of a nearby 28-story residential tower with 187 units and commercial space at 629 Riverside Drive, at the corner of Janette Avenue, a site already owned by Farhi .
The Caron Avenue development will allow additional parking spaces to be opened up for the Riverside development, which still needs the financing to be finalized before construction on the tower can begin.
"You're going to have a building that you're standing in Detroit and looking into Windsor and be proud," he says. "It's going to be a 28-story gorgeous building that you see in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and New York City. It's something I'm very proud of."
Farhi says Caron Avenue is not just about what's being built on the site.
This site unlocks Janette, and Janette is going to unlock another two or three. I see a development here that's going to be hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 15 years," he says.
Farhi , who owns several vacant properties along Riverside Drive, told reporters he envisions over $1 billion in combined investments over the next 10 to 15 years and anticipates several hundred additional residential units along the riverfront.
The city is providing incentives through the Brownfield Community Improvement Plan to help clean up a section of the Caron Avenue property near University Avenue that was the site of a former gas station.