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A resident crosses the upscale lobby at The Marq, a converted apartment building near Western University in London, Ont.GEOFF ROBINS/The Globe and Mail

After the financial crisis of 2008-2009, retail developer Knightstone Capital was searching for lines of business that would be immune to a downturn. When the president of the Toronto-based real estate investment firm dropped off his daughter at university, a plan took shape.

"We showed up on moving day, and I was somewhat surprised to see that the residence had not changed since I was a student 30 years ago," said David Lehberg, the company's president and CEO.

Knightstone is now working with Centennial College to plan, finance and build a new residence for more than 700 students on the school's Scarborough campus. Instead of dorm rooms, the residence will be divided into apartments of three to four bedrooms, each with its own kitchen. A conference centre and teaching restaurant will be integrated into the building and staffed by students in the college's hospitality program.

"This building will live experiential learning," said Shannon Brooks, associate vice-president of corporate services at Centennial.

It's a type of public-private partnership that is increasingly common across Canada as universities and colleges look to attract new enrolment. In Toronto alone, three such projects are in various stages of planning – at University of Toronto, Ryerson and Centennial – and that number is likely to grow. And at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the school's entire new campus on the Great Northern Way in Vancouver is being developed through a private-public partnership.

The hope is that condo-like facilities will draw international students whose families want safe housing on campus, and also give schools that make the investment an edge in recruiting Canadian students. By turning to a private partner, universities outsource the risk of financing and construction in exchange for only receiving a small percentage of the overall rental income.

Large student residences can still face the political risk of neighbourhood opposition.

"U.S. college towns are destinations. The main difference between Canada and the U.S. is that the big schools in Canada are in urban centres," said Robert Bronstein, the president of Scion Group, a student housing development and consulting company, which set up its first office in Canada last summer.

As a result, town and gown disputes are not uncommon.

The University of Toronto, for example, is beginning a project with the Daniels Corporation, the developer for Regent Park, to turn a three-storey building and adjoining lane way into a proposed 20-plus-storey residence.

Neighbourhood dwellers have asked for concessions on height, food services and the mix of residents in the building.

"The community is diverse, so the building should be diverse," said Sue Dexter of the Harbord Village Residents' Association, adding that the neighbourhood group doesn't want to see a building that is made up entirely of first-year students.

"We were quite optimistic that there would be imagination; to date, we have not seen that," she said.

U of T is working to address those concerns, said Scott Mabury, vice-president of university development. What the school wants to avoid is a process that leaves bitter memories, as attended the building spearheaded by Knightstone nearby. That 25-storey residence is moving forward only after the Ontario Municipal Board overruled the city's objections.

"We need a positive public-private partnership because we need these going forward. We have to find ways to access private money," Dr. Mabury said.

Private-public residences are entering a market already being served by some private developers, who provide a communal style of living available in dorms but with the increased privacy and amenities of condos.

At The Marq in London, Ont., Centurion Apartment REIT, which also manages student apartments in downtown Waterloo, converted an apartment building to a residence.

"There's a huge gym with equipment, on-site laundry, tanning, and it's right downtown," said Shawna Stavley, a resident and graduate nursing student who pays about $600 for one bedroom in a three-bedroom apartment.

Success is not certain, however.

The highest-profile private project to struggle in Canada has been Evo, a student housing residence created from two downtown hotels in Montreal by Campus Crest, a manager of campus residences in the U.S. Rather than work with any one postsecondary school in Montreal, Evo is a private residence hoping to draw students from all of them.

Along with a gym, espresso bar, pool and library, Evo has a computer lab with brand-new Macs and made free breakfasts for residents during exam period this spring. The building's projected rate of occupancy this year? Ten per cent.

Closer relationships with institutions can reduce the chance of such outcomes, Mr. Bronstein said.

"If universities sit back, developers will conclude that the highest and best use is not to build residences," he said. "So universities have to partner with the developer."

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