12-storey vacant office building to become residence for Conestoga College students

Conestoga College has purchased two buildings in Waterloo region that will help house its students.

The new purchases are located at 60 University Avenue East in Waterloo and 22 Frederick Street in Kitchener.

The five-story building at 60 University Avenue East was previously a student residence that was being leased by Wilfrid Laurier University.

The building at 22 Frederick Street is a 12-story vacant office building that will be converted into a mix of student residences, a lounge area and a classroom space.

The cost of renovating that building will be around $50-70 million dollars.

There are also plans to renovate 60 University Avenue East to convert some of the larger units into smaller suites to make them more affordable.

Depending on the type of room, it currently costs students about $850 to $1,025 monthly to rent a room at the existing student residences at 50 University Avenue in Waterloo and 99 Conestoga College Boulevard in Kitchener.

John Tibbits, the president of the college, said once the renovations are done, the new rooms will be cheaper to rent than any of the rooms currently available to rent through Conestoga College today.

Tibbits said they want to design a residence space more appealing to international students — different than what's popular among domestic students right now.

"What we want to be able to say to parents in foreign countries is ... we want this to be part of the the experience at Conestoga: safe housing, quality housing, a low price point," he said.

"We're not trying to make money. [Cheaper residences] make us more globally competitive and provide for a safer and a healthier experience for the students."

Tibbits said demand for the international student program has gone up drastically over the last five years.

Both buildings will provide housing for students attending both the Waterloo campus and the Kitchener-Downtown campus starting in around the fall of 2025.

Both student residences will be fully furnished and will include Internet, shared laundry facilities and weekly events for students to get to know fellow residents.