If you are planning on investing in real estate in Oshawa, you may want to consider the positive impact that will help bolster the downtown core in the very near future.  Having lived in and travelled to several "University Towns", one can only imagine what the Oshawa core will look like.  

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology has unveiled a long-awaited plan that outlines how the school will integrate into downtown Oshawa over the next 20 years.

There are currently about 1,600 students attending classes downtown, a number expected to increase to 5,600 by 2015 and up to 10,000 by 2030.

The downtown will need an estimated 1,500 student housing beds by 2015 and nearly 4,000 by 2030.

The thick planning document looks at factors including building space, available land, transportation, parking and accessibility and recommends actions for the City and university to complete.

Short-term objectives include:

- building a downtown facility for the faculty of business and IT

- attracting partners to build student housing downtown

- working with the Student Association to develop a downtown student centre

- building a new 600-space municipal parking garage by 2015 with a second one added by 2030

- improving pedestrian crossings and creating cycling infrastructure

- making the downtown a wireless hotspot for all UOIT network users

James Bryant (sales representative)

Sutton Group Classic Realty Inc., Brokerage

www.soldbybryant.com