General University Area Updates and Rumours

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If Laurier wanted to buy more property, they would. Even if the area becomes built-out, or bought up, if you look to Toronto, Ryerson in particular has come up with creative ways to engage developers and other commercial tenants while increasing student space (the Canadian Tire with a couple Ryerson stories on top comes to mind). However, Laurier, like the Unversity of Waterloo (and to a lesser degree, the University Colleges) have made a series of planning decisions based on their projections, and messaging that they have received from the Province with respect to enrollment. They have financed and developed residential space based on a series of assumptions. If they are unable to fill their residential space, then they will have to lower rates. I'm not sure how much of their existing residence fee is put towards paying off their mortgages. If they have to lower their rents, the loss will ultimately come back to the University and potentially back to the Province. This would affect other aspects of the University.

At the same time, if the University has to lower their rental rates, how will that cascade to the other property owners? Mr Puopolo, as a developer, is well aware of cost and revenue estimates for putting up a building. If developers start to see downward pressure in their rents, what will happen if the rental income falls below what they needed to earn in order to maintain their buildings and pay off their mortgages for their existing buildings?