More problems plague downtown McMaster residence
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...1d0b96ffa.html
Problems persist at a downtown McMaster University residence where tenants spent about a week without air conditioning in mid-August heat.
Since the 10 Bay St. S. building opened last September, tenants have been plagued with water-quality issues, privacy concerns and other construction-related problems, which at one point forced students to temporarily move out while the university flushed the building’s plumbing.
The latest is a week of hot rooms as the “main chiller,” which is responsible for cooling the building’s suites, underwent repairs, reads an Aug. 13 letter to tenants obtained by The Spectator.
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The university has struggled to fill the building’s approximately 600 beds.
The Bay Street South residence is expected to be more than 45 per cent occupied in September, up from 40 per cent estimated in July.
“We are encouraged by the interest from prospective tenants,” Donovan said.
Still, amid an ongoing housing crisis, more than half of the building’s suites, priced between $1,416 and $2,126 for a shared or private unit of around 500 square feet, are expected to be unoccupied.
The university has been working to attract tenants through marketing and by opening up eligibility to students at all levels, as well as faculty and staff.
Mac and their partners really overestimated what the market would bear for these units.