Rez rules ( Guest Post and Part 4 of 4 Part Series by Laurie Watt)

BARRIE - Part four in a four part series looking at student housing in Barrie. 

• By Laurie Watt

The sign on the building under construction on Duckworth Street says “luxury student accommodation.”
It may sound like an oxymoron to some, but not for London Properties owner Ray Stanton, who’s been in the student housing business for 20 years.
“They’re large apartments. A four-bedroom unit is 1,800 square feet, with all the appliances. There’s parking behind the building. We’re encouraging groups to rent them, and we’re targeting students that are in second or third year of their studies,” said Stanton.
Owning 4,500 units and managing another 8,000 beds on behalf of colleges and universities, Stanton acknowledges he prefers a more mature tenant – and ideally, a group of mature tenants who appreciate the conveniences – including in-suite washers and dryers.
Cost is $490 per month, plus utilities.
Stanton noted first-year students often choose residence: on-campus or nearby complexes like Georgian Green. 
Located at the corner of Duckworth Street and Bell Farm Road, Georgian Green is the oldest student residence in Barrie. Built in 1988, the three four-storey buildings offer five and six-bedroom suites. Each suite features a living area, high-speed Internet and a kitchen. 
The buildings have two Residents’ Assistants, one for every 42 students – who outline the rules right from the start of the school year.
“They make sure people don’t get hurt. They draw the limits for people,” said residence manager Terry MacFarlane.
“We set the tone at the beginning. It’s a matter of zero tolerance, so they know what they can and cannot do. You can drink in your apartment, but you can’t walk outside with it or it will be confiscated. We want them to have fun, but we want them to be safe.”
The three buildings feature security cameras, and onsite property management staff, as well as the RAs. The cost, including utilities and cable/internet, for a furnished room in a suite is $475/month.
Newer and with a few more rules is Georgian College’s residence, which opened in September 2002.
The eight-storey building that faces Little Lake houses 525 students in two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites. Fees for September to April total $6,139.
The college has rules, sign-in procedures and an overnight guest policy.
Guests must be signed in, and if not gone by 10 p.m., that guest is considered an overnight guest.
Students are not permitted to host overnight guests during registration/orientation week or any time during 24-hour quiet hours, without written permission from the Residence Life Manager or the college’s housing general manager. A resident may have a maximum of eight guest nights per month, and the number of guests is limited on occasions such as Halloween.