The University of Windsor will have a strong presence downtown by the end of 2014.

City council formally agreed to transfer the armouries, the former Greyhound bus depot and the Chatham Street parkette to the university for $2 Monday.

The armouries will become home to the university's visual arts and music programs. The bus depot will be transformed into a film school. The parkette will be an amphitheatre for outdoor performances.

The university is also taking over the Windsor Star building for its school of social work.

In all, 1,500 students will be going to classes in the city's core.

President Alan Wildeman said construction is expected to start next summer and be complete by the fall of 2014.

"We're looking at doing all this at once [but] the project with the parkette might be done later," Wildeman said.

Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac said the university's plans will be a boost to downtown.

"How exciting. The renderings are incredible and I know that residents in the city are very excited for what's going to be happening," she said.

Mayor Eddie Francis said the university's presence will also help attract new growth downtown, including a potential financial-related investor he's already working with.