Several of Simcoe County’s affordable housing developments are getting closer to becoming reality, including one in north Barrie.
County councillors were provided with an update during Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting via a staff report focusing on four prioritized affordable housing projects identified in the Simcoe County Housing Corporation (SCHC) affordable housing development master plan. The plan is expected to be implemented and/or initiated by the end of 2025.
The report outlined the three area projects, including one with major potential in Midland.
Municipally owned land at 837 Montreal Street made the cut, according to the staff report, which noted the property is adjacent to an existing SCHC building located at 810 Bay St. It has been identified as an “excellent opportunity for revitalization and intensification development" in the SCHC affordable housing development master plan. Preliminary design would be slated for 2025, with construction expected to begin in 2026.
The Midland property is the current location of a town water tower and pump house. While the timeline for relocation of the tower has yet to be confirmed, county staff continue to work with town officials to determine timing.
Preliminary consultation with town staff in Midland is already underway to identify development, study and assessment requirements and/or constraints, according to the staff report, with that information helping to assist with conceptual design, preliminary costing and budget considerations.
Pre-design meetings are expected to begin soon in order to get the project formally underway. If approved, in co-operation with the Town of Midland, the plan is to break ground in spring 2026.
A Barrie development near Bayfield Street and Highway 400 would include approximately 221 mixed-income residential units designed for seniors, families and individuals, will also include a mixed-use building, outdoor amenity area, parking structure and greenspace.
Final technical assessments are underway to determine infrastructure requirements and soil condition, noted the report, which added that, due to the size of the development, construction is planned to take place in two phases.
Phase one will include initial site services and construction of the parking structure, as well as the social and community services administration space. The precast concrete structural design is being finalized for the parking structure and is planned to begin factory production in May 2025 through to July 2025. It's scheduled to arrive on site in August.
Phase two will include the construction of the residential building and will begin following the structural completion of the parking structure in November 2026. It is expected to take approximately two years to complete.
When asked about the project’s “short construction timeline” for the second phase, Brad Spiewak, the county’s director of community housing, explained that part of the project will be done as much in parallel with the first phase as possible.
“Given the size of this job, we are aiming to have two tower cranes on site. Hopefully, we can get some of the residential towers going up as we are finishing the parking structure,” he said. “There is a little bit of unknown there, but then we should be getting everything wrapped up by 2027.
"We are more or less two years overall and hopefully we have as much overlap as we can to try to expedite it," Spiewak added. "This is our first venture at doing full precast. Our traditional build style just doesn’t fit the bill for something this large, (but) once it gets going, it will start quickly because all of the pieces will be being made ahead of time.”
The report also included an update on the SCHC's urban native secondary suites, which consists of 66 scattered units in the Midland and Penetanguishene area, and will include intensifying existing SCHC-owned buildings by adding a new secondary unit at the same time as rehabilitating the dwelling to renew the existing “aged” units and increase energy efficiency.
Building permits for the creation of a secondary unit have been obtained for three properties. Once a general contractor has been selected, remediation and unit creation are expected to begin in February.
This project is currently ahead of schedule and on budget, councillors were told.
The development of Town of Collingwood-owned properties at 29 and 45 Birch St., using modular construction methods, also topped the list for 2025. This proposed affordable housing redevelopment project was identified to go ahead using modular construction methods.
Three viable proposals have been received and evaluated and a proponent for the supply and installation of the modular building has been selected for the Collingwood project.
According to the report, county staff will report back to council in March with preliminary design, costing and budget updates for approval following a Town of Collingwood council review of the proposed modular design next month. If approved, the project is expected to be complete by mid-2026.