Sophia Street building to offer rent capped units

Of 268 apartments new apartments being built, 54 will be rent controlled, the city says.

A new housing project is set to build 54 rent capped apartments in Barrie’s downtown.

On Wednesday, the city announced the construction of a 26 storey rental tower coming to Sophia Street.

Real estate developer Black Creek Group will be spearheading the project, building a total of 268 units, 54 of which will be rent capped.

“I think we all know somebody can’t afford today’s market’s interest rates going up to where they are, housing costs, construction and a lot of that is due to lack of inventory,” said Jordon Nott, president of Black Creek Group.

“So as we start to increase inventory, get shovels in the ground, you know, we’re hoping that housing becomes a little bit more affordable,” Nott said.

Mayor Alex Nuttall was on hand for the announcement.

The city is not directly involved in the construction of the building but has put spending on the table in the form of tax benefits and grants in exchange for the affordable component.

“What our council’s done is we’ve put $80 million on the table,” said Nuttall.

“$63 million of that has been used by the building industry in the city of Barrie to move projects forward,” Nuttall said, adding, ”these are huge investments, billions of dollars of new housing coming into place here in the city of Barrie.”

For a two bedroom apartment, the city defines affordable rent as $1755 a month, excluding utilities.

According to Nuttall, this council has approved 770 homes that meet the affordability criteria set out in policy.

“Whether you’re selling houses or hockey sticks, it’s all about supply and demand and the more units that are built, the more options people have,” said councillor for Ward 2, Craig Nixon.

“The pricing goes up generally when you’ve got a lack of supply and if the supply increases, then hopefully we’ll see results and some better pricing for folks,” Nixon said.

Construction is set to begin at the end of August and take almost three years.