Affordable housing units taking shape in north Barrie

An artist's rendering of the apartments under construction and ready for 2027/2028 move-in.

After the groundbreaking ceremony was held in June, a new affordable housing development is beginning to take shape in north Barrie.

Despite the weather, construction remains on pace as the County of Simcoe works to complete the development in partnership with the city of Barrie.

Brad Spiewak, director of facilities maintenance and development at the County of Simcoe said its one of the largest projects the county is working on when it comes to affordable housing.

“At 20 Rose Street in Barrie, this is the county’s single largest investment in affordable housing and it’s sitting well over $200 million,” said Spiewak. “That we’re putting towards building up the county within the city of Barrie.

As commuters drive by the site along Highway 400, a parking garage is currently under construction that will see commercial spaces as well as 215 parking spaces created.

Construction is on schedule thanks to pre-cast construction.

“Everything is being made offsite in a factory and then being shipped to site,” said Spiewak. “I think we all know it’s been a very cold, long and very snowy winter so we were able to offset some of those weather delays.”

Included with the parking garage and commercial space will be 11 and 9 story buildings to accommodate the 220 affordable housing units. Studio apartments and up to three-bedroom units will be built.

“This will be a mixed income building so we’ll have rent geared income affordable, and we’ll also have the low end of market unit,” said Spiewak. “So it’s a whole cross-section of the spectrum of income that we’re going to be able to host at this building.”

The project on Rose Street is one of many affordable spaces rising in Barrie.

Mayor Alex Nuttall is excited to see the project begin to take shape.

“I think it’s a wonderful place and the walkability to grocery stores, to malls, to jobs, to downtown, to recreation facilities, I mean, there’s a lot of opportunity,” said Nuttall.

Creating attainable and affordable housing got a little easier after the province announced removing the 13 per cent HST on new home builds, something that Nuttall said will make housing more affordable in the city.

“This has a massive impact on the affordability question, because if you think about a $600,000 townhouse being built, now backing off by $70,000, it just has a huge impact on the city,” said Nuttall.

The parking garage is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, with 220 affordable units completed by the end of 2028. That is on top of the 456 affordable units that are currently under construction in Barrie.