‘These suites will remain aligned with municipally defined affordable housing rates … for a full 25 years,’ says Pratt Homes co-owner
The Library Residences, a new seven-storey rental building coming to south Barrie, is looking like a good read.
It will offer 122 rental units, including 24 affordable residences, at 60 Dean Ave., next to the Barrie Public Library’s Painswick branch and support the city’s goal to expand accessible and inclusive housing.
The city and developer/builder Pratt Homes announced the project this morning.
“These homes will be screened in collaboration with the City of Barrie to ensure they are provided to residents who qualify, giving families and individuals in Barrie new opportunities for secure, quality rental housing,” said Karen Hansen, co-owner of Pratt Homes.
“These suites will remain aligned with municipally defined affordable housing rates … for a full 25 years,” she added.
Construction is set to begin as early as fall 2025.
Mayor Alex Nuttall said the development fills a need in Barrie.
“We know the (housing) market is absolutely terrible, but at the same time we know affordability continues to be the main driver in the issues affecting both those trying to get into the housing market and those trying to downsize as seniors,” he said.
It was the mayor’s second affordable housing announcement in as many days.
On Tuesday, Nuttall also helped Mapleview Community Church announce plans to build a three-storey, non-profit affordable, supportive, transitional housing building, consisting of 31 bachelor units, five of them accessible, for individuals and families in crisis.
To be located at 300 Mapleview Dr. W., east of Essa Road, it will be almost 14,367 square feet in size and done in partnership with the City of Barrie and Hollyhomes Corp., a non-profit housing provider.
The project will cost $5.5 million to $6 million to build, and just more than $3 million will come from the city’s community improvement plan (CIP), in per-door grant funding.
Meanwhile, the Library Residences will also feature Barrie’s first privately owned public space, a community-designed outdoor area for residents and library visitors to enjoy.
This project also allows Pratt Homes to take advantage of the city’s new development charges (DCs) deferral policy, which was approved Aug. 13.
It states that for any new building permit applications for residential developments that are five storeys and above, with a signed agreement to provide at least 20 per cent affordable housing — as defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — received until Dec. 31, 2025, with building activity to commence before May 31, 2026, Barrie’s residential DCs be waived, with total waivers to an upset limit of $30 million.
Also, 50 per cent of the taxation from these properties is allocated to the city’s DC reserves, until the amount of development charges waived is repaid.
DCs are designed to recover the capital/infrastructure costs associated with residential and non-residential (commercial, industrial, institutional) growth within a municipality from developers, so that existing residents don’t have to foot the bill.
The Library Residences will also take advantage of council selling surplus city land, such as 60 Dean Ave., to help address the affordable housing crisis.
“This project reflects the city’s commitment to unlocking municipal land for housing,” Nuttall said, “and shows what’s possible when private developers and public leadership work together.”
Last year, council rezoned parcels of city-owned land to be sold and developed so that one day they could house hundreds of new residences.
The properties — located at 29 and 35 Sperling Dr., 50 Worsley St., and 60 Dean Ave. — went on the market to be sold to developers and to be turned into nearly 1,800 residential units. The idea is to increase Barrie’s housing stock, and at the same time create more affordable housing.
Nuttall said in November 2023 that the potential sale values of these three properties is roughly $35 million, their estimated annual tax revenue to the city is $3.5 million and the DCs created through these property sales is $36 million.
Council decided these properties were surplus to the city’s needs and all were rezoned for residential use.
Council has ambitious plans for 29 and 35 Sperling Dr., the former Barrie police headquarters.
It has been rezoned to permit a mixed-use residential development with approximately 1,035 residences, non-residential (commercial) uses, 833 parking spaces, and height to a maximum of 30 storeys.
Councillors had initially considered a development which would have resulted in a lower height and density, but adopted these limits to further examine the possibility of additional height and density to maximize the land’s use.
At 50 Worsley St., there’s more residential density planned. The 1.58-acre site is adjacent to Barrie Public Library and contains the H-Block surface parking lot and landscaped area.
Council determined the highest and best use of this development has 628 residences within two 33-storey residential towers sharing a three-storey, mixed-use podium building.
On the eastern side of the podium, there could be 12 two-storey, townhome-style residences that overlook John Edwin Coupe Park.
Retail use along the ground floor at Clapperton and McDonald streets, 395 parking spaces on one level of underground parking and three levels of above-grade structured parking, screened with commercial and residential uses, are also part of the plan.
Bill 23, the province’s More Homes Built Faster Act of 2022, calls for 1.5 million new homes built in Ontario by 2031.
Barrie councillors endorsed a pledge in early 2023 with a target of 23,000 new homes built by 2031, in addition to what was already planned.
