‘Largest development in the city’s history’: Four-tower SmartCentres project on Barrie’s waterfront clears major hurdle

A proposal that would reshape the City of Barrie’s waterfront skyline is about to take a giant leap toward reality.

On Nov. 30, the municipality’s planning committee approved zoning bylaw and official plan amendments for a large mixed-use project on the 3.5-hectare lot at . SmartCentres has pitched four buildings ranging in height from 25 to 46 storeys.

This decision needs to be ratified by council next week. However, approvals of this nature are generally seen as a significant step on the long road to construction.

“The approval of the applications would permit the future development of four towers for residential rental apartments, a hotel, ground floor commercial uses, a parking garage, open space and preservation of environmental lands,” development services director Michelle Banfield said in a report. “Although there are no formally recognized affordable units identified for this site, this project may assist with overall affordability of rental housing by adding a substantial number of units to the available market.”

This project would generate about $4.56 million in building permit application and $9.64 million in cash-in-lieu of parkland fees for the city.

About 1,700 residential units, 3,500 square metres of ground-floor commercial space and 145 hotel rooms would be built. Public corridors would also link to existing natural features, such as the Bunker’s Creek eco-park and Kempenfelt Bay.

This site is between Bradford and Lakeshore Drive, near the city’s waterfront.

“I recognize not everyone is happy with the proposal,” Coun. Keenan Aylwin said, noting the city has to meet provincially-mandated growth targets. “Change is difficult. The reality is Barrie is changing and growing whether we like it or not. A substantial amount of that growth will be taking place in our downtown and waterfront.”

Residents have, in the past, expressed a number of concerns with the proposal, including building height and density, shadowing, light pollution, soil stability and increased traffic in the area.

“While the height is significant in terms of existing development, staff do not consider the height requested by this proposal to be out of character in an urban centre,” Banfield said.

Some Barrie councillors had hoped there would be interest from SmartCentres in , as a potential alternative to the proposed $50-million reconstruction of the nearby W.A. Fisher auditorium into a large theatre and event facility.

However, that thought was shot down earlier this month.

“A full-sized conference centre’s not in the cards for SmartCentres, both for parking and development reasons,” Mayor Jeff Lehman said two weeks ago.

The property was once owned by , which also had control of the nearby Collier Centre. Fortress bought the Harmony Village land in November 2016. Initial plans had included six residential towers, townhouses and ground-floor retail.

However, Fortress ran into legal issues in recent years, mostly related to its syndicated mortgage investors.

“This is the largest development in the city’s history,” Lehman said Monday night. “There is a significant portion of our population who have real concerns with this height. This may not be popular; that may not necessarily make it wrong.”