$35M rental building in Bradford nears completion

The County of Simcoe’s new 50-unit rental building in Bradford West Gwillimbury Ont., on Nov. 22, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

November 22 marked National Housing Day across Canada, and the County of Simcoe celebrated by showcasing the progress of its new 50-unit, $35-million rental building in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

The four-storey, 69,000 square-foot building is part of the County’s ‘BuildingUp’ initiative to improve housing.

“It’s a great way to celebrate the notion and the commitment to creating more affordable housing,” said Mina Fayez-Bahgat, the County’s general manager of social and community services. “Proud of our work and to get another building built on time.”

County of Simcoe and Bradford West Gwillimbury officials on a tour of the new 50-unit rental building in Bradford West Gwillimbury on Nov. 22, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

“We're getting very close. We're at the final finishing stages,” added Brad Spiewak, the County’s director of social housing. “We've got a lot of well-trained crews and staff that were able to get the finishing work done and actually try to bring it to completion this year.”

The County showcased a similar build in on West Street in Orillia exactly one year ago.

Its residents moved in this past spring.

The Bradford project is taking place at the corner of Simcoe Road and Marshview Boulevard on land donated by the Town.

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“We need to provide these services for our residents,” said James Leduc, mayor of Bradford. “We need to service all sectors of society and we need to work with our most vulnerable society. And this just helps provide another level of service that Bradford has needed for a long time.”

County officials say the mix for the 50 units will be as follows:

- 31 one-bedroom, 635 square-foot units

- 12 two-bedroom, 958 square-foot units

- 7 three-bedroom, 1,270 square-foot units

County officials add that rental rates will range between 60 and 80 per cent of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation average market rental rate.

Ontario Works staff have already been set up in-house processing the many applications for the building’s units, which opened in July.

A kitchen in the County of Simcoe’s new 50-unit rental building in Bradford West Gwillimbury on Nov. 22, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

“In the first three days we received 500 applications for the 50 units and now we’ve exceeded over 1,300 applications,” stated Fayez-Bahgat.

In addition to Ontario Works services, the build will also offer a community kitchen, food programs and space for the Simcoe County District School Board’s (SCDS) programs that prepare students for employment.

“These students are students that do have some special needs,” said John Playford, superintendent of education for the SCDS. “[Programs will be] focusing on not only the university literacy skills, but living the life skills we call them.”

County officials also re-confirmed that they have exceeded their housing strategy target with more than 2,600 builds in the last decade.

Mayor Leduc says Bradford has not met its housing targets, but adds that the 50-unit build will be a big help.

A one-bedroom unit in the County of Simcoe’s new 50-unit rental building in Bradford West Gwillimbury on Nov. 22, 2024. (CTV News/ Mike Lang)

“Because of the economy, because of the inflation rates, we haven't able to meet our targets, but we look forward to hopefully, meeting those in 2025-26,” stated Leduc. “Different styles of build [and] working with all of our residents to hopefully provide that housing that everybody needs.”

County officials say touch-ups such as exterior, ceiling and kitchen work will need to be completed and appliances will have to be installed before the 50-unit Bradford build will be ready to welcome its first residents. They expect that date to be December 16, and that it will be at full occupancy by February.

The County is also set to implement its next 10-year housing strategy in the first quarter of the new year, and is expecting its 215-unit rental building on Rose street in Barrie to be completed by around 2026-2027.