Barrie invests millions to spur affordable housing developments

An approved development by SkyDev co. Inc. along Grove Street West in Barrie (Courtesy: City of Barrie).

The City of Barrie is putting its money where councillor's mouths are with a major injection of cash for affordable housing.

This week Barrie city councillors have received a staff memo outlining how upwards of $10 million in funding invested in the Housing Community Improvement Plan (CIP) will be allocated. Earlier this year councillors approved an updated CIP with various programs aimed at spurring development as the City faces a housing shortfall.

Approximately $4.4 million dollars in the fund came from the reserve for the previous CIP. Another approximately $3.6 million dollars came an investment from the province while the remaining $2 million was support from the federal government.

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Over the summer City staff accepted applications for the Per Door Grant program, part of the new CIP. This program aims at prioritizing projects that will include affordable units and/or purpose-built rentals.

According to the staff memo, interest in the program was high. Staff selected a total of six applications to split the $10 million dollars between:

• Proposed development by SkyDev co. Inc. on Grove Street West
• Proposed development by JD Development Group on Lakeside Terrace
• Proposed development by the County of Simcoe on Rose Street
• Proposed development by Camphill Foundation on Park Street
• Proposed development by YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka on Bayview Drive

The memo says the total number of applications received would have required nearly two and a half times the available funding in the Housing CIP.

The development along Grove St. W. will receive a majority of the available CIP funding, with $6,732,968.92 earmarked for it. According to staff that will break down to $210,405.28 per affordable housing unit.

The Grove St. W. proposal is for a 271-unit, 25-storey purpose-built rental apartment building, with 32 of those units set to be classified as affordable housing. While council fully approved the site for development in June 2023, the initial application dates back to April 2017.

The City's website lists the development as being affixed to the address of 10-24 Grove St. W, with 3 tall buildings totally 928 units.

While about $6.7 million has been set aside for one tower along Grove St., the staff memo sent to councillors this week has a second SkyDev co. Inc. tower approved for funding from the CIP's Per Door Grant program, however it says this tower has not been approved.

Of the 6 applications approved, 3 are from for-profit developers and 3 are from the not-for-profit sector.  JD Development Group has also been approved for funding from the Housing CIP for its project on Lakeside Terrace despite the project not being approved yet. That proposal would be for 5 affordable housing units in a 231-unit, 12-storey purpose-built rental apartment building.

The County of Simcoe will be receiving funding for its project at 20 Rose Street. Once the site of temporary modular housing, the County is proposing a 215-unit, 11 storey mixed-used social housing apartment building, with 172 of those units deemed affordable.

The City will be investing $564,343.68 in the Rose St. project, which equals about $3,281.07 per affordable housing unit.

The YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka is continuing to work towards reestablishing its presence in the City of Barrie with a new facility, which would include a transitional affordable housing component for at-risk youth. The City will be investing approximately $2.5 million in it, which would include 12 shared-living accommodation units. The City's investment breaks down to $208,333.33 per shared living unit.

Lastly staff have allocated $60,000 in a proposed development by Camphill Foundation Canada on Park Street. This supportive affordable housing project is targeted towards adults and seniors with developmental disabilities. The not-for-profit is proposing 2 shared living accommodation units for 2 people in a detached house, with the City investing $30,000 in each.

According to the memo, the successful applicants were selected on a competitive basis.