Breathing new life in mostly vacant office building

A landmark office building in the heart of Barrie's downtown core could soon be under new ownership that the mayor hopes will be a boost to the city.

During the annual Mayor's Lunch, hosted by the Barrie Chamber of Commerce, on Jan. 24, Mayor Alex Nuttall announced that Jamie Massie, Dino Melchior and Mike Stollery are in the final stages of acquiring ownership of the Lakeview Corporate Centre.

Located directly across the street from city hall, the building's most notable current tenant is the Bank of Montreal. However, only about 28 per cent of it is currently leased, leaving a majority of it empty.

"Office space is obviously a difficult area at this point, but if you have the right entities coming to the table, I think it can be a huge success," Nuttall said. "We're looking to be supportive and helpful throughout the process to make sure that we have this turned around and it becomes the gem that it was always envisioned to be."

Over the years, the building has gone through various changes in ownership by parties that don't have direct connections to the city, Nuttall said.

"I think it's going to become a real people place, somewhere that I think compliments city hall as well and really does drive home the message that this is the heart of the city, it's our downtown," Nuttall said.

Over the years, the mayor says that owners have struggled to lock down the required capital investments and says disputes over bringing a grocery store back to the building have also caused challenges. Currently, its vacancies provide opportunities for both new office and retail clients.

The mayor says the final approval over the ownership should be resolved in the courts in the coming weeks.