Developer changing Barrie's skyline with high-rises to address housing crisis

Officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday afternoon to celebrate the first phase of the Sky Towers development on Grove Street West in Barrie, which will add more than 500 new units to the City’s housing market.

Specifically, the first phase of the project will add 541 units across two high rises on the site of the old YMCA.

SkyDev, part of the Skyline Group of Companies, is the developer.

“[It’s] the most iconic, biggest development in our company’s history,” said Greg Jones, president of SkyDev. “It feels amazing to be part of Sky Towers and to see this development come out of the ground and build more homes, rental apartments, affordable housing for the people of Barrie.”

According to Rentals.ca, the average rent for a one-bedroom unit in Barrie was more than $2,000 per month in October.

Thirty-two of the 500-plus new units at Sky Towers will be made affordable through the City’s Housing Community Improvement Plan.

“When it comes to the affordability crisis, what we’ve done is we’ve tried to prioritize dollars where we’re going to have the greatest impact,” said Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall. “Here is an example of that.”

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At 25 storeys and 27 storeys, the two towers that are being built in the first phase will be among the tallest in Barrie’s skyline.

Officials estimate that each unit will be 675 square feet on average, for a total of more than 458,000 square feet of floor area. Amenities will be on the eighth floor.

“Pickleball, indoor, outdoor contiguous amenity spaces, fitness centre, common kitchen, sky lounges,” said Jones.

Nuttall recalled spending time at the old YMCA as a youth.

“I certainly grew up on this site working out, having fun, going to day camps,” the mayor said. “It’s beautiful to see that community building that took place is going to transition into homes for individuals who need more affordable housing.”

Paul Calandra, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, also attended the groundbreaking, and admitted the province needs to do more to curb the housing crisis.. “We’re going to have to double down, remove obstacles and get even more homes built if we’re going to continue to meet the challenges of housing,” the minister said.

Skyline officials say the project is on schedule with the first tower expected to be completed by late 2026 or early 2027.

Additional phases of the project are expected to add 29-storey and nine-storey buildings for a total of nearly 1,000 additional rental apartment units.