Developer SmartCentres is proposing to build four towers along Bradford Street near Checkley Street, not far from Barrie's waterfront. City Council will consider final approval of a rezoning and Official Plan change. (Rendering above courtesy of SmartCentres)
According to an article in Simco.com, this proposal would reshape the City of Barrie's waterfront skyline.
The development will consist of the following:
- Mixed-use project on 3.5 hectare lot
- located at 51-75 Bradford and 20 Checkley Streets
- Four towers
- Height from 25 to 46 storeys
- 1,900 residential units
- Commercial space
- Hotel with 145 rooms
- Parking garage
- Open space
- Preservation of environmental lands
- Public corridors that would link to Bunker's Creek eco-park and Kempenfelt Bay.
The project would generate about $4.56 million in building permit applications and $9.64 million in cash-in-lieu of parkland fees for the city.
Barrie Today states that a rezoning and Official Plan amendment are both required for this project to go ahead.
A site-plan control application has also been submitted as Phase 1 of the development concept, which includes a 25-storey building fronting Lakeshore Drive for 152 hotel rooms and 230 residential units.
Even though the planning staff report justifies the proposed heights of the towers, this has caused a great deal of concern surrounding this project.
A motion to get further justification for the height of the proposal to reduce heights to mitigate impact on surrounding neighbourhoods lost 6-5 at a Nov. 30 meeting.
At the Nov. 30 meeting, Barrie councillors asked for a memo from staff about several matters connected to this project, including a conference centre, environmental protection land, parkland (or cash-in-lieu of it), electric vehicle charging stations, a draft zoning-bylaw modification, and holding provisions on the property.
Senior city planner Celeste Kitsemetry offered some additional information about an opportunity to locate a conference centre on the site.
“While some meeting space will be included, the overall hotel model is not inclusive of a true conference centre and is unlikely to be contemplated at this location in the future. Some meeting space is contemplated in the (hotel) model, but is typically less than 5,000 square feet. Hotel-room capacity near a facility needed for a mid-size conference of 300 to 400 people isn’t being planned. This size of hotel is not part of this development proposal."
Senior City Planner | Celeste Kitsemetry
Councillors have decided the site plan should be bumped up — approved by council, not just delegated to city staff, as is the usual procedure. There’s to be an overall site plan for the entire property, plus one for each development stage. All would come to council individually and require its approval.
DataBid is currently reporting on this project - Bradford & Checkley Streets Mixed Use - Barrie (0018030520)
