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In a recent neighbourhood meeting, Piveon Developments presented its proposal for one of Barrie’s most ambitious development proposals to date. The five-tower complex at 145 Bradford Street is designed with mostly residential buildings ranging from 46 to 56 storeys, along with a hotel. With a scale more comparable to Toronto’s urban growth than Barrie’s existing skyline, this is the tallest and densest proposal in that city’s Urban Growth Centre to date.
The development site spans two adjoining parcels at the northeast corner of Bradford and John streets, two blocks from the west end of Kempenfelt Bay and its waterfront parks. The larger property at 145 Bradford Street measures 12,278m² with wide frontages on Bradford, Ellen, and John, and currently sits vacant. Beside it, 48 Ellen Street covers just 1,009m² with a 20m frontage and is occupied by a single dwelling. Together, the lands form a prominent block within Barrie’s Urban Growth Centre, an area transitioning from older industrial and commercial uses toward higher-density residential and mixed-use projects. The site is only a few blocks from downtown amenities to the northeast, and similarly from Allandale Waterfront GO stsation to the south.
At the neighbourhood meeting held last month, Jones Consulting Group presented details of the developer’s Zoning By-law Amendment application. The plan calls for a large mixed-use complex organized around five towers rising from a shared 10-storey podium with an 11th-floor outdoor terrace. Four of the towers are designed to reach 46 storeys, while the tower in the northeast corner would step up from 46 to 56 storeys in a narrower block that would just house hotel suites.
The development would bring a total of 1,582 homes, divided between 19 ground-oriented townhouses and 1,563 apartment units, 316 of which are earmarked as affordable rentals. Along the east edge of the block, the podium would be lined with townhouse units. Pathways and landscaped open spaces woven between the towers at grade would break up the podium footprint. Each of the five storey towers would be served by four elevators, equating to roughly one cab per 60 units, indicating prompt service. The 373 podium level suites are to be served by six elevators, or about one for every 62 units, also a good level of service. In the tallest tower, dedicated elevators would serve the 80 hotel suites on the top 10 floors.
The site is located about 900m, or a 13-minute walk, north of Allandale Waterfront GO station, the terminus of the GO Barrie line. Bradford Street itself is served by Barrie Transit’s Route 8 bus, which links directly to the Downtown Terminal on Maple Avenue and the GO station.
There is growing intensification along the Bradford Atrret corridor. To the south, the City has advanced plans for the two-storey Barrie Wastewater Innovation Centre, while 220 Bradford Street is proposed at 17 storeys, and 41-43 Essa Road is proposed as four towers from 23 to 39 storeys. To the west, a pair of 45-storey towers are proposed at 126–140 Bradford Street. Northwest, 204 Dunlop Street West is proposed at five storeys. North of the site, Harmony Village Lake Simcoe is a stale proposal that envisions five buildings topping out at 25 storeys, while 34–50 Bradford Street is proposed with towers of 25 and 29 storeys, 97–101 Bradford Street with a 36-storey tower, and Barrie Lakeshore Developments with four towers ranging from 25 to 45 storeys.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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