Condo project to set stage for Barrie’s downtown intensification plan

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This is the view of Kempenfelt Bay that residents will have when the Lakhouse condominiums open in 2021. All that remains of the former Central Collegiate Institute on Dunlop Street W. in Barrie. Plans are underway to preserve the school's auditorium and build a multi-purpose neighbourhood. Construction continues on Dunlop St. E.,

Ontario Construction News staff writer

Aalto Developments held an official grand opening event recently, beginning pre-sales for the Lakefront Residences in Barrie.

The prime location is on the shore of Kempenfelt Bay, just outside the downtown.

Construction has started on the condos to be built at 185 Dunlop St. E., at Poyntz Street – literally on the edge of the North Shore Trail. The building will be 10 storeys, with 178 units.

City of Barrie general manager of infrastructure and growth management Andrea Miller told BarrieToday.ca that the project, which is expected to see occupancy in 2022, will be instrumental in furthering the city’s plan for downtown.

“It kind of redevelops some of the older areas that are close to downtown and brings some new vibrancy to that part of the city,” she is quoted saying, adding that the development fits into the city’s plan for more development in the downtown core.

It’s is just one of many developments beginning to happen all along Dunlop Street, all the way from Lakhouse up to the Five Points at Bayfield Street and continuing west to the former Barrie Central Collegiate site.

It’s been a year since councillors reviewed three potential plans to transform Dunlop Street; including a possible hotel-condominium complex at the corner of Dunlop and Mulcaster streets, a 20-storey tower at the Five Points and the continuing effort to save W.A. Fisher Auditorium, BarrieToday.ca reports.

The article goes on to say several people who were living at a hotel located across the street from the auditorium, as part of a local housing support program, had to be relocated so the building could be torn down. The city also terminated leases with the tenant of 34 and 40-44 High St. effective April 30 in support of the Kidd’s Creek project.

Integrated site-plan options for the former Central Collegiate auditorium site are expected to be presented to council  in the fall and a capital campaign is likely, once the building design is confirmed and the business plan is approved.

The new 650-seat auditorium project.

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