Barrie’s affordable housing numbers could be getting a boost.
City councillors gave approval Tuesday night to a rezoning needed to develop an eight-storey apartment at Bayfield and Sophia streets, with 65 per cent of its units to be affordable housing.
Coral Sophia Lane Housing wants to develop 113 and 117 Bayfield St., and 6, 8, 10 and 12 Sophia St. E. as a rental apartment building containing 108 units, of which 70 are proposed to be offered as affordable. The building would also include structured parking.
Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who represents this part of Barrie, says this project makes sense on several levels.
“Like all affordable housing developments, this development is eligible for incentives under the city's Community Improvement Plan (CIP), including development charge and planning fee discounts,” he said. “My understanding is that because Coral is a not-for-profit housing provider, their mandate is to provide affordable housing.
“In my opinion, this points to the greater need for social and non-profit housing projects in Barrie. When the need to make a profit is removed, it allows for housing to be provided at an affordable rate,” Aylwin added. “I’m hopeful that this project can move forward and can help to address the severe housing crisis we are facing.”
City council will consider final approval of this rezoning at its March 1 meeting.
The building would have close proximity to the street with active residential spaces at-grade and seamless connections to the sidewalk, thereby creating a pedestrian-friendly streetscape.
The building would also include step-backs at the third and seventh floors to create a human-scaled development along the street and to provide an appropriate transition to surrounding land uses
It’s located on the northeast corner of the Bayfield Street and Sophia Street East intersection, while also fronting onto Drury Lane.
This land, just less than one acre, is vacant. Previously it contained five residential dwellings that had been converted to commercial uses. They were demolished in 2017.
Affordable housing is a range of housing types allowing families and individuals, of all income levels, to find suitable places to live without spending a disproportionate percentage of their income on housing. Affordable housing can include ownership, rental or subsidized housing.
The city defines affordable rental housing as a unit for which the rent doesn’t exceed 30 per cent of the gross annual household income for low- to moderate-income households. That income is based upon the most recent Canada Census statistics for Barrie, which are updated every five years.
Barrie has an affordable housing strategy designed to encourage, stimulate and increase the supply and range of affordable housing options to meet the needs of residents of all income levels, at all stages of life. Its goal is the construction of 600 affordable housing units in Barrie, aligned with Simcoe County’s 10-year affordable housing plan that allocates the need for 840 units in Barrie, of which 252 are geared to subsidy by the county, to the year 2025.
By 2019’s end, the city says 778 of those 840 units had been created; the 778 include the 252 county units. This breaks down to 134 affordable units created in 2018, all second suites, and 203 units created in 2019.
