An all-day open house attracted dozens of would-be renters to a new, 160-unit apartment building at 75 Barrie Rd. Friday.
It’s the third large apartment building on the sprawling site that was once home to a factory.
Hassey Property Group oversees finding tenants for the building, owned by Villasola Residential Condominiums. Sales representative Robert Stratton says tenants will be able to start moving in Feb. 1.
“We already have lots of people signed up and ready to go,” he said. “We only started advertising last week, and probably 10 per cent of units are spoken for.”
He says about 40 people had attended the open house by the early afternoon, which is “well above average” for a weekday showing.
“It’s because there is a major lack of housing,” he said.
Stratton says the feedback he’s received on the new building has been positive.
“We are getting lots of seniors in here because it’s wheelchair accessible,” he said. “We have barrier-free bathrooms for handicaps in certain units.”
The monthly rent for a 655-square-foot, one-bedroom unit, plus den, is $1,650. A 755-square-foot unit costs $1,730. A two-bedroom unit, plus den, of 1,245 square feet costs $2,580. Tenants will also have to pay a $50 monthly parking fee in addition to hydro and water.
“The pricing is fair for all the one-bedroom units,” Stratton said. “The only ones that are priced high are the executives, which are larger units.”
There are no units deemed ‘affordable’ in the building. The developer, Moe Zadeh, purchased the land almost 20 years ago, soon after a crumbling, old factory and property were seized by the city due to unpaid back taxes. The city demolished the building.
In the intervening years, Zadeh’s company has built 60- and 103-unit apartment buildings — in part, with government funding meant to ensure a portion of affordable housing was included.
He originally intended to have affordable units in the new, $38-million apartment complex as well and, in 2018, he formally asked the city to defer development charges for five years with the caveat he would ensure 15 units in the building would be affordable.
But before council could make a decision, Zadeh pulled the plug on the idea.
“His two prior projects (85 and 95 Barrie Rd.) received extensive funding from the county and also the city and, as a result, there are a number of affordable housing units in those two buildings,” said Ian Sugden, the city’s director of development services and engineering.
Sugden said Zadeh’s request for development charge deferrals and his offer to include 15 affordable units “was related to the conditions of financing involvement that he was considering with (the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation).”
Sugden said Zadeh ultimately “selected a different method of financing and, accordingly, he is not pursuing affordable housing units within the 75 Barrie Rd. project.”
Stratton, a real-estate agent for more than 20 years, says the housing demand is worse in Orillia than it is in surrounding communities.
“There aren’t a lot of nice places for people to live in,” he said. “A lot of basement apartments are dingy, and people are overpaying for that.”
He believes it will only take a year until the 75 Barrie Rd. complex is full, and says most residents will likely be seniors.
“Seniors are having a tough time finding a nice, clean place,” he said. “I feel sorry for them living in these conditions that they shouldn’t be living in.”
Orillia’s Debbie Kehoe attended the open house Friday. She says it’s a beautiful building, but the rent is high.
“It’s new and it’s clean,” she said. “For me, right now, it’s not affordable.”
Kehoe is a single mother who lives with her son, who relies on the Ontario Disability Support Program.
“We would need the two bedrooms, plus den, which would be $2,580 a month for the two of us,” she said. “I don’t think we could go that route.”
Michelle Nelson and Kevin Gagnon, two Orillia residents who also attended the open house, say the units are “way overpriced.”
Gagnon, who is on the Canada Pension Plan, says he earns less than $700 a month from the retirement plan.
“We can’t afford this,” Nelson said. “For what they are charging here, we could get a house.”
Nelson and Gagnon say people on a pension can’t afford to live in an apartment complex.
“I feel bad for the older people who are trying to find somewhere to live,” Nelson said. “Even with two people on a pension, you would barely be able to afford to live here.”
Viktoria, a local post-secondary school student who did not want to provide her last name, says she likes the apartment and thinks the pricing is reasonable.
“It opens up a lot of housing for people who are looking,” she said. “I think, for the price and location, this is really good.”
While Viktoria says there are plenty of options in Orillia for people looking for a new home, many of them are not within a reasonable budget.
“A lot of options are either overpriced or just not good options,” she said.
Cam Davidson, who heads the city’s affordable housing committee, says the square footage of the 75 Barrie Rd. apartments is reasonable, but the prices are “atrocious.”
“People on the Ontario Disability Program and other social services and subsidized housing don’t make that kind of money. Putting yourself in a situation where you are paying over $1,000 for a one-bedroom isn’t going to work if you have a family,” he said.
“A two-bedroom would be a stretch for a family of three kids and two adults who would be paying $2,580. That’s not affordable housing.”
Davidson says rent that is less than 80 per cent of market value is what is considered to be affordable housing, and the Barrie Road apartments don’t reach that mark. However, he concedes, the prices are “actually low” compared to most other rentals on the market.
“It’s unobtainable and unsustainable for a lot of people,” he said. “We are in a bind here in Orillia, and we aren’t just talking about the low-income earners anymore. We are talking about the middle class and above.”
Davidson suggests people struggling to find housing visit the Orillia Ontario Works office, the Lighthouse or Empower Simcoe.
“These are places where people can go to get advice on what’s available and how much it would likely cost,” he said.
— With files from Dave Dawson
