An affordable housing complex on West Street in Orillia is nearly halfway finished and the project is both on time and under budget, Simcoe County officials say.
Construction of the $79-million, 130-unit Orillia Campus Project is expected to be complete by the end of 2023, with its doors opening by the spring of 2024.
With structural construction on the project’s south wing nearly complete, workers are now able to complete interior work in a warm environment out of the elements.
“That allows all those finishing trades … (to work) in a dry, heated space, which you can imagine the quality and the productivity is significantly greater than if you're working out in the elements,” said Brad Spiewak, the county’s director of social housing.
“We've got about 75 per cent of the windows installed and the remainder of those windows are all on site to be installed, which is great.”
As that work is carried out, workers are also building the final two floors of the west wing, which is anticipated to be complete by the spring.
While the pandemic, supply chain issues, and rampant inflation have impacted the budget of many construction projects, Spiewak said the county secured as much of its needed materials and services as possible in 2020 and 2021.
“We knew inflation was coming. Obviously, nobody would have predicted it would have jumped up as much as it did, but we locked in a lot of early pricing to avoid the huge increases in inflation that we've seen in 2022,” he said. “We procured everything we possibly could, and then stored it.”
Where many construction projects will see materials sourced as needed, Spiewak said the advantage of this construction site is that it has ample storage space to take advantage of.
“Normally, we wouldn't take delivery of items until we need them because a lot of times we don't have room on site, or there's a fear of damage,” he said. “However, in this unreliable supply chain climate that we're in, if you don't receive your stuff, it's possible it could go to somebody else and then when you do need it you … can't get it.
“We are lucky on this site. We have the real estate to be able to store extra material.”
On top of securing needed materials in advance, good weather has helped the project along, Spiewak said, noting two-year projects can lose up to two months of productivity to bad weather.
“Certainly, we're counting our blessings from that point of view,” he said.
The project will include a mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units meant to house single individuals and families.
Commercial space is earmarked for numerous social service providers and community services, the specifics of which will be made public later this year, Spiewak said.
“We'll be going to council in February, March, and then we'll be able to disclose (them),” he said. “There's social agencies geared right from young children all the way up to seniors.”
Spiewak also highlighted the “significant need” for the project, noting the wait-list has grown to 294 people.
Cam Davidson, the chair of Orillia’s Affordable Housing Committee, underscored the importance of the project for the community, noting discussions about the project began nearly a decade ago.
“Literally from Day 1 it was vitally important, and it's even more vitally important now. We're in a whole new ballgame as far as affordable housing is concerned,” Davidson said. “We're not talking just about homeless people, or people who are low income, we're pretty much talking about everybody.”
He said he thinks many people are looking forward to the units opening.
“To see it rise up out of the ground … there's going to be some people who are going to be very grateful to be in there.”
Davidson said the on-site social services will help tremendously with granting residents, and the broader community, access to the services they need close by.
“No matter what ends up in those four walls, it's going to be extremely beneficial for Orillia (and) the surrounding area.”
