5 enormous towers up to 56 storeys could transform Ontario city's skyline

A towering development proposal aims to totally reshape the skyline of Barrie, Ontario.

Plans filed with the City of Barrie by Piveon Developments on Aug. 27 seek to rezone a site near the city's waterfront that would radically alter the local landscape with five towers rising as tall as 56 storeys.

The ambitious proposal seeks to build out a pair of properties at 145 Bradford Street and 48 Ellen Street, currently a vacant lot and an adjacent home.

Such density would have seemed unimaginable just a few years earlier, though significant changes in Barrie's urban fabric have essentially kicked the doors open for a transformative wave of tall towers that could further alter the city's skyline in the years to come.

The enormous proposal on Barrie's waterfront would have been laughed out of the room a decade ago, though the nearby Debut Waterfront Residences project, located at 55 Dunlop Street West — now home to Barrie's current tallest buildings — has set a local precedent for even larger residential complexes that are now being proposed around town.

However, the proposed 145 Bradford project would completely dwarf that complex's 33-storey height, and each of the five buildings proposed, ranging from 46 to 56 storeys, would individually break the record for Barrie's tallest building if completed today.

The mixed-use development is set to contain 1,582 residential units, including 1,563 apartments and 19 townhomes, as well as a hotel component with 80 suites housed within the tallest tower. 

No details about the tenure of the residential units have been shared in the proposal documents, though it is specified that 316 of the residences will be designated as affordable units.

Ground-floor commercial spaces would anchor the towers to street level and help animate these currently barren blocks.

The proposal is still in its earliest stages as of Sept. 2025, with public meetings and staff review of the project to follow in the coming months.