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Proposal made to build on vacant downtown Alliston property

March 31, 2022   ·   0 Comments

The vacant site in the middle of downtown Alliston has been a bit of an eyesore for several years.

Located at 66 and 67 Victoria Street, the lot is closed off with a simple wooden fence along the sidewalk after the former building located there was demolished several years ago.

Because of industrial waste discovered when the building was torn down, the site was not considered suitable for a new build at that time.

Michael Poitras, a local architect who has been involved in construction for the past 35 years, delivered a development proposal for the location at the Monday, March 21 Town Council meeting.

Mr. Poirtras was speaking on behalf of his client who owns the property.

The development would also involve buildings on either side of the lot and the public parking lot on the north side of the property.

The proposed development would include a five-story terraced building with retail space at street level and a lower lever retail space as well for a total of 70,000 square feet of new store space on Victoria Street.

The terraced building would be housing.

Behind the Victoria Street building would be a five-storey “courtyard housing” unit that would be built over the existing parking lot while still allowing traffic to pass underneath.

The building would include two underground public parking areas as well as a below ground tenant parking area.

Mr. Poitras described the development as a “building type broken into two halves and interlinked.”

The terraced front of the building is designed to maximize sun angles in both summer and winter.

The courtyard housing side of the building is nature-focused and quieter.

The materials used in the proposed development would include nature- and rural-inspired shapes to represent the surrounding rural area.

If the project goes ahead, Mr. Poitras explained that the entire process would take several years including two years of construction time.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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