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If you were asked to picture in your mind the phrases 'north of Toronto' and 'away for the weekend', what would pop into your head? For me it would be suburbs passing into hills and valleys, farmland and woods, busy Barrie and Orillia, and then lakes and rivers popping up amidst the enveloping forests… and all packaged with a long drive. Those with cottages at the end of the drive know how lucky they are. The cottage takes work, and the drive is taking more time and patience these days, but getting away from the city can be all the tonic one needs…
For those of us without a cottage the invitations north are serious treats, and something that encourages us to dream and plan for a day that we might be able to afford a getaway place, if only the drive weren't so long…
And now suddenly there's an option that's not only as close as Barrie, but it's also accessible by GO Train, with a design by Duany Plater-Zyberk and architectsAlliance, a golf course by Doug Carrick, amenities by Re:Play Resorts who created Whistler, Mont-Tremblant and Blue Mountain, 80 hectares of woodland, and a marina designed by Applied Technology & Management, the people who created 'The Palm Jumeirah' marina in Dubai amongst countless other worldwide projects… That's quite the list of reasons to look into Friday Harbour at Big Bay Point on Lake Simcoe.
Markham-based Geranium Corporation are the lead at this 240 hectare site to the east of Barrie. Surrounded by cottages and forests, the site is now being prepared for the 14-hectare marina, expanding on a 4 hectare harbour that was already onsite. We rode a skyjack 10 metres or so into the air to get this view out over the landscape. To get to the village pictured above, from the landscape you see below, 1.8 million cubic metres of earth is in the process of being dug out from the future marina basin. That's the window onto Lake Simcoe in the background of the shot of course, and someday the marina will cover half the area of this shot between the lake and us.
Below, the map gives you an idea of what all is going to be constructed here, and you can also see where all of that earth coming out of the marina basin is going: the Doug Carrick golf course at the west end of the site, dubbed Stonefences, currently a mostly flat landscape, will be shaped into 18 holes admist a rolling landscape.
The site is divided into thirds, approximately 80 hectares each for the golf course, the nature preserve, and the marina and village. At the Lake Simcoe opening the old channel into the marina is being widened now, while a causeway has already been put into place across the old mouth of the marina. The old marina will be drained soon so that it can be expanded to its future extent.
Trucks are already hauling earth across the landscape to the golf course site.
All of the above is in anticipation of the below, when the first purchasers will be able to occupy their units in 2015. The scene below follows the Boardwalk condominium buildings as they hug the curve of the marina harbour. While residences are found on the second floor and above, shops and restaurants at ground level will provide a myriad of destinations and distractions for residents and guests. Hotels will provide space for those wanting to get in on the fun here on a more occasional basis.
Besides the Boardwalk Condominiums above, suites are also for sale in Harbour Flats buildings adjacent to the north, and in expansive Marina Residences ringing the south and west sides of the harbour. We have images of those in our dataBase entry for the complex (linked at the bottom of this article). At the centre of it all will be the Lake Club, where recreation and relaxation opportunities will round out the time at the resort.
Ownership at Friday Harbour starts in the $200,000s, and purchases can be made as of November 17. There are many more renderings to pore over and lots more information in our dataBase entry for the project, linked below, and it in turn links to the official website where you can register.
We will be back to tell you a lot ore about the project, including the extensive Green Plan for the site, both for the land and the water, and led by Shauna Dudding. It's hard not to get swept up by Shauna's enthusiam for the project, and we'll be highlighting what she has to say about it all in our next report. Want to get in on the discussion in the meantime? Choose one of the related Forum thread links below!
| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, Schollen & Company, U31 |
