Blue Simcoe Developments is proposing the nautically themed residential/commercial development that will be anchored by two towers - one 24 storeys, the other 25. On the site's Bradford Street frontage, there'd be a four-storey mixed-use building that combines street-level retail with residential.

The plan also calls for a penthouse restaurant, with a capacity of 140, on the first tower's 24th floor. The entire development would house 1,025 people in 595 units on the three-acre site that's located just west of 2 Toronto St.

"It's the largest mixed-use development ever proposed in Barrie. It is also significant in that it has a Bradford Street exposure, which is the beginning of the opportunity to deliberate on how we'd like to see Bradford Street developed, and what are the kinds of uses and urban design we'd like to see in that area," said Barrie's planning director Jim Taylor.

"Bradford Street is a sleeper. We're positioning it for the revitalization which will flow soon after the last waterfront-oriented development occurs. Bradford Street is an arterial (road) that offers business opportunities."

The Blue Sails plan also features pedestrian links between Bradford Street and Lakeshore Drive, in the environmentally-protected area between that plan and the two buildings now being constructed on Lakeshore at Victoria Street.

Although the buildings greatly exceed the city's height restrictions - and the city will therefore have to approve an official plan Amendment and grant an exemption for the height - the project fits in with Ontario's Places to Grow policy, which sets a density target of 150 people and jobs per hectare in the city's core - triple the existing level.

"This development is extremely significant for the city as a whole," said Ward 2 Coun. Jeff Lehman. "The decisions we're making are significant as we approach development in the city centre."

Taylor added the project is still likely to sell, despite the tough economic climate, tougher condo market and even tighter financing conditions.

"They're amongst the best-located condos in southern Ontario. You can walk out your front door and into six kilometres of urban waterfront parkland and our revitalized downtown," he said.

The project is subject to a development charge exemption; building permits issued before 2010 are entirely exempt from paying, while those between 2010 and 2013 are subject to a 50-per-cent discount.

"I truly have mixed emotions," said Ward 7 Coun. John Brassard. "There are 1,025 people projected to be residing there - and they'll have to be serviced by police, fire and recreation. It still costs the City of Barrie taxpayers for those growth-related items.

"There's an economic cost. There's a social cost to having a concrete jungle. As sexy as it may seem, this type of development does come at a cost to taxpayers."