Construction activity is booming on the bay.

A trend of growth in the number of commercial and residential developments in Parry Sound is continuing through 2007, with several major projects already completed and others on the way.

"There's quite a bit of development proposed on the horizon," says Iain Laing, director of community development at the Town of Parry Sound.

"I'm not so naive to think we'll get it all, but we'll get some of it, and it'll be pretty good for the town and the area."

Several commercial projects have materialized on the town's Bowes Street within the last year, making the area a development hotspot.

For instance, a new 18,000-square-foot Shopper's Drug Mart has recently been built on Bowes Street, with an additional 10,000-square-foot space left above the store for doctor's offices, though this has yet to be occupied.

Oastler Park Shopping Plaza Inc., which oversaw development of the local Wal-Mart, has developed another 21,000-square-foot building, which houses three tenants, including a furniture store called Easy Home, Mark's Work Warehouse, and Dollarama.

The development area has also received zoning approval for two additional tenants: a home improvement store and a grocery store. Laing says the bustling home improvement activity within the town is likely to spur an application for a full site plan approval for the store's location within the year.

Other significant work done on Bowes Street include an 18,000-square-foot expansion to the existing Canadian Tire site.

"That's the most attractive commercial area of the town at the moment," Laing says. "It's the main artery into town, and it's near the highway. The first access you get into town is right on Bowes St., so that part of the attractiveness of it."

Residential developments have also seen somewhat of a boom, with upwards of 20 new homes slated to be built throughout Parry Sound in the coming year.

This is nearly quadruple the five housing developments typically seen in the town, continuing an upswing in the local housing sector in recent years.

A 50-lot subdivision known as Thunder Creek has been developed by local contractor Hall Construction on Winifred Street, where four houses have been built, with another four in the pipeline.

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Another subdivision known as the Prospect Point Development was approved last year. This 27-lot, single-family dwelling area is located on Waubeek Street, where seven houses are slated to be built in 2007 by Distler Construction. With a view over Georgian Bay, Laing says he considers this to be a somewhat upper-end development, with some of the cheapest lots going for $100,000, while those with a view of the water cost roughly $300,000.

Located in the downtown core, the town's former hospital is in the final stages of being fully converted to 64 apartment units. Up to a third of these units are currently occupied, while conversion is ongoing.

Two condominiums with a potential view of the bay are also being considered. One is a 60-unit building proposed for construction on Great North Road, and has already achieved zoning by-law amendment; the other is still doing preliminary work before making any formal applications.

Laing says much of this development is being spurred by growing numbers of people moving into their summer homes, as well as the annual population boom that hits during the summer months from cottagers and tourists alike.

Market studies have identified full-time, year-round regional population of 18,000 to 20,000, a number which rises to as high as 60,000 during the summer.

"One of the statistics I didn't realize, and I found recently, is that Killbear Provincial Park on Georgian Bay in the summer has as much population as the town does, which is 5,000 to 6,000 people. So that alone gives you a bit of an idea of what happens here."

A growing awareness of this seasonal population among the commercial "big players" such as Wal-Mart, Sobey's and Canadian Tire is factoring into much of the current construction activity, Laing says.

"We've got almost everything we can get, but every time I think that, something else is proposed. It's encouraging, because they think that Parry Sound is worthy of this kind of development."

By NICK STEWART

Northern Ontario Business