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Hydro One Networks Inc. has purchased 16.41 acres of the Horne Business Park for approximately $3 million, and submitted a Site Plan Approval Application to the City for the proposed Advanced Technology Hub development last week.
“Hydro One has demonstrated their commitment to their plans of developing an Advanced Technology Hub in Orillia through tangible actions,” said Mayor Steve Clarke. “Hydro One’s acquisition of the Orillia Power Distribution Corporation and their development plans in West Orillia are subject to Ontario Energy Board (OEB) approval; however, Hydro One’s land purchase and Site Plan Approval Application submission solidify even further their intentions to move forward with the development once necessary approvals are received.”
The Site Plan Approval Application submitted is for the proposed Back-up Ontario Grid Control Centre/Integrated Systems Operation Centre (ISOC) Hydro One intends to build on the 16.41 acres it purchased.
The Site Plan Approval Application proposes the ISOC will be a multi-storey office building, with a gross-floor area of more than 100,000 square feet. The development includes up to 300 parking spaces for employees and visitors, a potential helipad, and a secondary guard house structure.
Development Services staff will now complete a thorough Site Plan Approval Application review process. Following the granting of Site Plan Approval, Hydro One will be in a position to perform detailed engineering for the site to support its future Building Permit application pending its Board and OEB approval for the development.
On Aug. 15, 2016, the City of Orillia announced that it had reached agreements with Hydro One to construct a state-of-the-art Advanced Technology Hub, a provincial warehouse and a regional operations centre in Orillia’s Horne Business Park and to sell the distribution assets of the Orillia Power Distribution Corporation (OPDC) to Hydro One. The City of Orillia is retaining complete ownership of the Orillia Power Generation Corporation
Construction of the three proposed buildings is estimated at more than $150 million. In the short term, the economic impact of the construction of the buildings and related activity is anticipated to inject $200 to $300 million into the Orillia economy. A significant number of new, high-quality, knowledge-based jobs will be created in order to staff the new facilities, along with the construction/trades jobs required for the development.
The proposed transactions between the City of Orillia and Hydro One require OEB approval – a process that began upon signing of the agreements and which is anticipated to take approximately one year to complete. For more information visit: http://orillia.ca/techhub.
The City of Orillia is a city of 31,000 people in the heart of Ontario’s Lake Country on the shores of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Visit our website at orillia.ca.
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Mayor Steve Clarke
City of Orillia
705-325-2447
mayor@orillia.ca
Jennifer Ruff
Manager of Communications
705-325-8929
705-238-9209 (cell)
jruff@orillia.ca
