Out with the old, in with the new: Wasaga Beach moves forward with beachfront demolition

Demolition is underway at Beach Area One in Wasaga Beach.

The landscape across the popular Wasaga Beach Area One is forever changing as crews flatten buildings with deep-rooted history for the town to make way for the future.

After years of planning, the work got underway last week, with the demolition of the former Funnel Tunnel, Shore Store and Bananas Beach Bar.

In a social media post, Roy-Mar Demolition and Excavation noted, “These places have been a part of Wasaga Beach stories for generations, and we don’t take that lightly. While these buildings have served their time, change is always part of growth. We approach projects like this with respect for the past while preparing for the future.”

The town expects demolition to be completed over the next three weeks.

While work is moving forward on reinventing the beachfront, it took several years and a few different developers to get here.

In 2017, the town started the process of looking for the right developer to take on the multi-million project, which came with plenty of bumps in the road and a few detours. In the beginning, FRAM Building Group was brought on, but that was short-lived. By the end of 2018, town council allowed the Letter of Intent with FRAM to lapse, and six months later the town was requesting submissions from developers once again.

In 2021, the Committee of the Whole landed on Slate Asset Management L.P. as the preferred developer and negotiations got underway. However, the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on the final purchase price and parted ways. Later that year, talks began with Bayloc Development Inc., but after lengthy negotiations, that partnership was ultimately terminated after an agreement couldn’t be reached on the project’s timeline.

That’s when FRAM re-surfaced and was chosen to spearhead the multi-million-dollar project yet again - but later announced it would not be part of the major undertaking, effectively setting the project in limbo once again.

Despite all the setbacks, the Town remained optimistic, ensuring residents the project to redevelop its iconic beachfront would move forward.

And it has. In November 2024, the Town announced it was confident it had found the right company to partner with in Stonebridge Building Group, a developer with history in the beachfront town dating back two decades.

The redevelopment of the town’s commercial area at Beach Area One, between First and Third Streets will include 150 residential units and 31 commercial spaces. The project is broken into five phases and is expected to be completed within three years. Stonebridge agreed to pay the Town $14 million for the land.

The town hopes to have shovels in the ground shortly after demolition is completed.

Last week, town council approved the terms of a purchase and sale agreement with Sunray Group, which will building a hotel at Beach Area One.

“Council continues moving forward with our plan to make life better for our full-time residents. Sunray’s proposed, over $45 million investment in Wasaga Beach will result in over 100 good-paying jobs. It will enable higher-value tourism and multi-day visits to our community, which will support our small businesses. It also represents a growing commercial tax base, which takes pressure off of our home-owners,” stated Mayor Brian Smith.

“We are excited to partner with Sunray, as we continue to redevelop our beachfront commercial area and unlock our community’s full potential to become a thriving, year-round destination,” the mayor concluded.

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