Midland Town Council announces exciting development opportunity at Midland Bay Landing
(June 27, 2025, Midland, ON) – The Town of Midland is thrilled to officially announce the release of a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the transformative development of the Midland Bay Landing site. This exceptional opportunity covers a 40-acre deepwater waterfront parcel located along Georgian Bay, right next to the revitalized downtown area of Midland.
“We’re hoping to see a fresh, innovative approach to planning this site—one that guarantees public access along the entire waterfront and includes outdoor park or recreation space,” said Mayor Bill Gordon. “At the same time, we want to give developers the freedom to explore a wide range of design ideas, that will differ from past submissions. The Town will continue to engage the community throughout the project. Our open, start-to-finish approach ensures everyone has visibility, can participate meaningfully, and together we’ll make the best choice.”
“We are looking for a development partner who shares our vision for a revitalized, inclusive, and vibrant waterfront community,” said Chief Administrative Officer Rhonda Bunn. “The Town has invested more than $14 million in infrastructure upgrades along King Street, connecting Midland Harbour to our lively downtown core. These improvements have created a strong foundation for the future success of the Midland Bay Landing redevelopment.”
The RFEI outlines the Town’s vision for transforming the Midland Bay Landing site from its former industrial use to a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. This includes accessible public areas, waterfront access, commercial spaces, and residential units.
The project aims to embody the charm of Midland while embracing modern development strategies that prioritize sustainability and community engagement. The Midland Bay Landing redevelopment is expected to significantly enhance the local economy, tourism industry, and quality of life for residents and visitors alike.
For further information about the RFEI process and project details, please visit the Midland Bay Landing project page at midland.ca/MBL.
Information for developers:
Optional Site Visit: July 2, 2025
Submission Deadline: August 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m.
Interested developers are encouraged to respond to this exciting opportunity and share their innovative concepts through the RFEI process. The Town’s objective is to shortlist up to five qualified proposals by the end of Q3 2025, followed by the development of detailed design visions.
Mayor, residents note positive shift in Midland’s downtown atmosphere
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Jun 19, 2025
It’s noticeable. Tourists roam and residents laugh. Panhandling and vagrancy are nearly invisible.
For years in recent memory, the once-vibrant downtown core of Midland has felt the pressures of being a hub for many societal maladies. It has been a destination for released Central North Correctional Centre prisoners, former Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care inpatients and is the home of one of Simcoe County’s housing shelters.
What was once a sparse number of unknown faces asking strangers for spare change a decade ago inflated into a constant source for concern with frequent calls to the police by increasingly frustrated residents.
And yet, since the winter transitioned into the warmth of spring, nearly no such exhibitions have flared up.
At Olive Oil Co. on King Street near Dominion Avenue, Barb MacBride told MidlandToday that having only taken ownership of the global oils and balsamics business from her friend Denise Tucker since October, she hadn’t been witness to the maelstrom of years prior; however, she was warned in advance.
Olive Oil is located next to the former Crows Nest building at the intersection, and immediately adjacent to an alcove which was once the entrance to the Dynasty restaurant.
For the past few years, that tucked alcove became the frequent location for riff-raff to loiter, often seen damaging the exterior while verbally harassing residents and tourists; MacBride said no damage had breached into Olive Oil.
“Quite often, we would come in and try to clean it (the alcove) up safely because of needles and other paraphernalia that would be left behind, and it was quite an eyesore,`she says, adding that frequent calls were made to the OPP whenever escalations occurred, sometimes daily.
“It would sometimes spark into arguments, or just selling drugs or smoking drugs or whatever the case was,” says MacBride, “but enough so that our shoppers would be unnerved and come in and be uncomfortable.”
MacBride states, however, that in “the past couple of weeks, two to three weeks at least, we have not made a call to the OPP”, and said that the downtown felt safer. She wasn’t sure of the cause.
It was a sentiment shared by Mayor Bill Gordon during the recent town council meeting, where a report on the Downtown BIA sparked a series of comments in which he admitted surprise that five unrelated residents over the past week had approached him “to tell me that the downtown feels different; that it feels cleaner, it feels safer.” He added resident praise for town parks as well.
Speaking to MidlandToday, Gordon says it felt like a resonance of factors: police patrols, “some changes in management, new initiatives from the county, council direction, …the Hope, Housing and Health symposiums.
“I’m hoping it’s the culmination of all these efforts over the past couple of years that are having a difference, but I guess time will tell over this summer,” says Gordon.
He stressed that neither the Guesthouse shelter, located adjacent to the Midland Public Library at the corner of King Street and Elizabeth Avenue, nor its guests were the cause of all the downtown problems.
It was a shared sentiment, echoed both by library CEO Trish Hayes, who wrote to MidlandToday that the library “works to provide a safe and engaging space for everyone, and upholds a commitment to inclusivity, ensuring all users are welcome at the library without consideration of socioeconomic status”, and by Guesthouse CEO Rosemary Sykes.
Says Sykes: “The problems that the members of the BIA and community-at-large are concerned with are not shelter problems. The shelter is working very hard on a daily 24-hour day basis with well-trained staff to make sure our guests are cared for in the way that they’re meant to be, where we also make sure our guests understand that they are citizens of this community. And as such, they have a responsibility for their behaviour both in the shelter and outside the shelter.”
Sykes lists engagement roles which positively benefit the community, including patrols for clean-up and maintenance within the downtown core, docks, and parks by guests under guidance of Guesthouse staff.
Additionally, Sykes states that a smoking area located behind the Guesthouse “also became an attraction to those that were trying to deal drugs from the area of the shelter. We removed it, and so a lot of drug dealers have left; I can definitely say that has happened in the past two months or so.”
The decrease in negligent activity was also verified by Corps Officer Lt. Aimee Thomas of the Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda, an outreach and family services worker who contacted MidlandToday regarding the strengthened connections between community agencies and area partners.
“We believe that there is a decrease in activity throughout the downtown core,” writes Thomas, “as the Salvation Army has been present in the community to encourage those struggling with homelessness to choose alternative activities within our community, rather than congregating downtown.
“Within the last year, we have partnered with other community agencies to integrate our knowledge of services so that we can walk alongside to support our clients/customers’ goals. Through this collaborative connection, we have seen an increase in housed individuals this year.”
Thomas adds that although the future of homelessness in Midland was an unpredictable challenge, the Salvation Army and other partners would strive to support community efforts for affordable housing.
And with Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival in full swing, Midland CAO Rhonda Bunn tells MidlandToday that town council and staff were “invested in collaborating with social services and local organizations that provide outreach services and compassionate assistance where it is needed most, while ensuring the needs of our residents, businesses, and visitors are valued.”
For MacBride and Olive Oil, the festival was just one more showcase of the town’s inherent beauty; moreso with the safer environment.
“I love it down here. It’s one of the nicest downtowns,” she says. “We have some amazing shops and owners, and by far such a loyal customer base that love shopping downtown. I think it’s important that we keep it in a manner that people feel safe, and I think that we’re getting there.”
Editor’s note: This story was first published on June 14. This version clarifies an aspect regarding the business.