Photograph by: Larry Wong, file, edmontonjournal.com
EDMONTON - Edmonton doesn’t have a lot of major corporate head offices, but the city punches far above its weight in other areas.
At seven times the size of the city’s downtown office market, Edmonton’s industrial real estate commands the highest average rental rates in Canada.
Now, with oilsands activity heating up, Edmonton’s industrial market is powering ahead, says Vince Lachance, co-owner of SCR Commercial Realty.
“Last (summer) there wasn’t a lot going on, and in our view that was the bottom of the market on the commercial and industrial side,” says Lachance, who previously owned Edmonton’s Century Hospitality Group, operator of the Century Grill and LUX, a downtown hotspot.
“But by November-December we started to see a real uptick and that has continued. So there’s a real solid level of activity now,” he says.
“I had a call (recently) from a large investor out of Toronto and they were looking for industrial properties of between 10 and 50 acres — preferably serviced, so there could be activity there within the next two to three years,” he adds.
“As we see the upgraders develop as well as more secondary, value-added manufacturing, those are the (tenants) that will require the two or four-acre sites and the 20,000-square-foot warehouses. So it’s looking pretty solid.”
Lachance doesn’t expect this up cycle to flame out like the last one. He believes this is the start of anextended period of growth.
“We think there’s going to be steady growth over the next eight, 10 or 12 years in this region. Hopefully people learned from some of the mistakes made in the last go round,” he says.
“China has already spent about$2 billion here over the last 18 months and there’s been a pretty significant consolidation in the industry, with (France’s) Total partnering up with Suncor.
“So it’s more organized, and companies aren’t going to rush out and build on spec. It will be more disciplined.”
At seven times the size of the city’s downtown office market, Edmonton’s industrial real estate commands the highest average rental rates in Canada.
Now, with oilsands activity heating up, Edmonton’s industrial market is powering ahead, says Vince Lachance, co-owner of SCR Commercial Realty.
“Last (summer) there wasn’t a lot going on, and in our view that was the bottom of the market on the commercial and industrial side,” says Lachance, who previously owned Edmonton’s Century Hospitality Group, operator of the Century Grill and LUX, a downtown hotspot.
“But by November-December we started to see a real uptick and that has continued. So there’s a real solid level of activity now,” he says.
“I had a call (recently) from a large investor out of Toronto and they were looking for industrial properties of between 10 and 50 acres — preferably serviced, so there could be activity there within the next two to three years,” he adds.
“As we see the upgraders develop as well as more secondary, value-added manufacturing, those are the (tenants) that will require the two or four-acre sites and the 20,000-square-foot warehouses. So it’s looking pretty solid.”
Lachance doesn’t expect this up cycle to flame out like the last one. He believes this is the start of anextended period of growth.
“We think there’s going to be steady growth over the next eight, 10 or 12 years in this region. Hopefully people learned from some of the mistakes made in the last go round,” he says.
“China has already spent about$2 billion here over the last 18 months and there’s been a pretty significant consolidation in the industry, with (France’s) Total partnering up with Suncor.
“So it’s more organized, and companies aren’t going to rush out and build on spec. It will be more disciplined.”
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