Edmonton Region's Newest Distribution Nodes
It wasn’t so long ago that the Edmonton sub-markets of Nisku and Leduc were hailed as the oil and gas heartbeat of the Region. These industrial parks established themselves as the incubators for oil and gas manufacturers, service providers, fabricators, transporters, and many others, aiding in growing our Province’s resource production to all time highs. Edmonton is the capital of the North, but Nisku and Leduc are among the workhorses that allowed the real North to be developed.
It also wasn’t so long ago that the sub-market of Acheson was a micro-industrial area, relatively well-diversified but with an emphasis on agriculture service, equipment and transportation, and primarily home to businesses founded further west of Edmonton.
Pivot to the year 2021, breezing past the six years of economic challenges that particularly affected the Canadian Prairies, and you will begin to see a new world developing in the Periphery markets across Alberta. Not surprisingly, the e-commerce boom that has been absorbing every spare square foot of industrial warehouse space throughout United States and Canada’s larger cities, is finally putting roots down in Alberta in an intentional and tangible way.
For many years, distribution and logistics businesses avoided moving their operations outside of the Edmonton City limits for efficiency and locational concerns. They did not want to be out of sight of their clients, suppliers, jobs, and therefore, out of mind. And remember, those periphery markets in Alberta were for oil & gas or agriculture service providers! However in swift succession, like all trends, the innovators and early adopters began recognizing the many benefits of relocating outwards - cheaper land, lower taxes, faster and more flexible permits, and efficient access to main highways, corridors, rail and air transportation services.
In the past 24 months we have exponentially increased the quantity of speculative and built-to-suit developments, tailored for the distribution market, in the industrial parks immediately outside of the Edmonton City Limits, with an emphasis on the Nisku and Leduc Industrial Parks to the south, and the Acheson Industrial Park to the west. Some of these developments and recent transactions include:
Leduc
Leduc 70 Development - 70,000 SF - Developer: Mancal Properties
Leduc Business Park - 1,000,000+ SF Available for Build to Suit - Developer: Farm Air
Completed: Ford Distribution - 400,000 SF
Nisku
Monarch Business Park - Up to 147,000 SF Available; Additional 48.3 Acres (Future) - Developer: York Realty & Cameron Development Corporation
Completed: Amazon - 113,400 SF
Discovery Business Park (now expropriated City of Edmonton) - Up to 108,000 SF Available; Additional 278 Acres (Future) - Developer: Remington Development Corporation
Completed: Amazon - 114,000 SF
Border Business Park - Up to 219,000 SF Available; Additional 273 Acres (Future) - Developer: ONE Properties
Completed: Amazon - 1,000,000 SF
Acheson
Highlands Business Park - Up to 150 Acres Contiguous Available - Developer: Panattoni
Under Construction: Amazon - 2,900,000 SF
Completed: Champion Pet Foods - 400,000 SF
Completed: Stihl - 100,000 SF
Route 60 Industrial Park - 134 Acres, Sold Out - Developer: Remington Development Corporation
Completed: Fountain Tire - 181,500 SF
There are ample more examples of large scale speculative and build to suit developments going up across the Greater Edmonton and Alberta Region, tailored for the growing supply chain model that is revolutionizing the industrial real estate framework. Logistics, warehousing, and fulfillment will be the breadwinners heading into 2021 and the asset class that all developers are vying for. Fortunately we expect to see more large requirements make their way to the Edmonton and Calgary markets to take advantage of affordable land banks, skilled and available labour supply, and the growing e-commerce, cold storage, and warehousing demands of the Province.
Make sure to subscribe to future commercial real estate blogs below!
