Calgary’s biggest industrial land deal of the year is showing the industrial market in Alberta remains strong despite fears of economic headwinds.
With an active development program on the go in Edmonton, Panattoni Development Co. partnered with Manulife Investment Management’s real estate division to purchase 122 acres from the City of Calgary at the strategic juncture of Glenmore Trail and Stoney Trail.
The site in southeast Calgary’s Point Trotter industrial area is zoned for up to 2.3 million square feet of industrial space in various formats. It constitutes the entire second phase of the city’s Point Trotter development. (The first phase launched in 2016 with a focus on smaller owner-occupier users; parcels remain available.)
The site will be developed as the 68th Street Logistics Park.
“So as far as access goes, it’s really a centre-ice location,” Panattoni development manager Mark Edwards said in announcing the deal August 11.
The city did not disclose the purchase price pending registration of the sale with land titles, but the city offered the properties last fall in the range of $77.4 million.
“It ranks up there with some of the other major industrial land transactions of the last five years,” said Neil Ferris, a senior vice-president and partner with Colliers International in Calgary who represented Panattoni in the transaction.
The southeast Calgary market has the lowest vacancy rate outside the city core at 1.8 per cent, and the most active development market in the city with 1.1 million square feet under construction in the second quarter – more than a quarter of current development activity.
Ferris said buildings could be ready for occupancy by late 2023.
