Maple Ridge. B.C. is working to attract more industrial development, targeting on zoning from 170 to 230 acres for manufacturers and distributors in the suburban community about 40 minutes east of Vancouver
Potential infill sites include 40 acres under consideration for rezoning in Hammond south of Maple Meadows industrial park, in the Blue Mountain area of north Maple Ridge, in the Albion Flats, on land at 232nd Street and 128th Avenue, and various parcels along the Lougheed Highway east of 240th Street.
Meanwhile, it is residential and commercial that is attracting the most attention, with some developers drawn by tax incentives.
The incentive includes commercial and mixed-use projects such as hotels, conference and meeting facilities, offices, post secondary, retail shops and multi-family residential developments.
Qualifying projects enjoy priority processing, three years municipal tax exemption – with up to six years municipal tax exemption for energy efficient projects – and a host of other incentives. Projects categories include new commercial construction valued at greater than $1 million and new multi-family residential construction. Within the Central Business District, where higher density residential is encouraged, there is no maximum building height restriction.
The incentives appear to be paying off: an estimated $110 million in projects are either underway or planned.
Perhaps the strongest incentive, however, is the “open for business” attitude seen along the Maple Ridge Highway 7 corridor.
A survey released last month by NAIOP, which represents commercial and industrial developers, that tallied the total municipal fees to rezone and construct a 100,000-square-foot-industrial warehouse on a five-acre lot, showed that Maple Ridge had the second lowest cost in the Metro region. Total fees in the city were $239,679, compared with $1.03 million in Richmond and $676,671 in Vancouver, which were the most expensive cities.
For a complete report on Maple Ridge and neighbouring Pitt Meadows, see the November issue of Western Investor.
