Wesbild has just closed on a major industrial site sale at 1371 McKeen Avenue. After eight years of ownership, the 27.5 acre waterfront industrial site in North Vancouver has been sold to a Canadian institutional investor. This property represents one of the last remaining privately-held waterfront sites of magnitude in the area.
Wesbild acquired the site in 2017 and worked to redevelop the site with both large Industrial and flex industrial space. Wesbild will be leasing back a portion of the site and will remain as operator for the two existing operating businesses.
“After several development applications with the District of North Vancouver that did not proceed, we had to pivot and focus on renovating the existing warehouses that provide much needed industrial and storage space,” said Kevin Layden, Wesbild President & CEO. “With industrial vacancy at less than 1% in North Vancouver, and with industrial rents in the range of $25 to $27/square foot, businesses in North Vancouver are challenged by increased costs. Across Metro Vancouver, we need more industrial space. But we need a reset in thinking about industrial land development in Metro Vancouver if we are to compete on the world stage.”
“We view this as a landmark transaction that represents a significant sale in an emerging asset class: industrial outdoor storage (IOS). There’s a number of large institutional investors around the globe showing interest in IOS, which offers land with future development potential, as well as current income,” said Tony Quattrin, Vice Chairman, National Investment Team, CBRE Vancouver. “We are delighted with the sale as it brought in a well-known Canadian institutional investor. With the limited amount of industrial land in Metro Vancouver, the investor here took a long-term view that it was a good investment for reasonably priced land supported by a strong holding income.”
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Cori Howard Communications
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About Wesbild:
Wesbild is a Vancouver-based developer with 40+ years of expertise in master-planned residential resort communities and commercial and industrial developments across Western Canada. Since 1981, they have successfully developed real estate projects throughout Metro Vancouver and the Okanagan, including Predator Ridge. They are currently active in land development on Burke Mountain, adding a collection of townhomes in Coquitlam and building Canada’s largest stacked industrial strata development, Marine Landing, in South Vancouver. The company has developed, or is developing, more than 3,800 acres, with close to 8,000 homes built to date. Their portfolio also includes Westwood Plateau, 1,410 acres in Coquitlam with over 4,500 homes, ranging from townhomes to estates and completed in 2005. For more information: www.wesbild.com