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One of the industry storylines to follow in this market through 2014 will be how stakeholders and levels of government will respond to the region's shortage of industry land. (Our idea of a rock-paper-scissor tournament to decide land holdings was laughed out of the city council office.)  According to a NAIOP study, the squeeze really comes to the forefront 7 to 9 years from now. (Hear that, scientists? You have six years to build a shrink ray, if you want a whole year to test it properly.) One of the authors of the study, CBRE's Chris MacCauley, says it's also important to keep the situation in the Lower Mainland in perspective—despite the squeeze, there still are options for companies looking for industrial space. That's what makes the Apps Cargo Terminals Inc lease deal to take 110k SF in Boundary Bay Industrial Park in Delta so noteworthy. Apps took the space in the first building of the Boundary Bay project, located within minutes of the Delta Container Port, directed off HWY 99, alongside the new South Fraser Perimeter Road.  Snapped is an up-to-date shot of construction at Boundary Bay. Brokerages like CBRE obviously have a vested interest to educate companies on the Lower Mainland and the opportunities for industrial space that exist in the area, as opposed to seeing those companies pull up their socks and head to Calgary, or Winnipeg, where there's more space available. (As long as they don't lose their loyalty to our beloved Canucks.) Boundary Bay's two buildings (each 440k SF) will have industry-leading 36-foot ceilings. Occupancy is scheduled for April. Watching the absorption rate as the project is completed will be interesting to watch, Chris adds.  The reality for companies that want to set up shop in the Lower Mainland is daunting—as Chris says, best-case scenario for new builds is a timeline of 18 months, factoring in the time it takes to find land to build on, time to get development permits from the municipalities, site preparation, then construction. It's usually a 24-month process, where in Calgary, it's closer to 12 to 14 months. Still, the Vancouver-area market did over $1B in industrial sales in 2013.  “It's healthy,” Chris says. “There's a lot of private capital in Vancouver.” For people in the business, walking the line between raising red flags about the upcoming crunch in industrial land for development, while not scaring off companies wanting to set up shop here, will continue to be a precarious one, Chris says. The objective is to give all the stakeholders the facts. “We aren't looking to pave over all of Vancouver and make it warehouses,” he says. (Though that would certainly ease some traffic and the lines at the coffee shop would go way down.) But there needs to be better planning around all the infrastructure projects to accommodate growth in the market, he adds. |
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Graydon To Head Up BC Place Resort PV Hospitality ULC, the newly formed partnership between affiliates of Paragon Gaming and 360 VOX, the group looking to build a new urban resort next to BC Place, have made Michael Graydon the company's new president. Graydon leaves his position as president of BC Lottery. The objective behind PV Hospitality will be to develop destination resorts in North America--the BC Place project being the first out of the gate  The $535M, 675k SF development (image) will include hotels, a conference centre, gaming facilities, restaurants, spa, and other facilities. (It would've been easier to list what it doesn't have.) Paragon bought Edgewater Casino in 2006 and later partnered with Dundee and 360 VOX in 2013. The Edgewater Casino is scheduled to be moved to its new location in late 2016. |
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Women Entrepreneurs On The Rise |
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 Deloitte real estate director Jennifer Podmore Russell points to anecdotal evidence, especially among entrepreneurs, of more women making their way into senior executive positions in the commercial real estate industry. A Deloitte study in tandem with Carleton University shows a decrease of women in senior management real estate positions in the private sector, from 24.7% in 1987 to 6.1% in 2011. So as Jennifer indicates, the entrepreneurs may not be captured in the study. “These smaller businesses do indicate a growing trend locally,” she says. |
 The key in seeing more women advance in real estate, she tells us, is the need for both mentorship and sponsorship. Mentors often stay with you through your entire career. Sponsors help you navigate the corporate environment in which you work, advocating you and championing your career, Jennifer says. “To advance women within real estate we need to help find a way to ensure our women—all of our people, actually—have both,” she says. In the image are all the CREW chapter reps from Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal at the CREW Network Winter Leadership Summit in Utah last week. |
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West Set To OutperformWestern Canada's commercial property market is poised to eclipse a strong 2013, according to a new Morguard economic outlook and market fundamentals research report. Investors will continue to look west, says Morguard director of research Keith Reading, in an effort to capitalize on a region that will outperform eastern cities on average over the near term. (Eventually they will be building underwater communities in the Pacific Ocean.) Commodities demand will propel economic growth greater than the national average, Keith adds, benefiting commercial property markets. In Vancouver, the office sector will be the only exception to positive results. Modestly positive demand in office will coincide with more 1M SF of new supply over the next few years, causing some short-term market softening, Keith adds. |
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Send Us Your Fish Tales: Both True and True But UnverifiableWant to combine the two things you love? Go fishing, and you can win a ticket to a Bisnow event. We're rewarding people in every market we cover. Send us your biggest catch or your biggest fish story, and we'll pick the best. So if you catch tiny bass but tell big stories, you can still win. Need some fishing tips? Ask Quantum Real Estate Advisors EVP Jordan Kaufman in Chicago (above, on a recent fishing trip in Wyoming). The prize is a ticket to a Bisnow event in your market (or another market if you're looking for an excuse to find new lakes, streams, ponds, and oceans). Send your stories and pics to Sibley Fleming: sibley@bisnow.com. |
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