Triovest acquires industrial land in Markham, Pickering | RENX

Triovest and its partners have made two acquisitions of industrial development land in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and plan to close additional properties by early January.

“We are always under-supplied in terms of high quality space based on the demand we see and the changes in the way people shop and the need for a large warehouse space,” said Prakash David, Director of Investments of Triovest, at RENX.

The first transaction was for 45.78 acres of industrial zoned land in Markham (in the northern part of the GTA). The site was acquired by Triovest and anonymous institutional partners, for $ 106.5 million, as part of an off-market deal brokered by a team at Avison Young led by Ryan Hood, Eva Destunis and Brent McKean.

The second transaction involved Triovest and Northam Realty Advisors for the purchase of a 22 acre industrial development site in Pickering (eastern GTA). The deal was negotiated by Ryan Thomson and Gord Cook of Colliers.

Industrial Land Agreement in Markham

The Markham property in the Cathedraltown area at Woodbine Avenue and Elgin Mills Road, fronting on Highway 404, was acquired from Lesso Mall Canada.

The Vaughan-based company is a subsidiary of China Lesso Group Holdings Limited, a large Chinese publicly-traded industrial group that manufactures more than 10,000 types of building materials and materials.

Lesso had acquired the Markham site for $ 41 million in June 2016 and had plans for business development there. Hood is not sure why the company sold the property, but contacted Lesso when he learned that she was interested in selling the site.

The sale to Triovest and its partners was done so quickly that it was not marketed despite its appeal.

“There isn’t a lot of gold out there, but there is always gold,” Hood told RENX, “and when you find it you have to act fast.”

The industrial vacancy rate in the GTA hovers around 1% and developers have actively sought land to meet the demand for warehouse and logistics space as the supply of land continues to decline and the price of land continues to decline. per acre increases.

“We’re really happy with the price we bought it for given the size and features of the site,” David said.

Lesso also owns 40 acres at 5789-5951 Steeles Ave. E. in Scarborough, where it envisions a 700,000 square foot retail complex.

Additionally, Lesso owns Milliken Crossing at 5631-5671 Steeles Ave. E.

The site includes five one-story retail buildings with a gross area of ​​139,294 square feet and tenants, including Shoppers Drug Mart, Field Fresh Supermarket, Tim Hortons, Popeyes, Subway and ICICI Bank Canada.

Triovest’s plans for the Markham site

“We’ve been looking through various nodes and think Markham is a top notch location, right on the 404 with two interchanges right there,” David said. “We thought it was very solid land and owned by a client that we are currently managing.”

The fully integrated commercial real estate and capital advisory firm plans to construct approximately one million square feet of industrial space in three zero-carbon buildings once it goes through the licensing process and receives plan approval. site.

“We hope to accommodate large users and tenants who require 100,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet in a single facility with large headroom and many doors,” said David.

“This expands our development program to around $ 3 billion and will be our 33rd ongoing project. We are convinced that there is room in industrial real estate.

Pickering site and future acquisitions

The Pickering industrial site, located south of Highway 401, was purchased from a private family for an undisclosed price.

“This is an entirely new site with excellent road access and excellent access to a labor pool, and can accommodate a range of tenants up to 260,000 square feet,” said David . “We love GTA Est. It is now an established knot.

Although David said he could not reveal any details at this point, Triovest expects to complete further industrial property acquisitions in Montreal and Vancouver in the coming weeks.