Solving the Metro Vancouver Industrial Land Shortage?

[SpongeG]

In Langley's zero-vacancy market, Hungerford buys industrial dev. site

Mario Toneguzzi
Business reporter
Commercial Industrial Metro Vancouver 3 days ago

Hungerford Properties continues to expand its development portfolio in British Columbia with the acquisition of a 3.83-acre Langley site where it plans two multi-tenant light industrial buildings totalling about 103,000 square feet.

“The site offers a strategic location with exposure to one of Metro Vancouver’s tightest industrial markets. The current vacancy rate in GVA’s industrial market is at 0.2 per cent and (is) zero per cent in Langley, according to Colliers’ Q4 Industrial Market Report,” said Michael Hungerford, partner of the Vancouver-based real estate investment company.

The current site was home to two industrial buildings built in the 1970s with additional yard storage.

...

https://renx.ca/hungerford-properties-continues-bc-growth-with-langley-site-acquisition

[SpongeG]

Chard's Forum to offer industrial, commercial, retail in S. Vancouver
Commercial Development Metro Vancouver 4 days ago

Neil Sharma
Business Writer


Forum is a mixed-use industrial, commercial and retail building being developed by Chard in South Vancouver. (Courtesy Colliers)

The president and CEO of Chard Development believes slow recovery in the office sector is an aberration and he’s backing up his point of view with an emphatic statement in South Vancouver with a new development called Forum.

“The companies purchasing these strata office units are definitely long-term thinkers,” Byron Chard said of purchasers at Forum, a mixed-use project with a light industrial component in the city’s Marine Gateway neighbourhood. “They have typically sold real estate they previously owned on their balance sheets."

...

Features of the Forum development
The 78,000-square-foot development will stand seven storeys, with flex industrial space on the two lower floors and the commercial component above.

There are also two ground-floor retail strata opportunities totalling about 6,000 square feet, which can be connected to the industrial space to offer additional flexibility.

Another reason Chard chose to develop in Marine Gateway is vacancies in the area have been persistently low.

In building a new office complex, Chard’s offering will be more modern than its neighbouring competition, with amenities ranging from a gym on premises to a rooftop lounge — to say nothing of what Chard calls state-of-the-art mechanical-electrical systems that will contribute to lower hydro expenses for tenants.

Speaking to the nature of Vancouver-based businesses, Dan Jordan, senior vice-president of Colliers’ office division, said they tend to neither grow nor contract too quickly, often remaining well-nigh static for upwards of two decades.

As a result, the city’s office market usually accommodates them easily.

...

https://renx.ca/uniquely-zoned-commercial-project-coming-to-south-vancouver

[madog222]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

New Multifloor Industrial project at 1313 East Pender Street

2,974 - 8,045 ft2
Industrial Lease

Description
Designed by TKA+D Architecture and developed by CJAD Properties, 1313 East Pender Street is a new, state-of-the-art, five-story hub for office, life science and creative industrial users. Located minutes from downtown Vancouver in the dynamic Clark Drive corridor, 1313 EP offers an energetic and healthy work environment for innovators that are looking to attract top talent while staying close to their roots in the City of Vancouver. 1313 EP is designed from the ground up with maximum compatibility in mind with high-efficiency glazing, heavy power, venting for fume hoods and direct truck loading from the lane. The office space offers full floor occupancy with 360-degree views and rooftop terraces.

Creative Industrial Space -18,600 sf on floors 1, 2, and 3

Unit 101: 1,908 SF main floor + 1,066 SF mezzanine
Unit 102: 1,923 SF main floor + 1,396 SF mezzanine
Unit 200: 5,877 SF
Unit 300: 8,045 SF

Exclusive Full-Floor Office Space - 8,402 sf on floors 4 and 5

Unit 400: 4,303 SF
Unit 500: 4,099 SF



https://powersearch.jll.com/ca-en/property/668298/1313-east-pender-street

Crane is up for this.

[fredinno]

https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/news...s-closer-to-reality-in-langley-township/

A plan to potentially rezone 36 acres of land and add it to Aldergrove’s Gloucester Industrial Park will include a potential $1.9 million payment to Langley Township for future park, trail, and recreation projects.

The Township council approved the first readings of rezonings that would transform the lots on the north side of 56th Avenue, between 264th and 268th Streets into part of the industrial park, expanding it for the first time in years.

A majority of council was in favour of moving the project along, and hearing from the public at the next phase.

Up for debate will be not only the rezoning of the land, but the sizable Community Amenity Contribution (CAC) the Township has negotiated with the developers.

Development of the land is to include $2.8 million in environmental benefits and compensation related to the site, as well as a $1.9 million CAC directly to the Township for trail enhancements, recreation facilities, or other amenities.

Councillor Blair Whitmarsh, who asked for an amendment ensuring that the $1.9 million could be spent on rec facilities if the council so chooses, noted that there is no CAC policy for industrial lands in the Township.

The fate of the land has been up in the air for years.

Some of the owners originally tried to have it excluded from the ALR years ago, but the ALC originally turned that proposal down. A lengthy court battle followed, with the courts ruling that the original ALC decision be overturned and reconsidered.

The ALC changed its original ruling in 2020. It has now given provisional approval for removing the land from the ALR, subject to certain conditions.

Note sure what the point of CACs here is.
I guess maybe they're planning on using the proposed golf course land to turn into a park, but still. There's not many people living here.

Also, ALR land value for the land in this area is incredibly low. There's basically minimal actual farming around 264 St between Aldergrove and Glen Valley.

Hence, why the ALC is more open to allowing ALR rezoning here than most places the Township has proposed.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by madog222

Crane is up for this.

Link is broken.

Also, existing zoning in some areas in Vancouver demand the conversion of residential to mixed-use industrial (Burrard Slopes, Railtown). It will be very interesting to see 'downzoning' of residential to industrial.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by fredinno

Link is broken.

Also, existing zoning in some areas in Vancouver demand the conversion of residential to mixed-use industrial (Burrard Slopes, Railtown). It will be very interesting to see 'downzoning' of residential to industrial.

The zoning in Vancouver's Burrard Slopes, Mount Pleasant and Railtown doesn't require any existing residential buildings to be removed or converted. It just limits any new residential development. It's been affecting old houses in Mount Pleasant for many years, as originally the area was a mix of housing and commercial buildings, as Downtown South was too.

The last of the commercial buildings are slowly becoming developed as residential in Downtown South, although a few still remain. Similarly, some of the houses are disappearing from Mount Pleasant. For example two were demolished for the new BC Hydro substation, having been offered for free to anyone who could remove them. Some of the other projects have used old residential buildings on the site for commercial use, for example Pyrrha's jewellery manufacturing building uses the house as office and showroom, while Houss has a restaurant. Both were removed, and then brought back to site.





[Both images mine on the Changing City blog]

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by Changing City

The zoning in Vancouver's Burrard Slopes, Mount Pleasant and Railtown doesn't require any existing residential buildings to be removed or converted. It just limits any new residential development. It's been affecting old houses in Mount Pleasant for many years, as originally the area was a mix of housing and commercial buildings, as Downtown South was too.

The last of the commercial buildings are slowly becoming developed as residential in Downtown South, although a few still remain. Similarly, some of the houses are disappearing from Mount Pleasant. For example two were demolished for the new BC Hydro substation, having been offered for free to anyone who could remove them. Some of the other projects have used old residential buildings on the site for commercial use, for example Pyrrha's jewellery manufacturing building uses the house as office and showroom, while Houss has a restaurant. Both were removed, and then brought back to site.





[Both images mine on the Changing City blog]

OK, thanks.

I'm more interested in seeing the walkup apartments be downzoned (or upzoned- the office/industrial is actually more dense).

We won't see that until we get more development in those areas though.
There's still too many other industrial lands that are available for densification.

The model hasn't been picked up by Surrey yet, though, where the lower land values on the residential part of Bridgeview would likely make it easy for them be converted to industrial/office.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by fredinno

OK, thanks.

I'm more interested in seeing the walkup apartments be downzoned (or upzoned- the office/industrial is actually more dense).

We won't see that until we get more development in those areas though.
There's still too many other industrial lands that are available for densification.

As far as I know, there's literally only two walk-up rental apartment buildings in the Mount Pleasant industrial zone. One is 75 E 8th, built in 1961 with 27 units, and it sold in 2021 for 13,728,000. The other is 110 years old, on Alberta Street.

There are also still a few of the old houses, one heritage co-op, and three industrial/residential strata buildings, all built in the late 1990s with 2 floors of industrial and 2 floors of condo residential above. Those were the experiment that was quickly dropped as it didn't meet the intent of providing artist's live-work spaces (they just became normal condos). There's also a Lookout non-market housing building. All the residential buildings in the area represent less than 7% of the entire industrial area's site area, so they're really not an issue, one way or another, and apart from the odd house picked off like the examples above, it's unlikely much will change (or needs to).

There are just five residential buildings in the IC Burrard Slopes, all 5 were rezoned (which is how they were allowed to be developed, and why there haven't been any more allowed for 15 years), and all 5 are strata buildings, so again, unlikely to redevelop, especially to industrial/commercial.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by Changing City

As far as I know, there's literally only two walk-up rental apartment buildings in the Mount Pleasant industrial zone. One is 75 E 8th, built in 1961 with 27 units, and it sold in 2021 for 13,728,000. The other is 110 years old, on Alberta Street.

There are also still a few of the old houses, one heritage co-op, and three industrial/residential strata buildings, all built in the late 1990s with 2 floors of industrial and 2 floors of condo residential above. Those were the experiment that was quickly dropped as it didn't meet the intent of providing artist's live-work spaces (they just became normal condos). There's also a Lookout non-market housing building. All the residential buildings in the area represent less than 7% of the entire industrial area's site area, so they're really not an issue, one way or another, and apart from the odd house picked off like the examples above, it's unlikely much will change (or needs to).

There are just five residential buildings in the IC Burrard Slopes, all 5 were rezoned (which is how they were allowed to be developed, and why there haven't been any more allowed for 15 years), and all 5 are strata buildings, so again, unlikely to redevelop, especially to industrial/commercial.

Well, it's not unheard of to downzone (to SFH (!)) because of zoning: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/1000-cypress-street-vancouver-kitsilano
Most of these buildings are technically up-zoning (considering density only).

As I said earlier, it's not the highest priority, but will likely happen at some point at least a couple times due to zoning, especially as the area densifies.

[Lexus]

2023, Apr 7

Burnaby, N FraserWay and Glenyon Pl

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

[SpongeG]

23,864 views 2 Apr 2023 #CBCNews #CBCVancouver #BritishColumbia
Cities often redevelop industrial sites such as warehouses and factories into fancy new apartments and shopping districts. But that can lead to a problem - a critical shortage of industrial land.

• Video Link

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

yeah very true. we have gone wayyyyyy too far the other way, though. we have hit the point now where we can basically get nothing done.



hopefully it goes industrial. we need to make sure we have enough of that if we dont want to further ruin our economy. we cant keep going down the path of being a service industry city. i am a firm believer we need both the ALR and an ILR (Industrial Land Reserve).

Technically, we already have an ILR from Metro Vancouver.

The ALR ironically probably led to this situation in the first place, since they couldn't just take agricultural land.

The issue is also the fact we need more land as is- even just preserving the land we have for industry would still put us in a massive shortfall.

Surrey being dumb in zoning doesn't help either. At least Abbostford, Langley, and Maple Ridge have some sense. ALR/Metro Vancouver rural dezoning is usually easier for industry than SFHs.

Originally Posted by jollyburger

The only conceivable way it would be redeveloped is if they handed the land over to the First Nations.

Seems like the Surrey waterfront was more mixed-use than just a park?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c...waterfront-surrey-fraser-river-1.5782574

https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/file...hwestminterBridgeviewIndustrialAreas.pdf

That link you gave proves my point.

Surrey wanted the lands next to the Fraser to be a park.
The Port forced Surrey to change the zoning by buying up the designated parkland and rezoning it back to port industrial by force- (Port zoning supersedes municipal zoning the same way Metro Vancouver zoning supersedes municipal zoning.)

Part of it is still technically a 'park' (not really much of a park, but it's technically considered a park.)

There was a lot of fear back in the day when Port bought up some Richmond farmland that they would supersede the ALR and develop it on their own.
They still hold that dagger above their heads.

Maplewood and CRAB Park are subject to the same problems. They're prime port land that are only allowed to be parks for now because they're not needed (yet).


See also rezonings:
https://www.portvancouver.com/wp-content...VPort_Summary_CSC_11am_compressed1-2.pdf

They're still trying to make it park in the new plans for South Westminster, BTW. Apparently, they never got the message. Not sure what the point is, it's a pretty isolated location.

[fredinno]

https://www.mapleridgenews.com/news/mapl...tares-of-commercial-and-industrial-land/

Adding 400 hectares of commercial and industrial land, with more residents able to work in their city are key goals in the new economic development strategy endorsed by city council.

The strategy seeks to build on a proportionately larger manufacturing sector by employment than is typical in Metro. The sector is led by wood product, pharmaceuticals, and electronics but is diverse – including metal fabrication, boat-building, food products, and furniture.

https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/news...more-industrial-use-under-proposed-plan/

Langley Township will look at a plan for the industrial lands flanking Fraser Highway between Murrayville and Aldergrove, with an eye to boosting employment.

A motion from Mayor Eric Woodward at the Monday, Feb. 27 council meeting called for a report on a new Fraser Highway Employment Lands Area Plan, focused generally on the area between 228th Street and 240th Street.

...

Asked about the scope of the plan, Township administrator Mark Bakken said it will only be for non-ALR lands.

...

The motion was passed unanimously by council.

It followed a motion that is intended to speed up finishing the widening of Fraser Highway by 2030, with four lanes and upgrades that could include bike lanes and bus stops.

Looks like Maple Ridge and Langley are looking on becoming the industrial hearts of industry in Metro Vancouver (along with Abbosford.)

The problem is both would require both some ALR exclusions (the ALR tends to be open to compromise for industrial removals on low-utilization agricultural lots, which Maple Ridge and Langley both have tons of, as the area was partially suburbanizing by the time the ALR was put in place) and new infrastructure (most remaining non-ALR land outside the Urban Containment Boundary is very far away from existing road or water infrastructure.)

Map of the Maple Ridge proposals so far (note: all of these are in the ALR- and the 203rd St. Industrial proposal was rejected by the ALR. Plot numbered #1 was also turned into residential. The other proposals are still on the table.):



Map of the Langley Industrial area (the southern part of the partial non-ALR blob around 240 St. - Langley calls it the 'Salmon River Uplands'.)

[jollyburger]

Metro Vancouver as a whole needs 404.7 hectares (1,000 acres) of land over the next 10 years to properly support trade to Canada through the Port of Vancouver, she said.

Natland would not indicate how many acres of land the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority needs.

Chris MacCauley, executive vice-president at commercial real estate company CBRE, estimates that the port itself needs 607 hectares (1,500 acres) of land over the next decade.

“We simply don't have 1,500 acres of industrial land in Vancouver,” said MacCauley.

“And that's just what the port needs, that doesn't even take into account what our local industrial needs are, other things that are not port related, new entrants coming to the market or existing companies that need to expand. You have many stakeholders at the table looking for a piece of the pie and there's no pie.”

The Port of Vancouver borders 16 municipalities and encompasses roughly 16,000 hectares of water, 1,500 hectares of land and hundreds of kilometres of shoreline.

A potential solution to the land squeeze – albeit a controversial one – may lie in B.C.’s agricultural land reserve (ALR), MacCauley said.

“We've been talking about [multi-storey and stacked industrial] for years now and it's been proven across North America that it is not the answer. That is a solution for certain problems, but it's not a solution when we're talking about trade enabling lands,” said MacCauley.

Instead of constructing new industrial parks, MacCauley proposes adding ALR land to existing industrial parks. He emphasized that the focus would be on land that is not being utilized for agricultural purposes but is still protected under the ALR designation.

https://www.nsnews.com/real-estate/metro...se-massive-economic-consequences-7398050

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://www.nsnews.com/real-estate/metro...se-massive-economic-consequences-7398050

Land reclamation in and around Delta/Surrey/Vancouver Harbour feels more likely to me than touching the ALR. It's already happening/has happened for port expansion recently (Centerm + RBT2 expansion).

[seamusmcduff]

How has multi storey industrial been proven to not be the answer according to machauley? It's only recently that some very select municipalities have started allowing for it.

It's not the only thing we should be doing, but it certainly seems to be part of the solution. Many industrial uses can't get away from needing to be ground level of course. But many uses can be. Even just allowing for fleet/truck parking on roofs would help a lot

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Land reclamation in and around Delta/Surrey/Vancouver Harbour feels more likely to me than touching the ALR. It's already happening/has happened for port expansion recently (Centerm + RBT2 expansion).

The Delta terminal land reclamation is 450 acres. This also might have to do with Port land that is in the ALR..

[s211]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

How has multi storey industrial been proven to not be the answer according to machauley? It's only recently that some very select municipalities have started allowing for it.

Increased costs versus single-storey and resultant much higher rental rates mean fewer tenants that can make the additional cost work.

[seamusmcduff]

But rents are going up regardless due to a shortage of land, that's kind of the whole issue. Aren't industrial rents already at a point where multi storey industrial is economical? Even if the cost per sf is more to construct, if you can get nearly double the rent for the property then it's still a net benefit for the owner, especially when land costs are a significant portion of development costs.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

But rents are going up regardless due to a shortage of land, that's kind of the whole issue. Aren't industrial rents already at a point where multi storey industrial is economical? Even if the cost per sf is more to construct, if you can get nearly double the rent for the property then it's still a net benefit for the owner, especially when land costs are a significant portion of development costs.

I mean if it was a no brainer every new industrial project would be multi-storey.

Research by planning, architecture and civil engineering firm Ware Malcomb has shown it costs three times as much to design and build a multi-storey industrial building, from which you receive just twice as much leasable space (if it’s two storeys).

These increased costs are attributable to factors such as:

* the loading and special ramps required for trucks to access the upper floor;

* the extra load-bearing required for piling, foundations, concrete, engineering, thicker columns and more cross-bracing;

* and losing valuable land to ramps and extra parking.

The main barriers to building these types of facilities in Greater Vancouver have included: finding an affordable site with suitable scale and soil; a small tenant pool; challenging government policies; and construction costs among the highest in North America.

https://renx.ca/multi-storey-industrial-large-bay-prospects-canada

Ware Malcomb designed the Riverbend multi-storey project

https://www.waremalcomb.com/portfolio/multistorey-distribution-center/

Two key functional elements of a multistory warehouse are truck ramps and automobile parking. Both requirements pose a challenge, as they signi cantly reduce the amount of net rentable area on a site. Designers need to develop a creative, “out of the box” design strategy to overcome the loss of coverage created by these two functional requirements.

https://www.waremalcomb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/WareMalcomb_reprintfinal-1.pdf