Pure Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust has bought in big to the Winnipeg industrial sector, said to be the tightest such market in the country.

In July, the Vancouver-based REIT closed the $15.1 million purchase of 1725 Inkster Boulevard, Winnipeg, a 265,843-square-foot industrial complex on 12.7 acres. The property is 100 per cent leased on long-term leases to quality tenants, including the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.  

According to a survey by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), Winnipeg's industrial vacancy rate is now 3.7 per cent, down from 4.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2010. "Winnipeg has the tightest industrial market in the country," said Derrick Charter, head of CBRE's Winnipeg office. Charter notes that 140,000 square feet of new industrial property came to the market in the second quarter. 

 Earlier this year, Avison Young forecast that high demand would put upward pressure on Winnipeg's industrial land prices and lease rates. Land prices have increased about 10 per cent per year in each of the last four years,