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Record Mission land deal highlights hot Fraser Valley industrial market

Fraser Valley is Lower Mainland’s “most active industrial market,” with $185 million of sales in 2019’s first half
Mission_3D_Aerial_After_LowRes credit
Photo: District of Mission, mission.ca


The Fraser Valley has become the Lower Mainland of B.C.’s “most active industrial market,” with 105 sales worth $185 million in the first half of 2019, according to Avison Young.

This represents a quarter of the $740 million worth of industrial transactions Avison Young reported for B.C. in its report on investment sales in the first half of the year. Those transactions included 39 valued at $5 million and up, for a total of $391.6 million, as well as 243 transactions worth less than $5 million that added $348 million to the total.

With relatively few large industrial assets changing hands, thanks to a tight supply of available properties, the balance shifted in favour of smaller properties offering infill potential.

“Vacant industrial land that is development-ready is increasingly scarce with most land acquisitions being infill sites or requiring rezoning,” notes Colliers International in its own report on the region’s industrial market.

The available sites were often further out from the core, hence the rise of activity in the Fraser Valley.

Record-breaking deal

The strength of the market is shown in a recent transaction that Frontline Real Estate Services Ltd. handled at 33519-33527 Thompson Avenue in Mission.

Mission isn’t the most active industrial investment market in the Fraser Valley; that honour, according to Avison Young, goes to Surrey, which saw 62 transactions worth $92 million in the first half of 2019. By contrast, there were just four deals worth $5 million in Mission during the period.

But as activity shifts eastward, new records are being set.

According to broker Kyle Dodman, the deal on Thompson Avenue set a new record in per-acre pricing for Mission. The 0.82-acre site fetched $989,000, or $1.2 million an acre.

The site has industrial zoning and is conveniently located off the north foot of the bridge connecting Mission with Abbotsford via Highway 11. The Sumas border crossing is a 20-minute drive south.