Despite challenges faced in 2020, the industrial market continues to see growing interest and stable levels of market activity.

Edmonton, AB industrial market trends

Despite challenges faced in 2020, the industrial market continues to see growing interest and stable levels of market activity. 

It seems that each month has gotten busier than the last as we reach the end of the first quarter of 2021. Alberta recently reverted back to phase 1 of their relaunch strategy, with progress toward phase 3 halted due to an uptick in COVID cases. However, the industrial market is starting to regain the strength it had prior to the start of the pandemic, and has even surged in areas like distribution, transportation, and last-mile delivery. In addition to Amazon becoming the largest occupier in the Edmonton Industrial market, a number of other major deals have recently been inked for big box distribution users including Sobeys, MTE, Automann, Canada Cartage and Fresh Direct. The response from landlords is that we expect to see ground breaking on several larger distribution style buildings in the coming months. For a market that traditionally builds in 100,0000 to 250,000 square foot increments, the news of developers looking to build in the 400,000 square foot to 500,000 square foot range shows a marked increase in the bet on distribution continuing to be a market leader.  

Aside from distribution, Alberta is still known for the development of natural resources. While the energy sector is still feeling the impact of 2020 and indeed has more hurdles to overcome moving forward, it seems some level of stability has returned. This has caused an increase in activity in areas such as Nisku and Leduc, where the number of available properties has decreased significantly to start the year. 

Read the full report here