Construction has begun on Delta Link Business Park, one of Western Canada’s largest private industrial projects currently under development.
Beedie Development Group’s Delta Link Business Park is located along the Fraser River in the Tilbury area of Delta, BC. It was home to a chemical facility from the 1960s to the early 1990s. Environmental remediation on portions of the site began more than 20 years ago, and by 2013, the brownfield site was fully remediated to Ministry of Environment standards for redevelopment.
In 2015, Beedie purchased the site and rezoned it from chemical-plant use to industrial use, allocating 84 acres for development, 15 acres for parkland, and 4.4 acres for new municipal roads and public space.
Beedie is currently building one million square feet distributed across seven buildings, all of which are in various stages of development. According to real estate consulting firm Site Economics, a 100,000-square-foot industrial building creates anywhere from 100 to 200 permanent job spaces.
“Without question, the current industrial market is the strongest Beedie has experienced in its 63-year history,” said Ryan Beedie, the company’s president. “Delta Link Business Park is already 70 per cent sold or preleased, which is an unprecedented level of commitment. We are excited to be creating hundreds of job spaces on a site that has been largely vacant for 20 years.”
Commercial real estate brokerage CBRE says Metro Vancouver’s industrial vacancy is just 2.2 per cent, while space completing this year is already 55 per cent preleased or sold. In 2015/2016, demand for industrial space was three times greater than total new space added to the market.
In recognition of Beedie’s ongoing contribution to the community, the Corporation of Delta will name a new road at Delta Link Business Park, Beedie Way.
“As a leader in industrial development, Beedie is proud to draw long-term investment to our province,” said Beedie. “A strong economy created by the provincial government’s competitive tax structure, balanced budgets and investment in transportation has allowed us to do that, and Delta Link Business Park will build on that foundation in the coming years.”
Delta Link Business Park’s first tenants are expected to move in this year. Leon’s Furniture will move into a 434,000-square-foot facility, while Swiss Water Decaffeinated Co. will headquarter at Delta Link Business Park. North Delta Seafoods is expanding its processing facility from its current 9,000-square-foot facility to 51,900 square feet at Delta Link Business Park.
All seven buildings will be complete by early next year with more buildings planned.
