Investing in Edmonton Industrial Real Estate, 101

Edmonton, the land of roughnecks and public servants, tradies and tech geeks. It’s a city that can’t be defined as one thing, and doesn’t really want to be. Diverse, entrepreneurial, steady Eddy, whose unique value proposition resides at the intersection between traditional and emerging sectors. It’s no wonder that people are taking notice, and not just because of our soon to be Stanley Cup Champions. In today’s unpredictable markets, institutional investment has become more conservative. When analysing commercial real estate opportunities, this has opened the door for smaller, private entities who are more capable of taking risks, to take advantage in markets like Edmonton that are not fully understood. For those that are comfortable with the fundamentals and flows of this market, investment opportunities are apparent.

InvestmentBronwyn ScrivensJune 10, 2024edmonton, Industrial, investmentComment

Five features of Edmonton’s industrial market rounding out 2023.

What a ride 2023 has been so far for businesses across the province and beyond! The sheer scale of compounding factors being vollied at companies as they try to regain balance and grow their income is farsical. How does anyone project into the future and plan for growth, or perhaps conservation, when so many opposing factors are at play. I’ve outlined Five Takeaways that we are seeing play out in the industrial asset class, from leasing, to sales, construction costs to trends and opportunties.

Market, Trends, EconomicsBronwyn ScrivensOctober 25, 2023trends, manufacturing, Lease, Sale, construction, alberta, edmontonComment

The Alberta Economic SWOT (silent W and T)

I’ve discussed at length the migration of industrial occupiers and capital investment into the Alberta market over the past 18 months due to the convergence of peak levels of demand, affordable development land, available warehouse space and unsustainable pricing in other major Canadian markets. As an industrial real estate broker, I get asked frequently if I’m seeing any slowdown in the industrial market due to increasing interest rates, inflation and lingering supply chain struggles. I’ll outline here why these local and global issues are having a much diluted effect on Alberta.

Where has all the distribution space gone, Alberta?

It truly wasn’t long ago, maybe 12 months or less, that Edmonton and Calgary were flush, perhaps too flush, with Class A speculative distribution space. In the matter of not years, but months, the inventory in both major cities has been absorbed by household names who have entered the Alberta market in quick succession. Regardless of submarket - north, south, east, west or periphery - the pickings are now unbelievably slim for large distribution tenants looking to take advantage of the low cost environment in our province and move into warehouse space within the calendar year.

Perhaps the first Alberta-focused Industrial Real Estate Podcast!

I recently had the enjoyment of sitting down with my esteemed colleague and friend, Chad Griffiths, Partner at NAI Commercial, and Gerald Tostowaryk, host of The Real World of Real Estate podcast, to discuss the past year and our upcoming projections for the Alberta industrial real estate market.

Edmonton Region's Newest Distribution Nodes

It wasn’t so long ago that the Edmonton sub-markets of Nisku and Leduc were hailed as the oil and gas heartbeat of the Region. These industrial parks established themselves as the incubators for oil and gas manufacturers, service providers, fabricators, transporters, and many others, aiding in growing our Province’s resource production to all time highs. Edmonton is the capital of the North, but Nisku and Leduc are among the workhorses that allowed the real North to be developed.

Directing your attention to Prosperity Edmonton

Founded by a collaborative group of local businesses and non-profit organizations, they came together with the common goal of fostering competitive tax and policy programs within the City of Edmonton to ensure all businesses and citizens can successfully grow and flourish.

Development, Economics, InvestmentBronwyn Scrivens, Omada CommercialSeptember 3, 2019edmonton, Development, Investment, taxes, permitComment

Dissecting urban sprawl and what it means to be a "Compact City"

How do we design livable, workable, and healthy spaces, by limiting unsustainable urban sprawl while concurrently avoiding densification to the detriment of quality of life? These are the most important questions for any City Plan, because while it’s obvious that the outward growth of single family neighbourhoods casts a huge financial toll on all citizens, it’s also obvious that individuals and families are choosing that lifestyle and living situation for a reason.

Development, Trends, EconomicsBronwyn Scrivens, Omada CommercialJuly 3, 2019Development, Urban, Suburban, Sprawl, Growth, edmontonComment

Commercial tax rates continue to rise in Edmonton and Calgary; concurrently, their periphery markets ranked among most entrepreneurial in Canada.

In what appears to be a long, slow road ahead for the Alberta marketplace, it is essential that the City of Edmonton and the City of Calgary find ways to spend smarter, not harder, in order to improve the entrepreneurial mindset in these cities, increase business confidence, and slow the outward migration.

Thought Leadership

Bronwyn Scrivens, SIOR is a licensed real estate agent with: