1 reply to this topic

[Mike K.]

This doesn't bode well for the local economy. If businesses can't setup shop here for lack of space then they'll move further up-island. From what I hear, the main beneficiary of Victoria's lack of industrial space is the Nanaimo region.

Industrial space in squeeze
Greater Victoria’s vacancy rate slipped to an all-time low
BY DARRON KLOSTER Times Colonist business editor

The availability of industrial space in Greater Victoria has slipped to an all-time low this year, crimping expansion plans for existing companies and keeping new businesses from entering the local market, says a new report by Colliers International.
The vacancy rate fell from 0.4 per cent to 0.3 per cent over the past 12 months and has squeezed an already tight market to the “breaking point,” according to Andrew Turner, managing director for Colliers International Victoria.
“It’s disturbing and it’s getting worse every year,” Turner said yesterday. He added the lack of building space for light industrial and manufacturing has created a situation where companies are going to start leaving Victoria for better selections and lease rates that are in some cases 50 per cent lower on the mainland and elsewhere.
The Colliers report said that although market dynamics suggest new construction should be supported by the region’s strong demand, skyrocketing land values and the escalating costs of construction and materials have made it “uneconomic” for developers to bring new industrial buildings on stream.
Bev Highton of NAI Commercial in Victoria said land and construction costs have put lease rates “into the stratosphere.” Costs of development aside, he said, availability of land is the main issue.
Highton said the region’s geography of bedrock and water has always put Victoria in a bind. “Just compare us with Calgary where all they have to do is move out the picket fence another few hundred feet and they’ve got a nice level piece of land to build anything on.”
Topography issues also magnify the cost of any new buildings or even remodels to suit clients, he added.
This year’s industrial vacancy rate is well below Greater Victoria’s five-year average of 2.4 per cent. Turner doesn’t see any improvement and expects the vacancy rate to stay low for years to come, forcing rental rates and land values to escalate.
While the demand for office space in Greater Victoria is marginally better, Turner said for every one call he receives about offices, he gets 10 inquiries for industrial. Of the 241,053 square feet of new industrial space built over the past 12 months, about 60 per cent was in the form of mini-storage developments.
Colliers said the only new construction in the sector has been on a “built-tosuit” basis with clients in the wings.
Anything else is snapped up quickly, sometimes before construction is complete.
Greater Victoria’s industrial sector leased or sold 251,214 square feet over the past 12 months, the 10th consecutive year of increases for the region.
Colliers said the West Shore led with 176,620 square feet — or 73 per cent — of the region’s entire new supply over the past 12 months as established industrial parks have reached capacity or no longer meet the market’s demands.
Vacancy rates in places such as Langford and Colwood slipped to 0.3 per cent from 0.8.
Saanich and Central Saanich, with its Keating Industrial Park, are the tightest markets with zero per cent vacancy rates. Victoria, which has the region’s largest industrial area, is seeing some of its older builders redeveloped but very little turnover and has a 0.2 per cent vacancy.
It’s a little better in Sidney, which has the highest vacancy rate in the region at 1.5 per cent, and Esquimalt which improved slightly to a 0.5 per cent vacancy rate over the past year.

[Holden West]

I'm with VicHockeyFan--too much land that could help the economy by being used for commercial and industrial purposes is swallowed up by storage units containing mismatched dinette sets from 1974, bald snow tires and broken lava lamps. Throw it out, people! Let's get some economic diversity back into Victoria!