Industrial investment has accelerated significantly over the past year
Western Canadian real estate developer Beedie is banking upon widespread post-election dissatisfaction in Alberta to sell the province’s industrial property.
Using phrases like “Unlike Trudeau, you can balance your budget. Own this warehouse for $0 down,” Beedie stated that its campaign is meant to help galvanize Alberta’s commercial market activity, amid the province’s current economic malaise.
“A lot of these buyers are everyday small to medium-sized local businesses, and as things have unfolded in the Alberta market and the general slowdown has continued to lag, we have also seen a slowdown in our sales,” Beedie director of industrial development Jorden Dawson told the Journal of Commerce.
“We went and spent a decent amount of time sorting out why that was happening and what we could do to help potential buyers own their own real estate. We finally ended up with the zero per cent down ownership program.”
The Beedie venture includes billboard, print, and digital media campaigns, all promising rapid approvals and as few bureaucratic roadblocks as possible.
Betting on the industrial market is a wise move, considering that accelerated investment in Calgary’s apartments and industrial properties helped compensate for the much weaker performance of the office and residential segments, according to Altus Group.
Nearly 3.7 million sq. ft. of new industrial space was completed in Calgary during the four quarters ending in Q2 2019. This was considerably larger than the 500,000 sq. ft. built during the immediately previous 12-month period.
