Freight forwarding firm is making significant strides into the Canadian market
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San Francisco-based logistics firm Flexport has launched its first Canadian office in Vancouver, the company announced.
Flexport’s freight forwarding online platform will especially benefit from Vancouver’s status as a major hub for global trade, the company’s NW general manager Anders Schulze said.
“Canada is critical to North American trade and Flexport’s growth strategy, especially today amidst ever-changing international trade relationships,” Schulze stated in a release, as quoted by Business in Vancouver.
The office represents a significant milestone as it provides direct access to trans-Pacific trade, the company added.
Another factor that drove the selection of Vancouver for the company’s first step into Canada was the city’s robust technology base, supported by the sustained entry of global tech giants in recent years.
A recent market analysis by Avison Young stated that Vancouver’s industrial segment remains among the most vibrant in North America, largely due to the influence of demand among users and investors (both private and institutional).
These factors are driving “rapid rental rate growth, supporting premium pricing for industrial assets as well as record low vacancy and elevated levels of new construction activity in 2019” – adding even more strength to the city’s already strong 206.8-million-square-foot industrial market, Avison Young reported.
Vancouver has the highest average asking net rental rates for industrial space nationwide, at $12.67 per square foot. To compare, Edmonton is at $10.75 psf, Ottawa is at $10.73 psf, and Regina is at $10.49 psf. Meanwhile, Toronto has one of the lowest average asking net rental rates in Canada, at $8.95 psf.
Attesting to the feverish hunger for Vancouver’s industrial spaces, as much as 58% of the roughly 1.8 million square feet of new inventory slated for delivery in the next half year has already been pre-leased or pre-sold.
