Beedie unveils plans for Kelowna airport industrial website

Burnaby developer has closed on the 14.7-acre former gravel pit and expects to attract Metro Vancouver buyers to 144,000 square feet of strata space

Burnaby-based developer Beedie has officially entered the Kelowna industrial real estate market with plans for a 14.7-acre vacant site it purchased next to the Kelowna International Airport.

Beedie bought the former gravel pit at 2050 Pier Mac Way a year ago and the deal closed April 1, 2022, in what the buyer’s broker, CBRE of Kelowna, claims is the “largest single property industrial land transaction by dollar value in the city’s history .”

While the purchase price has not been released, Kelowna real estate agents familiar with the deal told Western Investor that Beedie paid $25 million, or about $1.7 million per acre.

Beedie proposes to build the Stratosphere Business Center on the site. The development would consist of two buildings wth13 strata units totalling more than 144,000 square feet of space, divided into 96,000 square feet of industrial and about 50,000 square feet of offices.

While strata prices have not been released, a competing industrial site being developed at 2090 Pier Mac Way is selling space at up to $500 per square foot.

Kelowna, which has a tight 1 per cent industrial vacancy rate, is expected to attract clients from Metro Vancouver, which has an even lower vacancy rate and where industrial land is nearing $7 million per acre, according to Travis Blanleil, sales associate at CBRE whose team represented Beedie in the transaction.

“Demand for light industrial, distribution, third party logistics, and food warehousing space in Metro Vancouver have soared as a result of COVID-19, forcing companies to shift their focus and consider new markets,” said Blanleil. “Kelowna has become a viable and strategic market for companies looking to expand operations or set up new ventures.”

Founded in 1954, Beedie is Western Canada’s largest private industrial developer and property manager, having completed more than 35 million square feet of new development and holding about 11 million square feet of assets.