Delta council last week approved development permits for a pair of new industrial buildings, both requiring special permits due to their proximity to irrigation ditches.
Streamside Protection and Enhancement Area (SPEA) development permits were approved for the applications, both within 30 metres (98 feet) of a watercourse.
The SPEA Development Permit Area was established to preserve and protect fish and wildlife habitats in and along streams.
One of the developments is an application by a numbered company to build a new industrial building at 7722 Progress Way in Tilbury.
The owner is proposing to construct a 421 square-metre (4,532 square-feet) industrial building to the west of an existing building. The new building would contain additional warehouse and loading space to support a textile business.
The other application by 7702 Delta Properties Inc. is for a 357 square-metre (3,842 square-feet) addition to an existing building at 7702 Progress Way.
The proposed industrial building would contain additional warehouse space to support an existing industrial drill fabrication business on the site.
This summer, a SPEA permit was approved for an application by Beedie (South Perimeter) Holdings Ltd., which plans to consolidate three industrial properties into one lot to develop a 23,600-square metre (254,028-square-foot) customer fulfillment centre to support 1,500 jobs.
The site in the 7500 and 7600-block of 80 Street comprises 9.2 hectares (23 acres), situated between 80 Street to the west, Highway 17 to the east and the 80 Street (Tilbury) Connector to the south.
The owner requested an SPEA development permit ahead of rezoning approval in order to delineate the SPEA boundaries and allow for site preparation, while they continue to work with city staff to refine the industrial development proposal.
Council this summer also granted an SPEA development permit for Conwest (Nordel) GP Ltd. and Delta Cedar Products Ltd. to develop five industrial parcels in the 10000-block of River Road. The four-hectare (9.9 acre) site formed part of the Delta Cedar Specialties office, sawmill and lumber yard operation.
The owners are proposing to redevelop approximately 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) of the land into a new 19,698-square-metre (212,028-square-foot) multi-tenant industrial building south of River Road.
As with the Beedie application, the owners would also be required to enter into a restrictive covenant for the protection of the riparian area and riparian plantings would be installed and monitored.
According to Avison Young’s fall 2022 industrial overview for Metro Vancouver, the region’s industrial market continues to be resilient. Investment in industrial properties continues to rise as the asset class outperforms other commercial real estate asset classes and remains the focus of investors of all types.
The report notes that approximately 3.1 million-square-feet of new inventory will be delivered in the next six months, but 90 per cent of that space is already preleased or presold.
