Denciti Development Corp. has completed two B.C. acquisitions in recent weeks – a 1.56-acre industrial-zoned site in Squamish and a nine-property, 1.75-acre land assembly it has earmarked for multiresidential redevelopment in Kelowna.

The Squamish site is located just off Hwy. 99. The Kelowna assembly is in a central part of the city which has been designated for residential intensification to help accommodate its growing population.

No financial details were disclosed.

“Denciti continues to buy and grow in a difficult market,” Denciti CEO Garry said in this week's announcement. “We have confidence in British Columbia but that doesn’t mean that we are operating exactly the same way we were a year ago. We are enhancing our research, taking action to mitigate the effects of inflation and continuing to invest in only the best locations.”

Vancouver-based Denciti is focused on urban industrial, commercial and residential development. It has delivered over $2 billion of real estate across Canada since it was founded in 2018.

Denciti’s Squamish acquisition

The site at 38939 Queens Way in Squamish was acquired by Denciti on Jan. 4. Although not a large site by itself, it sits adjacent to an existing 8.5-acre site the company purchased in 2021, giving it a 10-acre parcel of industrial development land.

Located in the Squamish Business Park, it is strategically placed in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, 40 minutes south of Whistler and 50 minutes north of Vancouver.  

“Just like Vancouver, this area is experiencing increasingly low availability for industrial space due to high demand and land constraints,” said Darren McCartney, a realtor with RE/MAX Sea to Sky Real Estate, in the release.

“This site promises to meet the need for high-quality industrial space in the region.”

In an exchange of emails with RENX, a Denciti spokesperson was not able to provide specific details but stated it plans to develop the site with "industrial space serving local manufacturing, technology, clean tech, green tech and food-processing companies."

Denciti’s Kelowna acquisition

Denciti’s land assembly of nine residential properties in Kelowna closed on Jan. 12.  It comprises 1.75 acres in a central Kelowna neighbourhood at the intersection of Bernard Avenue and D’Anjou Street.

According to the announcement, it was an off-market opportunity that presented an "exceptional location" for future multiresidential use on an established transit route with access to downtown, several schools, retail and major employment centres. 

The current residential vacancy rate in Kelowna is 1.2 per cent. According to a recent report by the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation, Kelowna is the fourth-most expensive Canadian city in which to rent an apartment.

Denciti noted the location is a core-area neighbourhood in the city’s Official Community Plan, among the locations which are expected to accommodate much of its future housing growth through infill development and redevelopment.

Denciti envisions a low-rise apartment building in this location "to provide much-needed housing options for the neighbourhood and the city."

“Across the province, there is an undersupply of industrial space and a shortage of multifamily residential options,” Fawley said in the announcement. "In spite of the high-interest rate environment, we want to continue to deliver the type of product that is most needed in the communities we serve.  

"We are able to do this in a difficult market by making creative decisions and carefully researched acquisitions.”