A 146-acre parcel of industrial development land at the Rosemont Business Park just outside Calgary has been acquired by Cadillac Fairview and Hopewell Development, with plans to construct several buildings comprising 2.3 million square feet of gross leasable area.

Toronto-based Cadillac Fairview and Hopewell, which has its headquarters in Calgary, plan to build up to five buildings at the property. The current plan is for 40-foot ceiling heights and to occupy 45 per cent of the available land area. 

Financial details have not been released, nor has information about the structure of their partnership. 

"The Rosemont Business Park is attractively situated in a high-potential market area, served with solid transportation links,” said Wayne Barwise, executive vice-president of development for Cadillac Fairview, in the Monday morning announcement. “Major players such as Walmart, Sobeys and Home Depot all have distribution hubs nearby and Calgary is emerging as a robust-growth, up-and-coming market for key logistics uses, with limited inventory available in the foreseeable future to meet increased demand.”

CF, Hopewell  and Rosemont Business Park

Situated in Rocky View County, the property is in a rapidly developing area just outside the Calgary border. In addition to distribution hubs in the area, it is also seeing significant big-box retail development with Costco and Lowe’s, among others, located in close proximity.

The firms plan to offer phased deliveries between 20245 and 2029.

Calgary has about 4.7 million square feet of industrial space in various stages of development, but industry observers at the recent Calgary Real Estate Forum predicted that won't keep up with demand in coming years. 

Current asking rates are about $11.65 per square foot, and vacancy has steadily declined for several years to 2.21 per cent at the end of Q3 2022 according to Colliers data.

The acquisition is in line with several aspects of Cadillac Fairview’s investment strategies, including diversifying its portfolio, increasing its allocations to the industrial sector both in Canada and internationally, and partnering with firms which have a demonstrated knowledge and experience in both the geographical region and in the investment sector.  

"At CF, we're very excited to be working with Hopewell to create a highly differentiated offering," said Paul Macchione, senior vice-president, industrial development at Cadillac Fairview, in the announcement.

"Together, we'll be well-positioned to service a burgeoning sector in a high-growth market while providing benefits over adjacent and comparable municipalities."

"Cadillac Fairview is a first-class organization, which we are excited to be partnered with in the industrial space and we look forward to realizing the success of Rosemont together," said Murray DeGirolamo, president of Hopewell Development, in the release.

CF's industrial strategies

CF is continuing to increase its industrial holdings and development pipeline.

It is now the sole owner of the Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport site, acquired during the summer of 2021 with an eye to future industrial development of the 169-acre property north of Toronto in Markham.

In nearby Richmond Hill, CF previously acquired an eight-acre site within the Beaver Creek Business Park, similarly well-situated with proximity to Highway 404 and offering potential for one or two buildings with smaller units that attract premium rental rates.

With both the Buttonville and Beaver Creek sites, CF plans to offer a mix of unit sizes to grow tenants organically within its industrial properties in key GTA submarkets.

CF has also executed strategic international partnerships. 

After opening CF's European office in London in 2021, it announced a partnership with Boreal IM.

They initially announcing $337 million Cdn in deals for logistics assets in London and Rotterdam, but have since grown the portfolio to 3.3 million square feet across the U.K. and Europe. 

In 2012, CF entered into a joint venture with Autonomy Investmentos in Brazil to launch Golgi, a developer and owner of single- and multi-tenant class-A industrial warehouses, distribution centres and logistics facilities. 

Golgi operates eight industrial parks with 6.3 million square feet of leasable area and has an additional development pipeline of 7.5 million square feet.

About Cadillac Fairview, Hopewell Development

Cadillac Fairview (CF) is a global owner, operator, investor, and developer of real estate across retail, office, residential, industrial and mixed-use asset classes.

Wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, CF manages over $42 billion of assets across the Americas and the United Kingdom.

Internationally, CF invests in communities with partners including Stanhope in the U.K,. Lincoln Property Company in the U.S., and Multiplan in Brazil.

The company's Canadian portfolio comprises 68 properties, including the Toronto-Dominion Centre, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Tour Deloitte, CF Carrefour Laval, CF Chinook Centre and CF Pacific Centre.

Headquartered in Calgary with offices in Toronto, Winnipeg and Phoenix, Hopewell is the commercial development division of the Hopewell Group of Companies.

Hopewell is a highly experienced full-service development company that manages every aspect of development in collaboration with its partners and clients; from planning, engineering, entitlement approvals and construction management, to the leasing and property management.

Hopewell has active projects in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Dallas/Fort Worth.