Vicano Developments is building this 562,000-square-foot distribution centre for Ford in the community of Paris, just outside Brantford. (Courtesy County of Brant)

Ford Motor Company has announced the second of its two new distribution centres in Ontario will be located in a newly constructed facility in Paris, just northwest of Brantford.

The new state-of-the-art facility is being constructed by local builder Vicano Developments Ltd., on a site at the corner of Rest Acres Road and Highway 403. It will comprise about 562,000 square feet of space.

Ford has signed a long-term lease to be the sole tenant at the 30-acre site.

This facility, and another recently announced facility which is under construction near the community of Casselman, east of Ottawa, will replace Ford’s existing 900,000-square-foot distribution centre in Bramalea (just north of Toronto).

Ford says creating the dual-facility distribution network will better serve clients and customers served by the Ontario facilities and will expedite parts deliver times to its dealers.

Construction at the site began in May 2021 and structural steel erection has commenced. Completion of the new facility is slated for December 2022. 

Although the announcement Wednesday does not contain any information about how many jobs will be created by the Paris operation, previous published reports while the development was being approved by the County of Brant indicated up to 200 would be employed by the tenant.

Second major announcement by Ford

The facility will complement a 531,000-square-foot distribution centre being constructed by Montreal-based RoseFellow and Bertone Development Corp. in Casselman.

Located near the Ontario-Quebec border, between Ottawa and Montreal, the project was unveiled in September and is expected to be ready for occupancy early in 2023.

The value of that project is estimated at about $100 million.

Both distribution centres will feature ceiling heights of about 36 feet.

The builder of the Paris facility, family-owned Vicano Development, has been in the news several times recently connected with major developments and transactions as the industrial boom and demand for distribution space has spilled well outside the borders of the Greater Toronto Area.

Vicano is finishing the development of another 500,000-square-foot facility in Brantford for U.S.-based food and candy producer Hershey.

The $50-million distribution centre will offer climate-controlled space, 80 dock-level doors and parking for more than 370 trailers. 

In the same area of Brantford, Fiera Capital acquired another 500,000-square-foot distribution centre from Vicano in May, part of a portfolio of five industrial buildings it acquired from the firm.