GWL Realty Advisors has acquired a new-build, 333,368-square-foot industrial distribution property at 2750 Morningside Ave., in Toronto which had been developed for Oxford Properties.

“At 2750 Morningside Avenue, we have added a best-in-class facility that complements our industrial growth strategy – combining modern functionality, strong tenancy and an exceptional GTA location,” said Steven Marino, GWLRA’s executive vice-president, portfolio management, in the company’s announcement. “It is the type of asset that is positioned to perform through cycles and strengthen the portfolio for the long term.” 

Located on an 18.98-acre freehold site, the building was designed by Ware Malcomb and constructed in 2022. The facility includes approximately 6,000 square feet of office space. 

Key property highlights include LEED certification, a 36-foot clear height and institutional-grade construction, a 130-foot truck court with 46 truck-level doors, and an efficient loading and floorplate design with 50-foot x 55-foot column spacing and 60-foot staging bays. 

The property offers approximately 800 feet of exposure to Morningside Avenue, with access via a signalized intersection. It has nearby access to both Highways 401 and 407 and has direct transit service.

There are 377 stalls for vehicle parking. The building has approximately 40 per cent site coverage.

2750 Morningside is fully leased

The property is fully leased to Avenue Industrial Supply Co. Ltd., an affiliate of Global Industrial Company, a global industrial and MRO (maintenance, repair and operating supply) products firm with a 75-year history in the business.

The Colliers team of Victor Cotic, Gord Cook, Max Brenzel and Farabe Wahab had been retained to facilitate the offering and sale process. 

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The property is located in one of Toronto’s strongest-performing industrial submarkets. Scarborough North submarket commands an average asking rent of $17.73 per square foot, according to Colliers, notably higher than core GTA West submarkets such as Mississauga and Brampton. Availability in the submarket stands at 1.6 per cent, significantly below the GTA average of 4.6 per cent. 

Over the past five years, Scarborough North has achieved 3.7 million square feet of net absorption, effectively leasing up all new supply delivered during the period. “Recent developments in this node have demonstrated faster lease-up times and higher tenant retention than comparable GTA markets,” Colliers states in its marketing brochure for the property. 

The area is home to a number of other major global logistics firms such as Amazon, DHL, DB Schenker and Canada Post.

GWLRA buying, building industrial portfolio

GWLRA is actively growing its industrial portfolio through both acquisitions and developments. On the development side, it is entering the industrial strata market with a 120,486-square-foot, 14-unit spec development now under construction called Leslie Link, just north of Toronto in Richmond Hill.

“We identified a series of strategies where we thought there was an opportunity for our platform to provide different types of activities and services to clients, and this is one that we identified through the piece,” Marino told RENX in a recent interview about that project.

Elsewhere, GWLRA and its partner Enright Capital are building a 605,000-square-foot warehouse in Balzac, just outside Calgary, for retailer Princess Auto. The facility forms the first phase of Stoney North Logistics Centre, which will feature more than two million square feet of warehouse space across 118 acres.

GWLRA managed 242 properties, encompassing 51.5 million square feet and valued at $18 billion, on behalf of its clients at the end of 2025. More than 30 per cent of that was invested in the industrial sector.

“That certainly makes us one of Canada's most active real estate investors and, by virtue of that, we get a lot of inbound on potential investment opportunities,” Marino explained during the previous interview. “We also have the discipline to look to rotate assets out of our portfolio once we've executed our business plan."