Rosefellow continues to build on-spec and build-to-suit industrial buildings in the Montreal area because the appetite for class-A industrial space remains high, says the company's co-CEO Mike Jager.

The availability of class-A industrial real estate with clearances of 32 feet or higher in the Montreal area is almost nil, he says: “As long as the market class-A inventory is getting absorbed, we’re going to keep building. We still see demand for class-A.”

Rosefellow has $925 million in industrial developments planned or underway at four sites in or near the city.

In Boisbriand, just north of Laval, the developer is investing $279 million to build a three-building industrial campus on a 2.2 million square foot site at 500 Hector Lanthier St. 

“At the onset it was going to be three spec buildings, but when we announced the land acquisition, we received multiple different requests,” Jager says. 

As a result, one of the buildings will be a build-to-suit of 123,675 square feet for a national tenant, which he declined to name at this time. Construction is set to begin on that building with completion scheduled for November 2026.

The other two buildings will be on spec, including a 300,000-square-foot building, now under construction, slated for completion in September 2026. The second on-spec building will be 256,640 square feet with construction beginning in the summer of 2026 for completion in summer 2027.

Rosefellow builds 42-foot clear heights

Rosefellow has adopted 42-foot clear heights for many of its new industrial builds including those in Boisbriand. The company’s new builds are also carbon zero and LEED certified.

Jager notes many large companies are now using pallet heights of six feet, so a 42-foot clearance building can accommodate seven pallets.

Last spring, Rosefellow acquired part of the Mega Centre Notre-Dame in Laval shopping mall from RioCan REIT and Harden. RioCan and Harden are densifying the rest of the mall, which fronts Highway 13.

Rosefellow will invest a total of $274 million at the 1.2-million-square-foot site to build two on-spec buildings of 409,157 and 145,063 square feet. 

Construction cannot begin until next spring because leases are in place with some of the retailers until March 2026. “As soon as the last retail lease comes to term, then demolition begins and construction thereafter for the entire site,” Jager says.

He says the site will appeal to employees as services such as a gym and grocery store will be within a one-minute walk from the new buildings.

Bombardier distribution centre project

Rosefellow is investing $220 million to build a 950,948-square-foot building at 1500 des Papillons Ave., off Highway 30 in Sainte-Philippe, between Candiac and La Prairie on the South Shore of Montreal. The building for Bombardier Recreational Products will have a clear height of 36 feet and is scheduled for completion in January.

“It’s the biggest industrial project in the province of Quebec at the moment,” he says.

A second building to be built on excess land at the site will house a 308,650-square-foot, on-spec industrial building at a cost of $89 million.

Rosefellow is also planning a $63-million industrial development at 3500 Sartelon St. in the Montreal borough of St. Laurent.

The on-spec development will consist of a 58,381 square foot single-tenant building and a 119,846 square foot multi-tenant building.

 “We’ve submitted plans. As soon as we get our construction permit, we’re starting.” The developer is aiming for a September 2026 delivery.

Rosefellow's multifamily strategy

On the residential front, Rosefellow is poised to announce construction of a 765-unit multiresidential project “in one of the hot premier areas” of the South Shore of Montreal. The development will be built in four phases, starting in September 2026.

The company has previously built the Novelia residential development at 7051 des Galeries d'Anjou Blvd. in the borough of Anjou which is 98 per cent leased, and Le 111 at 111 Alexis-Nihon Blvd. in the St. Laurent borough, which is 96 per cent leased. 

When Rosefellow launched, the initial plan was to build one multiresidential project for every five or six industrial projects, Jager says. However, while land and construction costs in Montreal skyrocketed, rental rates did not, and the numbers did not work.

“We halted any plans to do any multires for (about) three years. Now the timing is right.”  Rosefellow is “able to pick up land at a very aggressive number” for a residential project and negotiate construction costs “to make the returns better for ourselves and our investors.”

Jager has an optimistic outlook for industrial real estate next year after a 2025 that saw demand initially halt because of uncertainty over U.S. tariffs. 

“The common term I heard recently – I was at an industrial conference in San Antonio - is instability is the new reality.” 

He says in the last month and a half, LOIs have been signed and leases have been negotiated.

“People are ready to start making a move because at a certain point you can sit on the sidelines for so long before you have to either expand, consolidate or downsize. But you do have to make a move.”