A group of private investors hopes an ongoing development boom in a region just north of the Greater Toronto Area means this is a good time to market a tract of employment land near the town of Alliston.

Three potential purchasers have expressed serious interest in the 98.64 acres of vacant land at 7133 Industrial Parkway in the town of about 25,000 people 90 kilometres north of Toronto. A Colliers sales brochure for the site provides a list price of $40 million.

One potential purchaser is from Winnipeg, one is from Ontario and the third is from California and involved with solar panels, Colliers broker Amar Aulakh told RENX.

Once the California company finishes its due diligence, Aulakh said, its representatives want to talk to local and provincial officials and “see what benefits they can get from the government.”

The site was acquired in 2022 by a pool of private investors Aulakh said is willing to offer a vendor take-back mortgage to a reputable purchaser. The group also owns land around Niagara Falls, Brantford and London. They are waiting for the right deal to come along in Alliston, he added, and aren’t in a major rush to sell.

Many large land transactions have been put on hold in recent months due to economic uncertainty, including fears of the impact that United States-imposed tariffs could have on Canadian-based industries. Aulakh said buyers want to see how things unfold before making a major decision.

Location is adjacent to Honda plant

The 7133 Industrial Parkway property is adjacent to a Honda Canada manufacturing plant about five minutes from Highway 89 and 20 minutes from Highway 400. There are a variety of businesses, a recreation centre and a hospital nearby.

Honda announced plans in April 2024 for a $15-billion electric vehicle project on its large Alliston site that was originally slated to start operation in 2028. It was expected to add 1,000 jobs to the 4,200 already employed at Honda’s existing operations which produce approximately 390,000 vehicles per year.

However, the Japan-headquartered company said earlier this month it is pausing its Alliston expansion for two years due to the fluctuating demand for electric vehicles and uncertainties facing the industry due to U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles.

Aulakh doesn’t believe that decision will have a major impact on the 7133 Industrial Parkway property or others in the area, as it is already established as an important manufacturing and logistics hub.

7133 Industrial Parkway has Employment Area 2 zoning, which permits a number of different industrial, commercial, educational and recreational uses.

The property is also in an area designated as a provincially significant employment zone, which provides opportunities to improve coordination between land use planning, economic development and infrastructure investments to support job creation.

“I was checking in the Simcoe County area, Barrie and Innisfil, and any area with zoning and services is going for over a million dollars per acre,” Aulakh said. “Simcoe County is very flexible. If you approach them in a good manner at the developing stage, they're very helpful.”

Other recently sold and available land in the area

Aulakh said eight acres recently sold in the neighbouring township of Innisfil for $11.5 million. A 14-acre tract also sold in another neighbouring community, Bradford West Gwillimbury, for $19 million as a development boom continues in the region.

Emergia owns 100 nearby acres at 14th Line and Industrial Parkway that it acquired in 2021 for $14.4 million. It’s seeking to sell 70 acres to a developer of single-family residences and develop approximately 500 housing units and up to 60,000 square feet of retail on the remaining property, according to its website.

Broccolini sold 55 acres and is building a 1.3-million-square-foot warehouse at Highway 400 and Innisfil Beach Road in Innisfil that will serve as a distribution centre for Denmark-based DSV – Global Transport and Logistics. 

Broccolini is looking to sell an adjacent 16.8 acres at 7267 5th Side Road that fronts Highway 400 and is appropriate for an industrial building of up to 350,000 square feet. CBRE’s website listing has a price of $28.48 million for the site.