This industrial building and land at Speers and Bronte Roads in Oakville, west of Toronto, is part of two acquisitions by Nicola Wealth Real Estate and First Gulf. (Courtesy NWRE)

Nicola Wealth Real Estate (NWRE) and First Gulf are expanding their existing partnership with the acquisitions of 10 industrial buildings and 30 acres of industrial land in the Greater Toronto Area.

The acquisitions are two separate transactions.

The first is for an Oakville property including a 77,000-square-foot industrial building on a 13-acre site, with 17 acres of adjacent industrial development land. It is located at Speers and Bronte Roads, and has adjacent rail access.

The building is fully leased to a manufacturing company.

Nicola Wealth and First Gulf intend to develop the remaining 17 acres with modern new distribution space.

The second is an industrial portfolio in Burlington, Hamilton and Stoney Creek with all the properties just minutes from the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway. This collection comprises approximately 473,000 square feet spread over nine buildings with a near 100 per cent occupancy.

The partners plan to invest additional capital into building improvements to generate increased revenue.

GTA industrial market “ultra competitive”

“We are excited to partner with First Gulf on these two recent acquisitions,” said Mark Hannah, managing director of Nicola Wealth Real Estate, in the announcement.

“In this ultra-competitive environment, demand for well-located industrial product is challenging to source.”

“This product will appeal to small, mid, and large industrial users in a market constrained by quality available inventory,” said First Gulf president David Carreiro in the release. “This portfolio presents an opportunity to increase revenue through capital investment and market re-positioning.”

Nicola Wealth Real Estate has collaborated with First Gulf on several other projects in the GTA including an office development at 1335 North Service Rd. in Oakville.

They’re also partners in an industrial development at 880 Avonhead Rd. in Mississauga and 50 acres of industrial land at 10538 Coleraine Dr. in Brampton, with a number of upcoming projects in their pipeline.

NWRE is continuing to concentrate its growth in major Canadian markets including the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan with a focus on acquiring income-producing properties and value-add opportunities.

About Nicola Wealth Real Estate

NWRE is the in-house real estate team of Nicola Wealth, a Vancouver-based financial planning and investment firm with $9.2 billion of assets under management.

NWRE sources and asset manages a growing portfolio of properties in major markets across North America spanning asset classes which include industrial, rental apartment, office, self-storage, retail and seniors housing. With the acquisition of Blackwood Partners, the current real estate portfolio exceeds $6 billion gross asset value.

About First Gulf

First Gulf is a developer of office, industrial, mixed-use and retail properties, with over $4 billion in assets completed since its inception in 1987.

First Gulf is a fully integrated company involved in all aspects of real estate development, from land acquisition and planning approvals to design-build, construction, leasing, financing and property management.

It has developed and constructed over 30 million square feet of office, retail and industrial real estate.

First Gulf is part of the Great Gulf Group. Established in 1975, with major projects in Canada and the United States, the group’s fully integrated activities span the entire real estate spectrum.