RoseFellow’s industrial property at 151 Reverchon, Point-Claire, Quebec (Courtesy Rosefellow)

RoseFellow will invest $205 million to build three new industrial developments on spec in the Montreal-area cities of Laval, Mascouche and Terrebonne.

The Montreal-based developer will invest an additional $72 million to build in the Montreal borough of Anjou its second multiresidential rental project.

Given the Montreal area’s low industrial vacancy rates, RoseFellow co-principal Mike Jager is confident the industrial projects will soon find tenants.

In Laval, for example, where the industrial vacancy rate now stands at about 0.8 per cent, “we believe that by the time we start construction, more than likely it will already be leased.”

Laval an up and coming industrial market

RoseFellow has acquired a site of 750,000 square feet in Laval at 137 Bellerose Blvd. W. from family-run business Les Bois Peladeau. The hardwood lumber producer and distributor will move to new quarters in June.

Existing structures at the site will be demolished and RoseFellow will spend $60 million to build two on-spec buildings of 200,000 and 110,000 square feet, respectively, with clearances of 32 feet. Construction is scheduled to begin Aug. 1, 2022 with a spring 2023 delivery.

The build is being maximized at the site and the two buildings will be able to accommodate either single tenants or multi-tenants who can lease as few as 25,000 square feet, says RoseFellow co-principal Sam Tsoumas.

“We feel so strongly about the Laval market,” says Tsoumas, noting industrial vacancy rates are historically low and lower than the average of Greater Montreal.

“Laval is one of the up and coming cities in all of Canada from what we can tell on the industrial front,” he says. “We feel confident putting up both buildings at the same time.”

New industrial building in Mascouche

RoseFellow has also acquired a 500,000-square-foot site in Mascouche, about 25 miles north of Montreal, on which it will spend $55 million to build a 275,000 square-foot industrial building.

The building will have a minimum 32-foot clearance and could house multiple tenants. It is scheduled to start construction at the end of 2021.

The site at 3601 de la Gare Ave. is owned by Denis Leclerc, owner of ALBI le Géant car dealerships, and houses ALBI Kia Mascouche. The Kia dealership will move to a new site nearby in Mascouche.

Land purchase in Terrebonne, Montreal multires

In addition, RoseFellow is working to finalize a land transaction of more than one million square feet in Terrebonne, about 20 miles north of Montreal.

RoseFellow plans to spend $90 million to build a 450,000-square-foot distribution centre on spec that could be single- or multi-tenant. Further details will be announced shortly.

As well, RoseFellow started demolition last week of a small, vacant strip mall at the corner of Boulevard Galeries d’Anjou and St-Zotique Street East. to make way for a 12-storey, 200-unit multires development. The site was owned by the Latiffi family.

The $72 million project, which has yet to be named, is scheduled for delivery in spring 2023. Rents will run at about $2.25 per square foot.

It will be built in partnership with TG Beco, which is building RoseFellow’s first residential multires project, Le Cent-Onze, an 11-storey, 270-unit building at 111 Alexis-Nihon Blvd. in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent.

The Anjou development will be minutes away from the Galeries d’Anjou mall and adjacent to a new Metro stop that will be built as part of the extension of the Blue line.

“Obviously, public transportation is key,” Jager says. “With the Metro being there, it was a no-brainer for us.”

RoseFellow leasing previously announced developments

As for its previously announced developments, RoseFellow is finalizing a long-term lease with a multinational tenant that will rent all 325,000 square feet of its industrial site now under construction at 151 Reverchon Ave. in Pointe-Claire, on Montreal’s West Island.

The site is under construction with delivery scheduled for December. RoseFellow would not name the new tenant.

Because the demand for industrial space is so high, RoseFellow will start construction earlier than originally planned at its site at 6000 Trans-Canada in Pointe-Claire, Tsoumas says.

Plans had called for the construction of a 275,000-square-foot building to begin in November 2022 but because of how quickly the Reverchon Avenue site was leased, construction is now slated to start in spring 2022.

“We’re actually negotiating with the tenants now to have them leave the facilities in the spring and it’s going in the right direction,” Jager says. Plans call for tenants to be moved into another RoseFellow facility.

The developer is also finalizing a long-term lease with a tenant that will take all 125,000 square feet of one of two buildings now being built on Marien Avenue in Montreal East.

RoseFellow is also finalizing a lease with a tenant that will take 50,000 square feet of the other 125,000-square-foot building. Both buildings will be delivered in December, ahead of schedule.

Much of the financing for the new industrial sites in Laval, Mascouche and Terrebonne is coming from existing investors and RoseFellow’s $100 million industrial development fund established in April.

RoseFellow has hired five more employees recently, bringing its staff count up to a “still lean” 14, Jager says.