Amazon’s Boom Keeps Canadian Realty Partner Afloat
The pandemic disrupted retail and housing projects at Broccolini Construction Inc., but industrial property is already coming back to pre-crisis levels. The Montreal-based firm is one of Amazon.com Inc.’s partners in Canada, announcing a deal with the e-commerce giant in June to build its 14th fulfillment center in the country, a 450,000-square foot facility in Ottawa. Confident that the boom in online retailing will continue to spur demand for distribution centers and warehouses, Broccolini is preparing to build another new facility outside Montreal, even though it hasn’t yet secured a single tenant. With non-essential stores closed to contain the virus, Canadian online sales surged 120% in April, supporting demand for industrial buildings, including warehouses and other structures used for logistics. Supply remained tight last quarter, with Toronto’s availability ratio at 2% despite new buildings coming onto the market and Montreal’s at 2.6%, well below Canada’s 3.5% average, according to data from CBRE Group Inc.
Tags : INTERNATIONAL