TORONTO, May 13, 2022 – Fiera Real Estate and Berkshire Axis Development broke ground today on Heart Lake Business Park, a multi-phase, five-building speculative industrial development offering more approximately 730,000 square feet in Brampton, Ontario, in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The development partnership selected Cushman & Wakefield’s Fraser Plant, Michael Yull and Rory MacNeil to market Heart Lake Business Park to prospective tenants. The project is site-plan approved, with building permit in-hand, and all major structural construction materials have been secured.
Phase one construction is underway at 10 Newkirk Court with a building totaling 316,452 square feet, and 15 Newkirk Court, with a structure totaling 105,896 square feet. Phase one is slated to deliver in the first two quarters of 2023.
“This is an extraordinary location to address historic industrial demand in Brampton and Toronto,” said Kathy Black, Fiera Senior Vice President, Development, Core & Opportunistic. “GTA industrial vacancy is less than 1%, making the region the second tightest industrial market in the Americas. What’s more, Heart Lake Business Park’s modern design and construction makes it ideal for a number of uses and types of tenants.”
Added Leslie Marlowe, President and Managing Partner of Berkshire Axis, “This is our largest industrial project in Canada and one of the last significant greenfield sites in Brampton, a cornerstone submarket for GTA industrial. With regulatory hurdles cleared and construction materials secured, our ability to deliver on schedule separates us from other GTA speculative projects in a market that absorbed a record 14 million square feet last year and only shows signs of accelerated demand.”
In addition to industry-leading design and construction features, Heart Lake Business Park also offers an unapparelled location. The site is situated along the Highway 410 corridor with access to all major 400-Series highways, and the building at 10 Newkirk Court offers signage/visibility opportunities directly on Highway 410. Additionally, it is 17 minutes from Toronto Pearson International Airport, 16 minutes from the CN Brampton Intermodal site and 18 minutes from the CP Vaughan Intermodal site.
“Not only is Heart Lake Business Park in a prime location, it also can draw from the Peel Region’s top-shelf labour force and amenities,” said Craig Wagner, Berkshire Axis Development Vice President. “The confluence of factors that differentiate this property – amidst severe supply chain and labor disruption – make it a truly remarkable opportunity.”
With construction’s start, the Cushman & Wakefield leasing team will target eCommerce, general distribution, light manufacturing, life sciences and pharma sectors for the first phase.
“Heart Lake Business Park has been designed to accommodate a wide variety of end-users,” said Yull. “As robust as the GTA industrial sector is, e-commerce has been a driving force and we see no signs of this changing in the near future. With this development’s location, demographics, amenities and flexibility, we feel it’s an unrivaled setting and opportunity for end-users to secure rarely found new construction between 87,000 and 316,000 square feet in a market with historic low vacancy.”
About Fiera Real Estate
Fiera Real Estate is a leading investment management company with offices in North America and Europe and a team of over 80 employees. The firm globally manages over $7.6B of commercial real estate through a range of investment funds and accounts as at March 31, 2022. It is an entrepreneurial team working within an institutional framework, enabling clients to benefit from a unique combination of creativity and innovation supported by industry-leading expertise and investment analysis – the best of both worlds. The highly diverse nature of its portfolio – in terms of both geographies and types of properties – combined with a range of best-in-class strategies provides investors with exceptional opportunities to diversify their exposure and customise their investment experience within the real estate asset class.
Fiera Real Estate is wholly owned by Fiera Capital Corporation, a leading multi-product investment-management firm with more than $174.4B of AUM as of March 31, 2022. Fiera Capital provides Fiera Real Estate with access to global investment market intelligence, which enhances its ability to innovate within a framework that emphasizes risk assessment and mitigation.
About Berkshire Axis Development
Berkshire Axis is a trusted leader in development with over 25 years of experience in delivering award-winning projects across the GTA. With our rich history, industry experience and commitment to quality, integrity, and accountability, we are dedicated to above average returns delivered through our entrepreneurial and innovative approaches, highly efficient execution, and focus on results.