The Lower Mainland will run out of industrial land needed for trades and goods movement within a decade unless steps are taken to preserve and expand it, warns a new study commissioned by Port Metro Vancouver (PMV).
“Without sufficient trade-enabling industrial land to meet growing demand, we risk hitting an economic brick wall, with serious consequences for our quality of life here in the Lower Mainland,” said PMV president and CEO Robin Silvester.
The Site Economics Ltd. study was the first to specifically examine the region’s inventory of trade-enabling industrial land. It found that there are roughly 1,000 acres of vacant industrial land suitable for logistics and goods movement, such as distribution warehouses, but up to 3,000 acres are needed in the next five to 10 years to meet the trade demands of a growing economy.
“This issue is critical to the future of the Canadian economy, considering nearly 20% of the value of all goods traded by Canada pass through the port here in Vancouver,” Silvester said.
He added that container traffic alone through Port Metro Vancouver is expected to nearly double over the next 15 years.
PMV is calling on all levels of government to “take the necessary steps” to ensure industrial land is available.
Silvester said municipalities should stop rezoning industrial land to other uses and added that the province can also play a role.
“The next step would involve enacting policies that establish clear provincial oversight to ensure regional districts and municipalities preserve these critical lands in their growth strategies, official community plans and zoning bylaws.”
According to the Site Economics study, the supply of trade-enabling industrial land is threatened by a number of factors, including rezoning and encroaching residential development and the redevelopment of industrial land near major corridors for uses other than trade.
PMV claims each acre of industrial land used for trade sectors is equal to $1.9 billion in economic value. Currently, an acre of industrial land in Metro Vancouver is selling for around $1.5 million, according to commercial broker Avison Young.
The industrial land shortage could be even more acute than the PMV fears, according to the Vancouver chapter of commercial real estate development association NAOIP.
A NAIOP land survey earlier this year estimated that the region has fewer than 475 acres of privately owned land remaining that is zoned for industrial use. At the current construction pace, that land would be gobbled up in less than four years. •
