Chilliwack – (Tracy Goodwin is a Licensed Realtor at Century 21 Creekside Realty Ltd.) – The opening of the $200 million Molson Coors brewery in September is not the only good news for investors looking at the Lower Mainland community that has become an industrial real estate hot spot.
Avison Young recently described the Chilliwack region as among the “Lower Mainland’s most active industrial market,” with strong activity continuing through 2019’s first half. Colliers International has pegged Chilliwack’s industrial vacancy rate at 0.4 per cent, the lowest in the Lower Mainland
Molson Coors chose Chilliwack for the 400,000-square-foot plant because of land availability and highway transportation links. Also, Chilliwack managed to secure a special zoning within the Agricultural Land Reserve for the brewery, an indication of its business-friendly city administration.
The Chilliwack region has been described as among the “Lower Mainland’s most active industrial market,” with strong activity continuing through 2019’s first half. Colliers International has pegged Chilliwack’s industrial vacancy rate at 0.4 per cent, the lowest in the Lower Mainland.
On the retail front, PCI Developments has purchased the Cottonwood Mall and is in the midst of a $30 million expansion that includes a new Save-On-Foods. If approved, work will also begin next year on the $63 million demolition and remake of the Chilliwack Mall that includes three residential towers.
The 400 jobs created by the new Molson Coors brewery will help speed the flow of people into Chilliwack, where house prices are rising faster than anywhere else in the Lower Mainland. In September, the average home price in Chilliwack, at $525,200, was up 1.2 per cent from a year earlier, while it had fallen 6 per cent in Greater Vancouver.
Chilliwack’s economy is anticipated to expand by a steady 2.2 per cent this year and next, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Tracy can be reached at www.tracygoodwin.ca
