Loblaw to be anchor tenant in major new GTA construction

Loblaw is planning to build a 1.2 million square foot, automated, multi-temperature distribution centre north of Toronto.

The facility will be built on a property newly purchased by Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. The 154 acre parcel is in East Gwillimbury in the Greater Toronto Area, at the corner of Highway 404 and Green Lane East.

The development plan for the property is for the trust to build a multi-phase industrial park with the potential for approximately 1.8 million square feet of new logistics space. For the first phase, the Trust and Loblaw entered into an approximately 100-acre land lease.

“This new facility reflects our continued drive to advance our supply chain to better serve our customers and meet their evolving needs,” said Robert Sawyer, chief operating officer at Loblaw.

“This is also a strong demonstration of the benefits of our strategic relationship with Choice Properties.”

The initial cost of the project is approximately $170 million, including land and site preparation. Preparation of the site for the first and following phases is anticipated to take place over a period of 15 months.

The cost of the DC has been included in its capital planning, Loblaw said. The grocer expects the facility to be up and running in the first quarter of 2024.

“This development is a unique opportunity for Choice Properties to scale its existing industrial portfolio, and further demonstrates the benefits of our strong and strategic relationship with Loblaw,” said Rael Diamond, president and chief executive officer of Choice Properties.

“The development is a significant opportunity in a key market to develop industrial land alongside the Rice Group, who is a long-standing development partner of ours.”

Choice Properties currently holds 114 industrial properties totaling 17.2 million square feet. With this project, Choice Properties now has approximately 6.5 million square feet under development or in various stages of the rezoning and planning process, further expanding its pipeline of opportunity to grow its industrial portfolio.