Carttera Private Equities has broken ground on Gateway Meadowvale, a two-building office campus at Winston Churchill Boulevard and Highway 401 that represents the firm’s third office development in this bustling Mississauga submarket. Partner Dean Cutting explains the allure.

Located on a 12.5-acre site, Gateway Meadowvale, being built on spec, will include two buildings: Phase 1 (above) is 150k SF, with floor plates in excess of 25k SF. Phase 2 will be 120k SF. Dean, who’s developed in Meadowvale for decades, notes Gateway’s “high-exposure” location at the nexus of Highways 401 and 407. “Transportation’s always been good in that node,” he says, adding there’s less congestion than in areas closer to the airport. There are also two GO Transit stations nearby, so the wide worker catchment area spans from Burlington to Brampton. “It’s got a strong suburban employee base.”

That’s Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie at centre at last week's groundbreaking, flanked by economic development director Susan Amring, councillor Pat Saito, Carterra founding partner James Tadeson and development manager Christina Basan. Also in Meadowvale the Toronto-based firm has built 7110 West Credit Ave—on spec, as well— occupied by engineering firm WorleyParsons (and subsequently sold to Standard Life). And Carttera developed 1919 Minnesota Ct, DuPont Canada's HQ. Both were named NAIOP office developments of the year.

Gateway Meadowvale, targeting LEED Gold, is part of Carttera’s $1.4B project portfolio that includes office, industrial and condos, as well as mixed-use and retail infill developments. “We look for creases in the marketplace—which we have in Meadowvale for larger Class-A, LEED office product—and strategically develop buildings on a speculative basis,” Dean explains. Riskier, yes, but also sensible: most businesses can’t predict where they'll be in three years, he notes. “They want office space just in time. So for us to build it on spec and enable them to move in a matter of months once the building's up, that's attractive to them.”