Given the soaring cost of industrial development, Colliers International SVP Malcolm Earle predicts more builders will be heading out Chilliwack way. The cost to acquire land, design, and build a typical 30k SF warehouse there is $5.2M, the lowest in the Lower Mainland, according to a study by Malcolm and his team (it costs $7.6M to build the same facility in Vancouver; $6.9M in Richmond). The price tag includes development charges and levies, plus property taxes. Malcolm tells us the city has available raw land along Highway 1 that's serviced and zoned; and it’s offering a five-year property tax incentive.

Across Metro Vancouver (of which Chilliwack isn’t a part), Surrey was the lowest-cost municipality, largely due to its mammoth Campbell Heights Business Park (above). Land costs in Surrey are the region's lowest, as are development and construction costs, and property taxes. Richmond has the highest DCCs, nearly quadruple those in Chilliwack for the same development. Considering the region-wide cost to develop a 30k SF facility increased a whopping 33% in just two years, Malcolm expects more industrial occupiers to stay put and retrofit existing facilities to accommodate growth. “They’ll have to do more with less.”