Avison Young associate Ben Lutes (pictured right with VP Kyle Blythe) tells us 2014 marks the first full calendar year when new Gateway infrastructure projects have been functional, bringing significant improvements to Coquitlam’s industrial market as a result. Construction of the new Port Mann Bridge (seen below), Mary Hill Bypass upgrades, and work on improving Lougheed Highway had hindered access to Coquitlam and depressed the industrial market there in recent years, Ben notes.

Now the work’s done, though, things are picking up nicely. Industrial vacancy in Coquitlam has been driven down to 3.6% (from 4.4% a year ago), and there’ve been 14 industrial deals worth $37M so far in 2014, surpassing 2013’s full-year total of $13M in 12 transactions. (The biggest deal to date: Rokstad Power Corp’s $11.3M purchase of a seven-acre site at 80 & 84 Golden Dr.) Despite a lack of new product, land-constrained Coquitlam has one distinct advantage over its Fraser Valley neighbours, Kyle notes: it’s located on the other side of the new Port Mann Bridge, which requires a $9 toll for a transport truck to cross.