Loblaw Companies Limited

Challenge

Loblaw was in need of streamlining and expanding their distribution network in Metro Vancouver. As part of these plans it involved the relocation of two existing facilities, one located on Grandview Highway and the other a cold storage facility in Pitt Meadows. The third part was to acquire a minimum of a 50 acre parcel to build a 420,000 square foot freezer cooler facility, with future expansion potential of up to 900,000 square feet.

Solutions

Loblaw engages CBRE who immediately embarked on a comprehensive search for planned and off-market opportunities. Due to the lack of available industrial land in the lower mainland of British Columbia there were no listed available properties. We were however able to uncover two suitable off market options that fit the logistic criteria of Loblaw.

Results

We focused on a 60 acre site in South Surrey for Loblaw. The site had a partnership of ten owners and required us to find them another site to reinvest their monies, which we were able to acquire another off market site in the area of 35 acres. We then worked closely with the city of Surrey as the designated design guidelines did not allow Loblaw to build the type of facility they required. We were able to amend the guidelines and Loblaw built their state of the art facility and is fully operational with future expansion plans already underway.