A rare waterfront property zoned for various industrial uses has come on the market in Mission, B.C., offering 87 acres that includes one kilometre of Fraser River frontage.
The land offers some intriguing upside should the buyer opt to up-zone the site to mixed-use within the city’s Waterfront Revitalization Master Plan, says Mark Goodman, principal with Goodman Commercial.His company is the listing agency for the property located just south of Lougheed Highway, near the intersection of Highway 11.
The property could fetch a price over $100 million, he told RENX.
“It’s very rare that you can get an industrial site of this stature, 87 acres,” Goodman said in an interview. “It’s even more rare that you can have an industrial site that has one kilometre of waterfront, and even more rare when there’s a master plan; in this case, it’s a Waterfront Revitalization Master Plan, which sets the stage for a complete renaissance for the Mission area.”
Property zoned industrial, but options exist
The property, currently owned by the Braich family, has existing Industrial General and Industrial General 2 zoning, which allows a wide range of light and heavy industrial uses including manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, mini-storage, along with barge loading and outdoor storage.
The parcel of land comprises eight individual titles totalling 86.72 acres, of which approximately 11.17 acres is submerged. The balance is dry land, according to the listing.
Mission is just east of the Metro Vancouver area, and about 60 kms from the core area of the city.
Goodman said Mission’s new waterfront plan provides further opportunity to introduce higher-density uses through rezoning, such as stacked industrial, office, breweries, or “destination” uses that could involve a mix of retail, hotel, casino, marina and mixed-use residential/commercial buildings up to six storeys.
If the buyers were motivated, they could potentially envision a development with a mix of uses akin to Granville Island in Vancouver or the Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, Goodman said.
It represents an exciting moment for Mission, he added.
“The ultimate buyer may be a heavy industrial user from China that can get going immediately without rezoning,” he said. “It could be a local industrial company or developer that — in the short to medium term — wishes to subdivide the site into different plots and build it out over a period of time. It could be a major developer that works with the city to rebuild under the master plan.
“There’s so many different options.”
The property has a kilometre of Fraser River frontage. (Courtesy Goodman Commercial)
Land vacant, ready for development
The Braich family has owned this site for decades, Goodman said, adding that the land is currently vacant and ready for construction. “It’s like a blank canvas.”
Potential trade war spurs skittishness, but could emphasize importance of real estate
Goodman admitted the sellers felt a bit skittish in recent days with the Trump administration’s threatened tariff war against Canada that was eventually postponed pending further security and economic negotiations between Ottawa and the White House.
One could assume that a prolonged trade war between the countries could have a negative impact on the region’s industrial sector.
However, Goodman said any economic turbulence could result in a more aggressive lowering of interest rates like what the Bank of Canada brought forth during the pandemic.
“It could fuel speculation,” he said. “It could fuel investors to gravitate toward buying industrial property, multifamily property, you name it — and it’s kind of like COVID 2.0.”
He noted the federal government has also halted its planned increases to the capital gains tax for at least one year. With a federal election looming this fall, the future of taxation and tariffs remain unclear for now.
“When this is happening and there’s uncertainty, people gravitate toward hard assets — real estate — particularly multifamily and industrial which are the perennial favorites during high, high demand,” he said.
Goodman says industrial assets like this one feel like an “extinct species” in the region. “We just don’t have enough of this industrial land.”
