Largest commercial and industrial land deal to date coming to Paris

MEDIA RELEASE - Orlando Corporation

(https://www orlandocorp com/index php) has made one of the largest land acquisitions of the new year, buying a 350.4-acre tract of land from Vicano. The site sits just outside the community of Paris in an area bounded by Hwy. 403, Powerline Road, Rest Acres Road and Cleaver Road.

While Orlando president Blair Wolk wouldn’t confirm a purchase price for the property acquired at 982-986 and 1036 Powerline Rd. on Feb 7, data obtained by Hamilton-based investment management firm Forge & Foster which tracks transactions across Southwestern Ontario listed the price at $190 million.

It’s the largest commercial real estate transaction reported in the region so far in 2023. Panattoni made a major land purchase in the area a year earlier, snapping up 423 acres for $290 million (about $684,000 per acre). Orlando’s purchase represents a peracre price of $542,237

“We have met with the mayor and the local councilors there, as well as staff, and they're pretty excited to have us there to kick off this business park and to get Orlando in that community and making a contribution,” Wolk told The Real Estate News Exchange in an interview.

“When you show up and people are there with open arms to have you doing business with them, it's a great start ”

Orland Corporation has acquired 350 acres of land from Vicano, located just outside of Paris in an area bounded by Highway 403, Powerline Road, Rest Acres Road and Cleaver Road.

Wolk said Orlando made an unsolicited approach to owner Vicano Construction Ltd., which is active in the Brantford area, about acquiring the property. Colliers executive vicepresident and sales representative Stewart Metcalfe was involved in the off-market deal.

Plans for the site

The current agricultural land is divided into two areas, with the initial focus being on approximately 80 acres on Rest Acres Road.

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“Those are already in the Official Plan and they've just gone through draft plan approval, so that will be zoned for employment uses and industrial commercial uses,” Wolk said

“And then the balance of the lands in behind, what we call Phase 2 lands, are still to be brought into the Official Plan. They are in the County of Brant Official Plan, but they’ve got to be adopted by the province. We anticipate that will happen this year.”

Orlando would like to start site servicing this year and begin construction early next year, with the first building to be delivered in late 2024 or early 2025. The plan is to have two spec-built industrial buildings of approximately 400,000 square feet each in Phase 1.

“We'll do one building first and see how the market goes with that,” Wolk said. “Unless we have the first one leased up, we probably won't build them both at the same time, but they’ll be in quick succession of each other.”

A public road will be built through the property to make access to the rest of the site easier for future development. Wolk anticipates it could take 15 to 20 years until all phases are completed.

Orlando is going through brokers to talk to potential tenants and

Wolk said there’s been plenty of early interest, although it’s not yet in a position to sign a deal.

Orlando’s primary activity has been in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but Wolk said it presents challenges in terms of being able to get land approved and shovelready in a timely manner. That’s making it difficult to keep up with the increasing demand for industrial product, which he doesn’t see drying up anytime soon.

Brant County presented an opportunity that fit what Orlando was looking for. Wolk said it’s a growing community not far from the busy Hwy. 401 corridor, via Hwy. 403, which makes it convenient for shipping goods.

“We believe that it's wellpositioned to pick up more of the industrial market going forward. It won't be what we have within the GTA proper, if you will, but there's certainly an opportunity to build some great industrial buildings there.”

This doesn’t mean Orlando is looking to acquire more land outside of the GTA, however

“At 350 acres, this site is about as much as we want to take on outside of our traditional market for the time being,” Wolk said.

“We’ll see how the success goes with this site to see if it makes sense to buy outside of our typical area, but we’re certainly not eager to purchase more land at this point in time ”

Orlando has purchased GTA sites during the past year and will continue to acquire strategically located properties, but Wolk said the focus is currently on developing land it already owns.