- What Duo co-acquired a 201,000 sq ft distribution facility in Rocky View County, Alta.
- Why CanFirst and an institutional partner paid $189/sq ft
- What next The facility is leased for 10 years to pet food maker Hagen
A CanFirst Capital Management partnership has acquired a tenanted distribution facility in the Greater Calgary Area for $38m, in the largest industrial purchase in the region in almost two years, Green Street News can reveal.
The Toronto-based private investment fund manager along with an unidentified institutional partner paid seller Highfield Investment Group $189/sq ft for the 201,000 sq ft Class-A industrial facility. The property – known as Building 13 – is within a 6 million sq ft industrial park at 200 High Plains Trail, in Rocky View County, Alta.
CBRE’s national investment team for Calgary had the marketing assignment.
The sale marks the highest-priced industrial deal in the Rocky View area since a 433,000 sq ft warehouse at 10 High Plains Trail traded for $77.5m ($179/sq ft) in September 2023, according to Green Street’s Sales Comps Database.
On 12 acres, Building 13 is fully leased to Rolf C. Hagen – also known as Hagen Group – a privately owned pet products manufacturer headquartered in Baie d’Urfé, Qué. Hagen assumed a 10-year lease last year for the property which acts as an important shipping hub for the company, marketing materials said.
Completed in 2024, the building has space for trailer parking and a 55-ft deep shipping apron. The property can be expanded by a further 55,000 sq ft. It has 16 dock loading doors – 14 for dock loading and two with drive-in access – with a 32-ft clearance height. The facility was constructed to meet current ESG industry standards.
Building 13 is within the hamlet of Balzac, which has proven attractive in recent years for large-scale industrial development due to affordable property tax rates, ready availability of capital and proximity with Calgary to the south. The building is 21km away from downtown Calgary.
Calgary International Airport is 11km away. Entrances to important area roadways Highway 2, the Stoney Trail – also known as Tsuut’ina Trail – and Highway 566 are all less than a kilometre away.
The nearest border crossing into the U.S., from Carway, Alta., is 237km away.
CanFirst specializes in industrial and office property investments through a series of value-added funds with limited lifespans.
So far this year, the company disposed of two Scarborough industrial properties and listed a small-bay building in Vaughan and a Toronto warehouse for sale. Calgary-based Highfield is a private developer with more than 4,500 acres of land under management in the Calgary area. Of that amount, 1,300 acres is industrial land.
