Boom in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield | The Press

What do Cascades, Petro-Canada, Divco, Broccolini, Montoni, Kevlar, Syscomax and Brasswater have in common? They have all invested in industrial parks in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield in recent years.

Chief town of Suroît, the city surrounded by water has the wind in its sails. The Press went on site to see the proliferation of construction sites.

“We have 4.5 million square feet [420 000 mètres carrés] of industrial buildings planned and under construction on the City’s territory,” said Stéphane Billette, Director of Economic Development, during a meeting at City Hall with the Mayor.

The smooth flow of traffic, the affordability of the city and the availability of land explain the area’s popularity with developers.

The year 2022 is the year of all records with permits issued worth 450 million dollars.

Still lots available

It’s not over. The City still has a bank of around 550,000 square meters (6 million square feet), of which 460,000 m^⁠2 belong to Valdev, from local promoter Carmine Como. Added to this are lots of 550,000 m^⁠2 controlled by the private sector which are the subject of discussions with the City so that the latter can buy them back and develop them.

On the grounds of Valdev, the tissue paper and cardboard manufacturer Cascades has set up at 1298, rue Gérard-Cadieux in a 30,000 m warehouse.^⁠2 built by Syscomax. The latter completes a building of 19,000 m^⁠2 in front of Cascades. Kayak manufacturer Pelican, Diageo distillery and Canada Tire have all settled inside the Valdev industrial complex.

In the Perron industrial park, PetroLub, distributor of Petro-Canada oils and lubricants, consolidated the distribution of its products on boulevard des Érables in 2019. Employees of the former facilities located in Anjou, Montréal-Est and Ottawa followed for the mostly.

Also in Perron Park, Kevlar, supported by Claridge (of the Bronfman family), built two warehouses. The first of 28,000 m^⁠2 is located on Joseph-Armand-Bombardier crescent. It’s almost finished. Work has just started for the second, 18,600 m^⁠2rue Marie-Curie, drawn in 2021. In both cases, the occupants are not yet known.

Again on Rue Marie-Curie, Divco, in partnership with Brasswater (formerly Groupe Quint), is building warehouses on either side of the street. A decaffeinated coffee manufacturer will occupy a 28,000 m warehouse^⁠2. Another building of similar size should follow soon.

Broccolini in action

In the same sector, Broccolini has begun construction of the first of its two 28,000 m warehouses.^⁠2 overlooking boulevard Gérard-Cadieux. One of the major real estate companies in Montreal, Broccolini owns the private Alta industrial park in Coteau-du-Lac, neighboring Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

“The building will be delivered at the end of next summer”, specifies Roger Plamondon, president, real estate, of Broccolini, who is retiring soon. “We built it without first renting it, because we strongly believe in the strength of the market. Salaberry-de-Valleyfield has the advantage of intermodality with its port, the CSX marshalling yard and the A30. The infrastructure is in place and the population base is the largest in the region,” he describes.

For his part, Montoni, another major promoter, acquired a strip of land of 46,500 m^⁠2 on Joseph-Armand-Bombardier crescent. “One of our clients had surplus land in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. We found the location to be excellent with Highway 30. The plans for the permit have been filed with the City,” says David Paulozza, vice-president, planning and development, at Montoni.

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield has opened another industrial zone in front of the A530, which it calls Ecoparc. The Hewitt family has the project to build a building of 12,000 m^⁠2. Groupe Armid, belonging to the founders of the Adonis food chain, is building 1,850 m industrial condos there^⁠2. Broccolini has virtually completed the construction of the McGill University library storeroom on Pierre-Dansereau Avenue.