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.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The director of economic development, Stéphane Billette
The smooth flow of traffic, the affordability of the city and the availability of land explain the area’s popularity with developers.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The Mayor of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Miguel Lemieux
With the extension of Autoroute 30, the RCMs of Vaudreuil-Dorion and Roussillon first developed. Now there is nothing affordable there. The investments that we had in Vaudreuil 10 years ago have gone to the rest of us who have them.
Miguel Lemieux, Mayor of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield
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 m2 belong to Valdev, from local promoter Carmine Como. Added to this are lots of 550,000 m2 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 m2 in front of Cascades. Kayak manufacturer Pelican, Diageo distillery and Canada Tire have all settled inside the Valdev industrial complex.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The Valdev complex. In the foreground, the Pelican factory, built six years ago.
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 m2 is located on Joseph-Armand-Bombardier crescent. It’s almost finished. Work has just started for the second, 18,600 m2rue Marie-Curie, drawn in 2021. In both cases, the occupants are not yet known.
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PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
In the Ecopark, McGill University built a highly automated book store for its library network.
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PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Rue Marie-Curie, in the Perron industrial park, Divco, in partnership with Brasswater, is building a 28,000 m warehouse2 which will be occupied by a local company.
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PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The CEZinc refinery is one of the city’s historic industrial employers along with Goodyear, Expro (General Dynamics) and Diageo.
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PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
On the left, Cascades has set up a distribution center on rue Gérard-Cadieux, in the Valdev complex. On the right, the name of the future occupant is not yet known.
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PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Municipal property, the port specializes in the handling of steel parts, salt, products used in the manufacture of asphalt and chemical products.
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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 warehouse2. 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 m2 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.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
In the Ecopark, along the A530, 25% of the built-up land is occupied by trees.
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 m2. Groupe Armid, belonging to the founders of the Adonis food chain, is building 1,850 m industrial condos there2. Broccolini has virtually completed the construction of the McGill University library storeroom on Pierre-Dansereau Avenue.
The population is expected to jump 50% by 2032
After the employers, it’s the labor force’s turn to settle in Mayor Miguel Lemieux’s city. Only 1,016 homes were built in 2022, a record. Six thousand homes should be added in the next five years and 10,000 in total by 2032. The city of 44,000 inhabitants has taken advantage of the pandemic and the rise of teleworking to fill up with new households. The population will increase by 50% within 10 years. The infrastructures and land zoned residential are sufficient to accommodate all these beautiful people, assures the mayor. The median price of a home now stands at $390,000, up sharply since 2019.