(Posted on Nov 17, 2016 at 05:00AM by Michelle Bogle)
Recently, Western Investor published a list of the top five centres in Western Canada for property investments. Of those five cities, four of them were located within British Columbia, including Kamloops, Coquitlam, Terrace and Nanaimo.Â
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In today’s post, we take a closer look into Kamloops’ commercial real estate market and why you should consider investing in this city.
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About Kamloops
Kamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, located at the convergence of the Thompson River near Kamloops Lake. It is the largest community in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the location of the regional district's offices. The surrounding region is more commonly referred to as the Thompson Country. It is ranked 37th on the list of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and represents the 44th largest census agglomeration nationwide, with 85,678 residents in 2011.
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Investment Highlights
As B.C.’s fifth-biggest city, Kamloops is expected to undergo an economic breakout year in 2017, thanks to its diversified economy, relative proximity to Metro Vancouver and world-class skiing, lakes and golf. It is also a central transportation hub with three regional highways and two rail lines.Â
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In terms of the commercial real estate sector, vacancy rates for both industrial and office spaces continue to remain down in Kamloops and the retail vacancy rate is starting to rebound after larger retailers left the area, including Target and XS Cargo.Â
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The city’s office market hovers around 4.9% vacancy rate, which is part of a long-term stable trend, while the industrial vacancy rate is closer to 3.8%. The overall retail vacancy rate is approximately 8%.
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For aspiring developers, a newly opened 250-acre site surrounding Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops is the largest such opportunity in the region. Ninety of TRU’s 250 acres of endowment lands are available for residential and commercial development.
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Want to learn more? If you are interested in exploring the investment potential for office, land, industrial, hospitality, retail or multi-family assets within Kamloops, B.C., be sure to contact our Vancouver office to speak with an associate, or visit our Property Search Portal to view active listings within the Lower Mainland and beyond.
