Nadia Mohamed & Garry Marr, (COSTAR) — Morningside Business Centre brings a unique offering comprising industrial, retail and office condominiums to the Greater Toronto Area in the city’s east end that had been underserved for users needing small- to mid-sized bay industrial facilities with modern efficiencies.
Morningside Business Centre offers flexible unit sizes from 6,800 square feet to 143,540 square feet, with the ability to combine contiguous units. Morningside also includes 29 dock and grade units and three grade-only units. The development comprises 32 units across three buildings for a total of 347,910 square feet.
The highly adaptable layout has proven to be attractive to many local GTA buyers and national businesses, as was the facility’s 28-foot clear height, a welcome addition to an area where the existing product was mostly vintage industrial buildings below 22 feet clear that lacked today’s industry-standard building specifications.
Educating buyers on the increased efficiency their operation could gain by utilizing more cubic volume while generating equity instead of paying rent was pivotal to garnering significant interest from the project launch.
The introductory marketing campaign included a sneak peek made available to the developer’s loyal buyers, resulting in the successful pre-sales of the first two units. These initial sales conveyed confidence in the project to new potential purchasers and local buyers considering a significant relocation of their operation.
With the early success, the Cushman & Wakefield listing team utilized modern targeted digital advertising campaigns, virtual tours and on-site presentations in combination with traditional door-knocking, mail drops, cold-calling campaigns and open-house events to reach a wide number of consumers across diverse backgrounds. These methods proved effective, with 20 of the 32 units sold before construction was completed.
The site has barrier-free pedestrian walkways connecting Morningside to the TTC bus stop directly in front of the development, and bike racks are provided for every unit, making many forms of transportation easily accessible for employees and customers alike.
The project has been selected as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for commercial development of the year, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the Project:
Developed by Beedie in collaboration with Glenn Piotrowski Architect Ltd. and Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd., Morningside Business Centre was designed to incorporate elements of industrial, retail and office spaces, allowing users to efficiently combine multiple elements of their operations within a single premise.
On-site work began in January 2022 on Building 1 and the entire project was completed in December 2023 with Building 3. Sales were launched six months before breaking ground, with initial pricing starting at $385 per square foot. Sales took a stepped approach, with early purchasers receiving the most competitive pricing. As inventory decreased, asking prices increased, creating value and generating capital for early purchasers.
What the Judges Said:
“Modern, attractive, creative and functional product in an unconventional location (close to residential),” said Chris Langstaff, Canada head of research and strategy at LaSalle Investment Management.
They Made It Happen:
The developer was Beedie. Kristian Kaulbach, senior project manager at Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. Bram Toomath, engineer at Toomath and Co. Ivan Ho, portfolio manager at FirstService Residential. Daniel Hubert, senior vice president at Cushman & Wakefield. James Mildon, vice president at Cushman & Wakefield.
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