Fraser Valley industrial land value rapidly increasing

An eight-acre property in Chilliwack highlights the skyrocketing price of industrial land in the Fraser Valley.

In 2021, a developer bought two adjacent Lickman Road properties for $22.2 million. A Marriott hotel and strip mall is already being constructed on the smaller of the two properties, which once was home to a Tim Hortons and a liquor store.

And now, the owner is looking to sell larger of the two chunks of land for vastly more than the combined price of the properties just three years ago. The still-vacant eight-acre chunk of land, which is adjacent to the CN rail line, has been listed for sale for $32 million. That's $10 million more than the amount used to purchase both that land, and the hotel property's site.

But if $4 million per acre seems steep, it's not in this day and age. Other industrial properties in the valley are listed for comparable prices, if not more. A two-acre property in southern Abbotsford is listed for $10 million and a five-acre lot in Mission is listed for $18 million.