Niagara hub doubles in size with added 170-acre property

(Posted on 23/12/22)

A new industrial property has been added to the Thorold Multimodal Hub in Canada, a growing industrial complex in Niagara Region. The newly-acquired property adds 170 acres of land and over 500,000 sq.ft of warehouse space, creating room for industrial, manufacturing and logistics businesses to locate, grow or build new facilities.

The new addition is a former automotive parts plant, which closed its doors in 2008. The facility’s new owner, The BMI Group, through its subsidiary Bioveld Canada, specializes in redeveloping and adapting brownfield sites for modern industrial uses. The BMI Group already owns a 155-acre site with over 600,000 sq.ft of buildings within the existing Thorold Hub. “We see incredible potential in this new space,” said Justus Veldman, The BMI Group Managing Director. “Our success in attracting users to the first phase of the Thorold Multimodal Hub, through our partnership with HOPA, gives us the confidence to expand our investment in the Niagara Region.” As part of HOPA’s Niagara Ports network, The Thorold Multimodal Hub has already created marine, rail and conventional logistical supply chain solutions for Hub tenants. As an integrated port network, HOPA Ports offers port and marine assets on the Great Lakes.

Additional warehouse space and outdoor areas widen the service offering, and help to address the industrial supply chain challenges in Ontario. The newly-acquired facility offers up to 55-foot ceiling heights, overhead doors, loading docks, multiple spray booths, rail transload capability and multiple heavy cranes.

The space can be configured to the needs of large or small-footprint businesses and offers a variety of options for new-build construction of industrial spaces as well.

The new addition brings the space available at the Thorold Multimodal Hub to 400 acres of land and over 1 million sq.ft of indoor space, in multiple configurations, located immediately adjacent to the Welland Canal, with access to the CN rail line via rail service provider Gio Rail. The Hub is also uniquely suited to support companies focused on energy transition. Hub tenant Char Technologies recently announced more than $11 million in investment in their facility.

Partner HOPA Ports developed the Thorold Multimodal Hub model to bring together users who can benefit from the marine, rail and highway connections, as well as the facility’s proximity to the US border. “Now more than ever, companies are looking at how they can streamline their supply chains and lower their costs,” said HOPA Ports President & CEO Ian Hamilton. “By nurturing this industrial ecosystem, and making the most of Niagara region’s valuable transportation assets, we’re able to strengthen Canadian supply chains and facilitate Canadian trade and competitiveness.”

Following the launch of the first phase in December 2020, more than a dozen companies have already made the Thorold multimodal Hub home. “We’ve been able to address a pressing demand out there for industrial space in Ontario, and proven that these older, large-scale industrial facilities can be adapted to the needs of modern industry,” said Veldman.

“We’re very excited to see our vision, and collective enthusiasm and investment in employment lands contained within the Niagara Ports Multimodal Trade Corridor resulting in the development of an exciting job and prosperity-creating enterprise in Niagara. This is strengthening the new economy of the Niagara region following some challenging times and our government will continue to be committed to the Corridor’s economic growth, ” said Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre.