Oxford Properties has plans to increase its industrial portfolio to 20 million square feet over the next three years. This will double its current industrial holdings by 2018.

The company has targeted this goal through a combination of acquisitions and developments. “We are also attracted to the ability of industrial assets to deliver long and stable leases providing us with sustainable cash flow,” says Jeff Miller, vice-president of industrial at Oxford Properties.

The company now has 7.3 million square feet of industrial space in the Greater Toronto Area, comprising the bulk of its current portfolio. That includes the Vaughan Industrial Park and Brampton Business Park, which total approximately 3 million square feet.

In Calgary, Oxford is in the midst of a five-year plan of developing and leasing Phase 1 of its Oxford Airport Business Park. The initial phase features a million square feet of Class A industrial buildings near the Calgary International Airport. Once completed, the project will reach 4 million square feet.

Oxford currently owns another 1.8 million square feet of industrial space in Edmonton and plans to develop more facilities in the region, which has one of lowest industrial vacancy rates (2.6 per cent) in Canada.

The company is also working on a 1.1-million-square-foot business park in Burnaby, B.C., directly east of Vancouver.