On Tuesday, Toronto-based Dream Industrial REIT (TSX: DIR.UN) published its Q4 2024 report, officially announcing its acquisition of a high-profile site in Brampton.
The site is a 32-acre portion of the 269-acre assembly plant owned and operated by automotive manufacturer Stellantis Canada at 2000 Williams Parkway. Stellantis Canada is a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Stellantis NV, whose brands include Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, and Maserati, among others.
According to Stellantis, the 269-acre plant — a rare industrial property that has its own Wikipedia page — was constructed in 1986 and then acquired by Chrysler, which was later renamed to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) in 2012 and then later to Stellantis after FCA merged with Groupe PSA in 2021.
In May 2024, Stellantis — as FCA Canada Inc., the registered owner of the property — submitted an application to the City of Brampton to sever 32 acres — bounded by North Park Drive, Torbram Road, and Williams Parkway — from the overall site. Also included in the application was a draft concept plan for the new site, which Arcadis said was intended for warehouses.
The proposed severence for the 269-acre Stellantis site (left) and the proposal for the new 32-acre site (right). / Arcadis
A rendering of the warehouses planned for the site. / Dream Industrial REIT
In its Q4 2024 report published on February 18, Dream Industrial REIT said that it had acquired a 32-acre site in Brampton for a total gross purchase price of $80 million. The REIT did not identify the property, but the description and rendering it provided matches that of 2000 Williams Parkway.
The sale was brokered by Sanjiv Chadha and Jeff Flemington of Avison Young, which announced the transaction in late-January, although it did not disclose the purchaser and price.
Local media have attributed the acquisition to Dream Industrial REIT, who actually acquired the site via Dream Summit Industrial LP, the joint venture the REIT formed in 2023 with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. Dream's Q4 2024 report notes that the price for its share was $20 million. Under the joint venture, GIC is the majority owner and Dream serves as the asset manager.
Speaking on the acquisition, Dream Industrial REIT said the site is "shovel-ready with a highly efficient configuration, supporting a 680,000 square foot logistics facility designed to accommodate multiple users" that also "offers strong connectivity to regional and global supply chain in close proximity to 400-series highways, Toronto Pearson Airport and multiple nearby intermodal rail terminals." Construction is expected to begin in 2026.
In a LinkedIn post, the City of Brampton's Acting Senior Manager of Economic Development and International Relations Paul Aldunate also shared some details about the City's involvement and the future of the site.
"The Stellantis facility is an anchor of Brampton's automotive industry, and significantly impacts the local economy, providing approximately 3,000 manufacturing jobs," said Aldunate. "This transaction was an important step to renewing the Stellantis plant. As a result of retooling, surplus lands were identified in discussions with the City of Brampton that could be sold as complementary employment uses. We wanted to make sure the surplus lands could be optimized and yet remain compatible with the surrounding uses. We look forward to working with the new owners of the 32-acre parcel, which are ideal for complementary automotive uses."
In its Q4 2024 report, Dream also confirmed its acquisition of a 27-acre site located at 1371 McKeen Avenue in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The site was also acquired with GIC under Dream Summit Industrial LP and a total of $143 million was paid for the site, as reported by STOREYS earlier this month.
