Outparcels
Understand outparcels in Canadian commercial real estate: standalone buildings that benefit from mall traffic while offering separate branding and access.
May 30, 2025
What are Outparcels?
Outparcels are stand-alone commercial properties located near or on the outer edge of a larger retail or shopping centre complex.
Why Do Outparcels Matter in Real Estate?
In Canadian commercial real estate, outparcels offer tenants or investors high visibility and traffic without being inside the main mall structure.
Common outparcel tenants include:
- Banks and fast-food chains
- Gas stations or pharmacies
- Small-format retail stores or service centres
Outparcels are attractive due to independent access, signage control, and the ability to attract drive-by customers.
Understanding outparcels helps commercial investors identify profitable standalone leasing opportunities near high-traffic centres.
Example of Outparcels in Action
A national coffee chain purchases an outparcel fronting a suburban shopping centre to benefit from steady vehicle traffic without leasing interior mall space.
Key Takeaways
- Stand-alone sites near larger shopping centres.
- Provide high visibility and access.
- Occupied by banks, drive-thrus, or retail chains.
- Often sold or leased independently.
- High demand for prime commercial exposure.
Related Terms
- Retail Zoning
- Commercial Property
- Ingress and Egress
- Triple Net Lease
- Anchor Tenant
6525 Mississauga Road and its surrounding context. (RBC Capital Markets & CBRE)
Property details for 6525 Mississauga Road. (RBC Capital Markets & CBRE)
National average resale-price growth and housing-starts growth, smoothed over three months. The comparison illustrates the cycle; it does not establish how much a price change causes construction to change.
Trailing 12-month starts in centres of 50,000 or more remove the usual monthly seasonality. Ownership combines the homeowner and condominium categories; rental is shown separately.
Six-month averages of provincial starts, expressed at annual rates. The smoothing reduces the influence of individual apartment projects.
The same August benchmark compared with two different starting points. Three-month changes are not annualized.
Average sale prices show the difference in purchase costs across markets. They do not measure affordability relative to local incomes or construction costs.
Newfoundland and Labrador remains above its pre-pandemic sales pattern, but August activity was below last year. Historical lines retain their original release vintages.
Average and median describe different aspects of the same month’s transactions. Both are affected by the mix of homes sold.
Category averages compare different homes and locations; the gaps are not estimates of the cost to upgrade an otherwise identical property.
The five categories shown account for 5,000 of the board’s 5,057 sales. The remaining 57 transactions were in other housing categories.
Monthly observations are not seasonally adjusted. Active listings count properties available at month-end; they are not construction inventory.
Average and median prices share one dollar axis. These unadjusted transaction measures do not control for changes in the homes sold.
TRREB’s 416/905 categories compare the apartments sold in each area. The difference does not isolate a location premium for equivalent units.
5680 Oak Street in Vancouver and its surrounding context. (MCMP Architects)
Ground-level renderings of the tower proposed for 5680 Oak Street in Vancouver. (MCMP Architects)