Windsor remains one of Canada’s tightest markets for industrial space: CBRE report

Former Syncreon building in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, July 15, 2022. (Stefanie Masotti/CTV News Windsor)

Windsor-Essex remains one of the tightest markets in Canada when it comes to available industrial space.

CBRE Windsor’s mid-year report on industrial market availability shows the region’s rate stands at 3.37 per cent at the end of the second quarter of 2025, well below the national average of 5.3 per cent.

Windsor is third behind Winnipeg at 3.2 per cent and Ottawa at 3.5 per cent but the CBRE report notes that if a 750,000 square foot facility at 2935 Pillette Road were excluded, Windsor’s rate would decrease to 2.5 percent, the tightest in Canada.

The property in question is the former Syncreon Automotive facility, which was closed in October 2022 and is on the market but remains under lease by Stellantis. It represents 33.1 per cent of all available space.

London is fourth at 3.9 per cent.

CBRE Windsor Vice-President Brad Collins said the numbers are a bit of a surprise given the headlines around the uncertainty in the market following the Canada-U.S. trade negotiations and tariffs between the two countries.

Collins said they haven’t seen a huge influx of space becoming available even with the shaky start to the year in terms of uncertainty in the market.

“Based off of that, we would have expected maybe to see more product become available, vacant industrial buildings,” he said.

“Thus far that really hasn’t transpired. The availability rate remains low, and if you strip out one large building, it’s the tightest in the country.”

Collins what it signals is that users in the market aren’t necessarily overreacting to the news that’s out there.

“They seem to be focused on the properties that they do occupy versus saying, ‘We’re exiting these properties and leaving Windsor or leaving Canada.’ That doesn’t seem to have transpired thus far, which is obviously a good signal that people remain committed to their real estate,” he said.

Collins said people who run businesses in this community have been through the cycle before and know not to overreact, so it’s a wait-and-see approach.

“In terms of the new demand side, we’re not seeing the same level of expansion or new users looking to come to Windsor at this point,” he said.

“But we still have a lot of positive tailwinds behind us with things like the battery plant and news that the St. Thomas plant is also going ahead. Those are huge things for the community, and if they all go ahead, they are huge positives.”

The report said landlords are exercising caution with their asking prices, driven by anticipated slow new tenant demand and uncertain conditions, a trend that’s expected to continue as core Canadian markets adjust to changing dynamics.

In Windsor, the average asking net lease rate of $10.36 per square foot remains unchanged compared to the national rate of $15.37 per square foot.

The average asking sale price of $144.96 per square foot is down 8.94 per cent year-over-year, with inflated prices of some properties that came off the market and uncertainty around the trade tariffs cited as two driving factors.

- Written by Rusty Thomson/AM800 News.