MARKET OVERVIEW

Commercial Real Estate
Kingston was the recipient of the prestigious Federation of Canadian Municipalities FCM- CH2M HILL Sustainable Community Award, as well as a Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership in 2009. Technology, renewable energy, military, health care and education have remained key sectors supporting Kingston’s economy through the difficult economic climate of the past year. The Eastern Ontario Development Fund offers the region a significant business development advantage to encourage new development and expansions.

Retail and Hospitality
Retail sales faced a challenging year in general across Canada, but the 105,000 square foot Kings Crossing Fashion Outlet Mall, which opened in 2009, has successfully attracted numerous brand name retailers to the Kingston market.

While the recession in the U.S. had an impact on tourism numbers in 2009, Kingston remains a world class destination for tourist and business travelers alike. A new Residence Inn by Marriott is under construction in the downtown waterfront area and is expected to open in spring 2010.

Office Sector
The office sector ended the year optimistically, seeing sufficient absorption in 2009 to stimulate speculative development, such as the advancement of construction plans for a new four storey, 60,000 square foot office development to be built in the city’s north end. The Children’s Aid Society also anticipates breaking ground on a new 65,000 square foot, $19M building in the spring of 2010.

Mixed use office/industrial space in business park developments or office/retail space in plazas continues to be an expanding segment of the office market sector.

Industrial Market
R&D and knowledge-based industries continue to be attracted to Kingston’s multi-tenant Innovation Park Phase I. Affiliated with Queen’s University, and enjoying the advantage of access to its large pool of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, Innovation Park targets academic, industrial and government researchers.

The 20,000 square feet of new space at Empire Centre in St. Lawrence Business Park has been over 70% leased. Repurposing of industrial space to retail or mixed office/industrial (where zoning permits) remains a trend.

Forecast
Martin Skolnick, Vice-President of DTZ Barnicke Eastern Ontario Limited (Kingston), suggests that Kingston’s "stable economic platform of tourism, government, education and health sectors are layered with an established reputation in the knowledge-based and bioscience industries, which will continue to provide a dynamic and thriving city."