The Aura multi-family project in Langford is an 84-unit wood frame rental building
LANGLEY – Orion Construction’s focus is industrial projects, and their timing couldn’t be better.
Director of Sales and Marketing Cameron Archer says the industrial and strata market is showing renewed signs of life thus far in 2024, and, motivated by cities changing Development Cost Charge requirements, and stabilized interest rates, the year looks promising.
“Businesses and companies are starting to realize the future of the landscape we’re living in, and businesses are right sizing and upsizing and realizing the opportunities.”
Cameron Archer, Director of Sales and Marketing for Orion Construction
For example, one of their recent projects, One95 Business Park in South Surrey’s Campbell Heights, is generating buzz with owner-users moving in.
“We’re seeing a lot of them (owner-users) active in the market, and investors are starting to reposition themselves,” he says. “Users are now buying, and recognizing it’s a great time to get back into the market. With the DCC changes, developers are now looking to achieve building permit submissions within the increased time constraints, and municipalities are looking to approve projects faster.”
Orion Construction was started in 2018 by President Josh Gaglardi. It was named the fastest-growing company in Canada in 2022 by the Globe & Mail and the fastest-growing construction company in B.C. last year by Business in Vancouver. Their growth includes expansion to Vancouver Island and the Okanagan.
“The building that kicked off our geographical expansion to the Island is a multi-family project called Aura in Langford, which is an 84-unit wood frame rental building that we’re very excited about,” says Archer. “We also have a commercial retail centre build-out in Colwood. Our second multi-family project, Impera in Langford, is a 131-rental unit, 6-storey wood frame building that is breaking ground this summer.
“We recently completed construction in Kamloops: two buildings called the Silver Stream Industrial Park, which is a terrific project,” he adds. “We’re also starting two more projects in Kelowna. The first one, we are the general contractor in partnership with developer, Astria Properties. This development has secured Canada Post as the tenant, and it will be the first net zero industrial building in the province.”
The other project is Link Academy, which is three, small bay buildings of 17,000 square feet each.
“The Link series is part of the Astria Properties program, and Orion completed the construction of Link 200 in Langley. Uniquely, it has a third-floor office in it, and this type of project is going to be in higher demand,” he says. “That’s one of the things we’re seeing in the new projects. Clients want space for daycares and other amenities, which are becoming increasingly important.”
Mixed-use is becoming a staple in Orion’s projects.
“Our multi-family project in Kamloops has a retail component on the ground floor which was agreed upon with Kamloops because they want to see a more walkable, liveable city,” he explains. “When we see this from a design perspective, it’s refreshing. Kamloops is adding over 4,000 residential doors to their community as quickly as they can, and they’re really working with us. Their collaboration is a huge benefit to everyone, and supports minimizing typical red tape.”
Orion introduced a green retrofit program at the end of 2023, and they’re now working with owners of aging industrial properties, bringing them through operational analysis towards upgrades aimed at attracting higher covenant tenants. Their goal is to see buildings performing at peak capacity.
And everywhere Orion builds, they support the community through their Orion Building Futures program.
“One of the keys to our success is supporting the communities we’re in,” he says. “That’s an exciting aspect of our geographical expansion.”
https://orionconstruction.ca/building-futures/
