Grosvenor, the British real estate firm that first entered Canada by acquiring Annacis Island in 1952, has secured its single-largest lease by floor space and dollar value in its nearly 75-year history in the country. The deal involves leasing the entire Millennium 6 warehouse building, a 162,650-square-foot facility, to S&S, a U.S.-based merchandise distributor.
Deal details and tenant plans
S&S, which already operates a Vancouver distribution centre and represents over 80 brands, will more than double its footprint with this lease. The company plans to invest more than $50 million in inventory at the Annacis Island facility. The warehouse includes 20,000 forward-picking areas for high-demand items and employs autonomous mobile robots to enhance speed, accuracy, and order quality. S&S is scheduled to move into the space in the last quarter of 2026.
“Completing this deal gives us a bit of confidence,” said Robert Duteau, Grosvenor’s executive vice-president for investment. He confirmed the lease is the “single-largest lease within Grosvenor’s investment portfolio in our nearly 75-year Canadian history,” though the company declined to disclose financial terms.
Market context and vacancy rates
The building, constructed in 2013, is being fully occupied by S&S. Grosvenor plans to build a new 156,000-square-foot warehouse next door, described by Duteau as essentially a twin of the current facility. While the overall industrial vacancy rate in Metro Vancouver has risen above 6%, Duteau noted that large-block spaces over 75,000 square feet remain scarce, with a vacancy rate below 1%. This scarcity is underscored by CBRE’s first-quarter 2026 report, which attributes the overall rise in availability to expanding supply in small- and mid-bay-size segments.
A micro-trend for smaller, stacked, multi-level, strata-owned industrial spaces has cooled quickly since emerging about a year ago. “Strata is part of what helped drive industrial market values up so significantly in Vancouver, but the change in interest rates and the change in geopolitical landscape and the tariffs. The strata business is really just not there today,” said Duteau, noting that Grosvenor has never entered the strata industrial market.
Future outlook
Duteau highlighted the potential for build-to-suit opportunities, stating, “There is an opportunity to build to suit for someone. Industrial obviously goes up a lot faster than a multi-family building in Vancouver. There’s not a lot of options with a Metro Vancouver address for a large block space.” The lease marks a significant milestone for Grosvenor’s Canadian operations and reflects ongoing demand for large industrial spaces in the region despite broader market shifts.
