Electric vehicle giant Tesla plans a flagship delivery and service facility to handle most new cars shipped from the United States and China to greater Vancouver.
Vancouver-based real estate developer Bosa Properties has proposed developing the 59,547-square-foot facility in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, for Tesla on seven-and-a-half acres at 1021 and 1032 Nicola Ave., according to Bosa's development application with the city.
Tesla, co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk, plans to use the site just off Lougheed Highway in the Dominion Triangle area for auto sales and service as well as a regional storage and distribution facility for vehicles and parts, according to the application.
If approved and built over the next few months, the facility would serve as the main location for delivering Tesla vehicles in the Lower Mainland, with 75% or more of the automobiles shipped to the region from the U.S. and China routed through the site, according to the application.
“The proposed facility in Port Coquitlam is envisioned as a unique, light-touch establishment with a distinct focus on repair and service rather than traditional vehicle sales,” Bosa Properties development manager Jordan Grubner said in a letter accompanying the application.
Electric vehicles are more popular in British Columbia than in any other Canadian province based on market share, according to a recent report from S&P Global Mobility. The report tracks market penetration of zero-emissions vehicles, or ZEV, that include battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
"British Columbia remains at the forefront of ZEV adoption in Canada with 19.7% market share of new light vehicles and represents 25.9% of all ZEV registrations in Canada," S&P said in its Canadian Automotive Insights report. "The volume of ZEV registrations in BC saw an increase of 16.8% (Q1 ’23 vs Q1 ’22)."
Tight Industrial Market
Port Coquitlam, where the new Tesla facility would be built, is part of the Tri-Cities, New West and Ridge Meadow industrial area that contains nearly 12% of all industrial stock in greater Vancouver, according to a CoStar Market Analytics report. As with other parts of Vancouver, the industrial vacancy rate in the area remains a tight, at 1%, despite over 1.3 million square feet of projects under construction, CoStar data shows.
Tesla expects to deliver about 40 vehicles per day on average from the facility and repair about 50 cars on site daily, according to the documents. The carmaker's goal is for customers to work remotely with technicians to resolve up to 50% of service requests, reducing on-site congestion and eliminating the need to travel long distances to Port Coquitlam for repairs.
Bosa said that the facility will create about 80 jobs, with technicians earning between $35 and $42 an hour and managers' salaries ranging between $100,000 and $140,000 a year.
Bosa Properties has applied to rezone the parcels from agricultural to commercial and light-industrial zoning. The proposal would require parts of Nicola Avenue to be widened and drainage, sewers and other infrastructure to be upgraded.
On July 18, the Port Coquitlam City Council approved a zoning amendment for the site. A public hearing centred on the project is expected be held in September, according to city documents.