Continuing its Canadian expansion, The Home Depot was looking to expand its storage space needed to stock the shelves of the massive home improvement chain's 11 stores that serve 1.4 million Albertans who call the provincial capital region home.
Qualico Properties, a commercial real estate firm that has been active in Alberta for seven decades, answered the call by developing a distribution centre facility in Edmonton for the growing home improvement retailer.
Construction commenced on a 206,000-square-foot warehouse with a 32-foot high ceiling in the Acheson industrial area, just west of Edmonton. The project started with a 129,600-square-foot distribution centre completed in July and then continued with a second phase containing 77,000 square feet of additional warehouse space and 87,000 square feet of adjacent outdoor storage space.
The major industrial development earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for commercial development for Edmonton, as voted by a panel of real estate professionals knowledgeable of the area.
About the project: The distribution complex features at-grade truck drive-in. The outdoor storage area used asphalt treated with a special additive that doubles the lifespan of paved surfaces. Builders broke ground on the two-stage project in June 2022 and completed construction 23 months later at a total cost of $36.9 million.
What the judges said: "Large transaction with a notable tenant and landlord,” said Chad Griffiths of NAI Commercial Real Estate.
"Important growth for distribution in Acheson. The project ended up expanding during a challenging time," said Mark Edwards of Panattoni Development Co.
"Home Depot chose Acheson to support its supply network across the region, partially due to connectivity to key transportation corridors," said Chad Boddez of JLL.
"This development enhances supply chain efficiency, creates jobs, and strengthens Acheson’s reputation as a key logistics and distribution hub in Alberta. Its scale and strategic location make it a game-changer for both the local economy and Home Depot’s regional operations,” said Tyler Weiman, Royal Park Realty.
"Appreciated the creative and unconventional approach to solving built-form challenges and a business that leverages other of our regional investments, in this case, our intermodal transportation network,” said Randy Ferguson, Melcor Developments.
They Made it Happen: Qualico Properties is led by Senior Vice President Mike Saunders. The construction team of the new Home Depot Distribution Centre included Mark Ammerman, construction manager of The Home Depot; Leroy Grunsky, principal of Dawson Wallace Construction; Lucio Amato, associate of Leonard Kalishenko and Associates; Jiong Wu, senior electrical engineer, Ricky Orense, consulting engineer, L.P. Engineering; Sean Novak, manager, community development, and Terry Myles, senior urban designer-landscape architecture, ISL Engineering and Land Services.
CoStar Market Manager Amy Zhang contributed to this report.