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This Company Found a New Backyard for Its Organic Vegetable Growing Business

Backyard Urban Farm Co. Deal Named Lease of the Year for Toronto
The lease of the year in Toronto was for this industrial facility in the Etobicoke area. (CoStar)
The lease of the year in Toronto was for this industrial facility in the Etobicoke area. (CoStar)
CoStar News
March 31, 2023 | 10:00 AM

Backyard Urban Farm Co. decided that after 12 years of working out of its founder's home, it was time to find a more formal space and settled into a Toronto-area facility that was transformed by TAS and LaSalle.

The lease involved a portion of the 146,000-square-foot 10 North Queen St. as well as exterior space won a 2023 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.

The industrial building first had to be transformed into a dynamic hub that would house a variety of commercial and industrial uses when the small, local company took occupancy.

Backyard Urban designs, builds, installs and maintains organic vegetable garden landscapes for homes, schools and corporate spaces.

The company's mission is to inspire, educate and empower urbanites to grow their own food and help them reconnect with nature. That mission aligns with the concept that TAS and LaSalle Investment Management have for their innovative commercial community hub portfolio in Toronto, transforming underutilized commercial and industrial spaces into sustainable community hubs.

Their community hub strategy is focused on the adaptive repositioning, redevelopment, lease-up and stabilization of underutilized urban infill commercial and warehouse properties in neighbourhoods poised for growth.

Backyard Urban had previously worked with TAS to create a rooftop garden at the TAS head office in a casual conversation. Backyard Urban's owners said they wanted to grow their business and lease space for a greenhouse and office. Still, they needed help to secure affordable space in the city.

About the Project: The large industrial warehouse is located at the very centre of an emerging cluster of commercial activity in Etobicoke Lakeshore, just south of the Kipling GO and TTC stations.

What the Judges Said: "A project like Backyard Urban Farms requires innovation, creativity and partnership at its highest level. Not only does it check all of the boxes in terms of impact, growth and innovation, but I really appreciate how an older real estate asset is being reimagined," said Jamie Grossman, a managing principal with Cresa.

They Made It Happen: Khan Tran, Ashley Burke and Rumaila Soin with TAS; Edmund K. Lee with LaSalle Investment Management; and Marc Green and Arlene Hazzan Green, co-owners of Backyard Urban Farm Co.

From left to right, CoStar Group's Mark Ibbotson, LaSalle Investment Management's Crystal Yang and Ashley Burke, TAS Impact's Rumaila Soin and CoStar Group's Matthew Popow. (CoStar)

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