When Bartlett Group sought the best location to launch its first custom metal production facility in Canada, company executives had a vast choice of options but quickly zeroed in on the Edmonton area.
After an exhaustive search, and with the support of Invest Alberta, the custom metal fabricator opted to locate its new Canadian headquarters and manufacturing facility in the Sherwood Park industrial complex located in Strathcona County.
The government of Alberta helped make Bartlett's decision more manageable by offering incentives to plant roots in Wild Rose Country, as the province is known. Representatives of the Strathcona County area east of downtown Edmonton also rolled out the red carpet to help the metal specialist.
Other groups, including the Building Trades of Alberta, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and a variety of local Indigenous groups, joined the effort to welcome Bartlett to Alberta.
A panel of industry professionals familiar with the market judged the effort worthy of the 2025 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year for the Edmonton region.
About the project: Bartlett Group signed a full-building lease for the Edmonton industrial facility. It plans to create 100 permanent new jobs and 25 temporary construction jobs to retrofit the facility. The expansion is expected to provide meaningful employment opportunities for years to come, with the company expected to work closely with local stakeholders to develop programs aimed at skills diversification for local talent. Bartlett expects staffing at the facility to reach seasonal peaks of up to 150, mirroring the volume of their US operations.
The new facility will manufacture industrial scaffolding for construction clients across North America, capitalizing on the ease of shipping from Sherwood Park as its hub.
NAI Commercial helped seal the deal as landlord representatives in negotiating the lease with Ryan Brown, Chad Griffiths and Drew Joslin, helping ink the pact.
What the judges said: “Bringing new business and employment to the local market is valuable,” said Alim Somji, executive vice president of the Jaffer Group of Companies.
“Considering the size, time on market, collaborative partnerships and Strathcona County as a desirable location for business further solidified the impact of this deal,” said Tyler Weiman of Royal Park Realty.
“A great market entry accompanied by job creation and a direct contribution to the region's key industrial GDP," added Randy Ferguson of Melcor Developments Ltd.
They made it happen: NAI Commercial Partners Ryan Brown and Chad Griffiths and Associate Broker Drew Joslin represented building owner General Realty in the full-building lease.
CoStar Market Manager Amy Zhang contributed to this report.