Metro Vancouver Industrial Lease Renewals — Timing and Tactics That Work
A renewal is a market decision made on a calendar. Start too late and you negotiate without options. Start on time and both sides get a better lease.
July 14, 2026 · 2 min read · By Samuel Brahem, in association with NAI Commercial
The stakes
Net asking rents went from roughly $8.00 to $10.00 per sq. ft. in 2015 to a peak near $22.00 in 2023, and now sit around $19.10 across the Q2 2026 reports. A 20,000 sq. ft. tenant renewing at $19.00 instead of $21.00 saves $40,000 a year, $200,000 over five years. For a landlord, the same gap shows up directly in valuation and refinancing capacity.
Tenant timeline
Open the file 12 to 18 months before expiry. Push to 18 to 24 months if you occupy over 30,000 sq. ft., say a 75,000 sq. ft. building in Tilbury or Campbell Heights, or if you carry cold storage, heavy power or cranes that make relocation expensive. Tight submarkets need the full runway: Port Coquitlam at about 2.2% vacancy, Richmond at 3.4%, plus the North Shore and New Westminster.
Use the window to tour real alternatives. A credible relocation option is the strongest card at the renewal table, even when staying is the plan.
Starting late does not cost a tenant leverage. It costs them the whole negotiation.
Landlord timeline
Owners should open the conversation 12 to 15 months out. It surfaces changing space needs early, lets you budget for downtime and ties renewal timing to capex or refinancing. With regional vacancy near 4.3% and net rents down 4 to 6% year over year, small bay leverage has moved to tenants. Modern large bay still favours the landlord. Buildings with deferred maintenance will need to give something to keep good tenants.
Negotiate the whole lease
- Term length: longer terms buy rate concessions or TI; shorter terms cost a premium
- Escalations: 3 to 4% annual increases are now standard and compound hard over five or seven years
- Operating costs: base year, gross-up and capital cost allocation
- Renewal and expansion options, which carry real value in constrained submarkets
- Early termination or contraction rights if your space needs are uncertain
Know the comps
Q2 2026 net asking rents: Vancouver about $20.10, Burnaby $19.67, Richmond $20.26, Surrey $18.66, Delta $17.91, Langley $19.20 and Abbotsford $17.09 per sq. ft. Those are asking figures; achieved renewal rates move with covenant, term and the building. And not every lease should be renewed. If the building no longer fits, or the rent premium over alternatives is wide, run the relocation math properly.
