Triple-Net and TMI — What Metro Vancouver Industrial Tenants Actually Pay

What triple-net means

Under a triple-net (NNN) lease the tenant pays base rent plus property taxes, building insurance and operating costs. Metro Vancouver bundles the three as TMI: taxes, maintenance and insurance. Nearly every institutional industrial lease in the region works this way.

Net is a spectrum. Absolute net puts roof and structure on the tenant; most leases carve capital items back to the landlord. Read where your lease draws that line.

2026 TMI by submarket

• Vancouver proper: $6.50 to $9.00 per sq. ft., driven by assessments and older stock
• Burnaby: $5.75 to $7.50, newer Big Bend buildings at the low end
• Richmond: $5.50 to $7.25, with flood-exposed sites paying more for insurance
• Surrey (Newton, Port Kells): $4.75 to $6.50
• Delta (Tilbury, Annacis Island): $5.00 to $6.75
• Langley and Campbell Heights: $4.50 to $6.00, the most competitive in the region

What is inside the number

Property tax is 50% to 65% of TMI. Insurance is 10% to 15% and has climbed since 2023, especially on flood or seismic exposure. Operating and maintenance is the remaining 25% to 35%: common utilities, landscaping, parking lot, garbage, management fees and repair reserves.

Your share is proportionate, but rentable versus usable area can shift it by several points. Landlords bill against an annual budget and reconcile at year-end. Review that reconciliation. Capital items expensed, above-market vendor costs and charges the lease never contemplated turn up regularly in audits.

$18.00 with $5.50 TMI is cheaper than $17.00 with $7.50.

Negotiate these

• A cap of 3% to 5% a year on controllable costs (taxes and insurance excluded)
• Gross-up limited to variable expenses only
• Capital expenditures amortized over useful life, or excluded entirely
• Audit rights, with the resources to use them

Budgeting

Compare on total occupancy cost, never base rent alone. Assume TMI rises even with caps: Metro Vancouver property taxes have averaged 3% to 6% annual increases over five years. Build 4% to 5% a year into the projection. Landlords: a transparent, well-run operating budget leases faster and keeps tenants longer.