Q+A: Inside Upfield’s $56m Alberta entry with partners Peter Edgar and Robert Greer

In September, Vancouver-based Upfield Capital made a splashy entrance to the Alberta industrial market with the $56m purchase of a distribution centre and land in Acheson, just outside Edmonton.

The sale was the largest industrial transaction in Greater Edmonton in more than two years, according to Green Street’s Sales Comps Database, firmly establishing Upfield’s presence in the province.

Green Street News spoke with Upfield partners Peter Edgar and Robert Greer about their company’s plans in wild rose country and what comes next.

Can you tell me how the plan to go into Alberta came about?

Peter Edgar (PE): We’ve been tracking Alberta for a while. The fundamentals are solid: stable long-term income, population growth, and lower land and construction costs. In 2025, we closed on our first Alberta deal – a 206,000 sq ft Home Depot-leased distribution centre. It ticks a lot of boxes: long lease, additional industrial land, room to grow. We move fast and think long term, and Alberta looks great for stable yield and growth potential for the long term.

How do you reduce risk in this kind of climate?

Robert Greer (RG): Discipline. We underwrite conservatively, we focus on income and we actively manage every asset. We’re not just buying – we’re adding value through operations, development expertise and active asset management.

Is there a reason that Edmonton was the starting point?

PE: One of the key advantages of investing in Edmonton, and in this particular site in Acheson, is lower property taxes. That translates into significantly reduced operating costs for tenants, and in today’s economic climate, that’s a real differentiator and a competitive advantage. It allows businesses to stay competitive, and that positions our investment as a valuable, long-term asset.

What’s the value of this particular investment beyond location?

RG: We really liked that the tenant in this investment is Home Depot. They have a very strong financial covenant and a 20-year lease at this location.

Beyond tenant quality, there’s the quality of the building itself. This was a build- to-suit specifically for Home Depot. It’s a best-in-class building. It’s built to a much higher spec than a lot of other buildings in the area. And lastly, I would say what we liked about this deal was that it had an additional 7.5 acres of land where we can hopefully attract another tenant, build to suit for them and create more value for this investment.

What comes next in Alberta?

PE: We’re actively pursuing a few other industrial and retail assets in Alberta – those are the two asset classes that are the most promising in Alberta – so we are looking in both Edmonton and Calgary. We think Alberta’s got really strong tailwinds right now. It’s a pro-business government. It’s easy to do deals, and we’re finding great opportunities.

What’s the long-term plan for Upfield and how long has it been since you launched the company?

RG: In January, it will be three years since we launched Upfield. Pete and I have been longtime friends. We’ve done a lot of business together, and we saw the bottom of this market cycle as a great opportunity to acquire some incredible assets. Assets like Home Depot that rarely come on the market that give us long-term cash flow. And we’re really focused on growing an income-producing property portfolio in B.C. and Alberta.

Is there a particular business philosophy or ideal investment that you look for?

PE: Our focus is on income-generating assets across key sectors like industrial rental and residential. Really what we look for is high-quality assets where we can add value through active asset management. We like low leverage, low risk and some angle where we can have above-market returns for our investors.

RG: And I’ll add that a lot of these assets we’re buying at well below replacement cost, so we feel like we’re better off buying the existing assets than trying to build them ourselves from scratch.

Are you embarking upon a path of national domination or do you think Alberta is going to be the furthest you go?

PE: We are very selective about our deals. As long as we find deals that we believe in, with a path to long-term solid returns, we will chase down that deal – wherever it is in Canada. We are relatively agnostic about where that deal is, but we tend to focus on the areas we know best and those areas are B.C. and Alberta.

How does it compare with the B.C. climate so far in terms of getting things done, getting assets you’d like, seeing assets that you’d like to purchase?

PE: Alberta offers higher yields than British Columbia right now. In these uncertain times, there’s a unique buying environment in Alberta today where we can buy at or below replacement cost and receive a good yield and then finance at very attractive rates. And we like that strategy of spread investing.

RG: Alberta is a much more business-friendly market than B.C. right now. We find in B.C. everything takes longer, everything’s more challenging and Alberta’s got a real can-do attitude.