DELTA, B.C. — Apps Express is the first tenant to commit to moving into a new Boundary Bay Industrial Park near Deltaport, Canada’s largest container terminal.

The area is being transformed with the construction of the billion-dollar South Fraser Perimeter Road, scheduled to open up next month.

With rising port volumes and the expansion of the nearby airport, some are referring to the area as the next big distribution hub for Canada and the US. The Boundary Bay Industrial Park is the area’s largest new industrial project. Construction began there in the summer and Apps Express recently agreed to lease 100,000 sq.-ft. of space.

“We needed proximity to the port,” says Apps Express president, Rob McDonald. “It was difficult for our trucks to get out of Richmond (the previous facility) or back in, but the new highway gives us more than one way to get into and out of Vancouver.”

McDonald said the new Boundary Bay Industrial Park will create an attractive option for retailers who have traditionally located distribution centres in Alberta, where there was greater access to large industrial spaces.

The Boundary Bay site is scheduled to open in May 2014. It is being constructed by The Dayhu Group.

“Tier one industrial distribution space in the Vancouver market is very difficult to find,” says Paul Tilbury, CO of The Dayhu Group. “We’re effectively the only option under construction that can offer contiguous space of this magnitude.”

The facility will cover 47 acres and offer about 900,000 sq.-ft. of warehouse space.