The stakes have never been higher for Alberta’s industrial real estate market, as major medical cannabis producer Aurora Cannabis Inc. is in the process of building a large-scale growing facility situated at a leased 30-acre parcel in Edmonton International Airport.Estimated to be approximately the size of 9 football fields upon completion, the Aurora Sky production plant is forecast to grow 110 tons of marijuana per year at full capacity, Business in Vancouver reported.“Aurora’s new facility will benefit from high-quality services on site at EIA, including bonded warehousing, ground transportation access and air cargo connections across the country,” EIA vice president of commercial development Myron Keehn said.Aurora officials touted the joint project as the turning over of a new leaf for the Albertan economy, which has been battered by the recent oil devaluations as well as by the Fort McMurray blaze in mid-2016.“This is a pivotal initiative for Leduc County, for Alberta, the Canadian cannabis sector and the global cannabis industry,” Aurora CEO Terry Booth said.“We are very proud of Aurora Sky. This is not just because it’s the world’s most advanced cannabis facility, but it will become an important contributor to the local economy, both through investments and job creation.”Approximately 20 per cent of Leduc’s industrial real estate space went into disuse as a result of the oil price crashes.Currently, around 130,000 Canadians hold medical marijuana prescriptions. And while it has yet to be set in stone, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously pledged to legalize recreational marijuana by next spring at the earliest.A recent CIBC World Markets study noted that the potential $10-billion industry that would spawn from legalization represents a gold mine for the Canadian industrial and commercial real estate sectors.