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The Brandt Group of Companies’ decision to restart the sprawling former Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Canada Ltd. factory, which is expected to create up to 500 new jobs, has been described as “tremendous” for the local economy.

The massive deal is not, however, reflective of the situation facing Saskatoon’s industrial real estate market, where sales have virtually halted as the vacancy rate hovers just below the 10-year high, according to a new report by Colliers International.

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That vacancy rate is largely a result of collapsing oil and potash prices interrupting a period of “unprecedented” growth during which developers built around 500,000 square feet of new space each year, said Colliers’ managing director in Saskatoon.

“The demand side slowed down but the supply side didn’t, so for a period of a few years the supply side kept rolling but the demand was gone,” Tom McClocklin said, noting that speculative building persisted for four years after demand started falling.