Outdoor Travel heading down the highway
Port authority believes it faces no trouble in finding new tenant
A large, 25-year-old recreational vehicle dealer on Eastport Drive is moving down the highway.
Outdoor Travel, currently located on Pier 25, is packing up shop and heading to Beamsville in 2018, said general manager Andy Whiting.
“It’s going to be perfect for us,” he said of the new location at 4856 South Service Rd.
The move has been years in the making, with the business having outgrown its six-acre space it has rented from the Hamilton Port Authority since 1998 after moving from Burlington, Whiting said.
At the current location along the highway, they have a 7,700-squarefoot building.
But at the 13-acre spot they have purchased, there are plans to have a 37,000-square-foot facility with more service bays, a show room, a parts store and two floors of offices.
“It’s double (the space) but we need it,” Whiting said.
The port authority approached Outdoor Travel several years ago about the prospect of moving, knowing the lease was up in 2018, said spokesperson Larissa Fenn.
“Outdoor Travel is a great company and has been a valued tenant,” she said in an email. “However, we will be looking to repurpose the space on Pier 25 for a more strategic use — one that leverages the site’s multimodal infrastructure.” The site, which includes outdoor space and buildings, has connections to marine, rail and highway transportation, making it a “rare asset within the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area,” Fenn said.
The port authority has 630 acres of land, but president and CEO Ian Hamilton has previously said they need more room to grow.
Because of this, Fenn said they don’t expect it will be a challenge to find a new tenant for the space.
“Of course we are not able to share the names of any individual prospective tenants at this stage,” she wrote.