In another sign that Kanata’s office market is gaining momentum, a division of Calian Group is set to double its real estate footprint at a new location. Calian GNSS – which manufactures wireless antennas and other components for satellite-based tracking systems – recently signed a 10-year lease to occupy 45,000 square feet of space and […]
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In another sign that Kanata’s office market is gaining momentum, a division of Calian Group is set to double its real estate footprint at a new location.
Calian GNSS – which manufactures wireless antennas and other components for satellite-based tracking systems – recently signed a 10-year lease to occupy 45,000 square feet of space and build a new 5,000-square-foot laboratory in a two-storey office building at 175 Terence Matthews Cres. in Kanata south.
The move will see the organization, which became part of Calian in 2020, consolidate its operations in one office. Its 90 or so employees are currently scattered across about 23,000 square feet of space in four buildings in Kanata – 36, 48 and 62 Steacie Dr. as well as Calian’s head office at 770 Palladium Dr.
Calian GNSS general manager Darrell Wellington said the division’s head count is rising 10 to 15 per cent a year as demand for its global navigation satellites systems technology that tracks the location of devices such as autonomous cars and robotics equipment has skyrocketed.
“It’s been a trend that we’ve been riding for some time, and we see that it’s continuing and maybe even accelerating further,” Wellington told Techopia in an interview on Thursday.
The recently leased space is now being renovated, with the first employees expected to start moving to the building in March.
Wellington said bringing everyone under one roof in a larger building will provide more room for growth and make it easier for employees to collaborate and share ideas.
He said the company looked at several sites in Kanata before going with the property on Terence Matthews Crescent, which was constructed about 30 years ago.
“We needed to find space that would allow us to have a good mix of office space, manufacturing space and lab space,” Wellington explained. “It was difficult to find. There were some new builds that could have been an option, but the timelines and the cost would have been significantly higher.”
Formerly an independent company known as Tallysman Wireless, the antenna maker was acquired by Calian about four and a half years ago.
Wellington, who joined Calian GNSS in 2023, said combining with a larger organization has opened the door to new sales channels for the division, whose revenues have grown 75 per cent since the purchase was finalized.
“We are seeing these success stories where the Calian brand as a whole starts to (create) these other opportunities, which is great,” he said. “This is going to really set us up well to continue to grow the company.”
Calian GNSS’s decision to relocate and expand its physical office space is another indication that the Kanata commercial real estate market is on a hot streak.
According to Colliers’ latest office market report, the west-end suburb’s office vacancy rate was 10.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024. That’s a drop of more than a full percentage point from the previous quarter as the submarket recorded positive net absorption of 75,583 square feet.
The tech hub was the most active submarket in the city during the last three months of 2024. Colliers’ data shows that 17 new leases totalling 117,765 square feet were signed in Kanata in the quarter.
They accounted for some of Ottawa’s biggest deals in the closing months of 2024 – including Marvell Technologies’ lease for 32,371 square feet of space at 350 Legget Dr. and Pleora Technologies’ takeover of 17,600 square feet at 450 March Rd.
Lindsay Hockey, a broker with Colliers who helped Calian GNSS search for a new home and negotiate its lease, said “good, continued growth” in the tech sector has fuelled renewed demand for space in Kanata, where many employers are pushing for workers to return to the office more often.
“It’s helped Kanata hold its own of late,” he said.
