The City of Orillia has officially welcomed two new businesses to the Horne Business Park. A total of seven lots were recently sold to two businesses, Norwood Sawmills and the Drs. Runk, Porter and McNaull Family Medicine Clinic.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Norwood Sawmills and Drs. Runk, Porter and McNaull Family Medicine Clinic to the Horne Business Park. The Family Medicine Clinic will be a great practice to serve our growing population in West Orillia,” said Mayor Steve Clarke. “Norwood is a global leader in sawmill innovation and is growing at a remarkable pace. We look forward to these two outstanding businesses building their new facilities in West Orillia in the near future. With more than half of the Horne Business Park now sold and only a handful of lots remaining, it is evident that Orillia is a great place to invest and our quality of life is second to none.”
The first property sale in the Horne Business Park to Drs. Runk, Porter and McNaull consolidated the offices of three existing physicians in Orillia. The clinic will be built on Lot 17 (0.9 acres) and will initially house three physicians, a nurse and three support staff with room to grow.
“West Orillia is an exciting new development area with lots of opportunity,” said Dr. Benjamin McNaull. “We want to establish a family medicine clinic in this up-and-coming part of the city to serve the health care needs of our patients.”
McNaull confirmed that site and building design is well underway with construction anticipated to begin as early as late 2022.
The second property sale in the Horne Business Park included the sale of 11.7 acres over six lots to Norwood Industries Inc., a globally recognized manufacturer of portable sawmills whose Canadian operation is currently located in Oro-Medonte. Norwood markets and sells to outdoorsmen, landowners, farmers and woodworkers across North America, throughout Europe and around the world. Norwood has a proven track record of growth and innovation, holding over 70 patents and shipping to more than 100 countries worldwide.
In 2017 Norwood moved its growing Canadian headquarters to a custom-built 32,000 sq. ft. facility in Oro-Medonte but quickly outgrew the space.
“For a couple of years, we have been looking for a suitable new home for Norwood’s Canadian operation where we could build an office and warehouse complex nearly three times the size of the current facility,” said Chief Executive Officer, Ashlynne Dale. “The Horne Business Park is ideal because the building envelope will give us the space needed to accommodate our high-volume throughputs, to better service our domestic customers and international dealers, and to provide an inviting workspace in which our team can flourish. Further, the oversized lot gives us the room for future expansion as we continue to drive explosive growth.”
Dale also identified the region’s “remarkable quality of life” as a key factor for expanding in the area.
“We have doubled Norwood’s workforce in the past 18 months, often attracting specialized and skilled professionals to move here from the GTA and call the Simcoe-Muskoka area their home. Currently, we are in the midst of a campaign to welcome yet another 25 new team members into the Norwood family for various roles throughout the organization.”
Construction of Norwood’s new Canadian facility is expected to begin in 2022.
“Today is a great day to be thankful for the support of our staff that have been instrumental in Norwood’s journey to become a globally-recognized brand name,” said Patrick Racine, Norwood President. “It is also an ideal moment for Norwood to affirm its long-term commitment to the community by establishing its Canadian headquarters right here in Orillia and playing a role in the local economic growth engine.”
In addition to the two sales that are now complete, another two lots have been secured under an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, with completion of the sale anticipated in early 2022. This leaves approximately eight lots or 8.5 acres of land available for sale. The City is currently in discussions with several potential purchasers. Purchasers also have the option of purchasing multiple adjacent lots or requesting lot configurations customized to their land needs. Lots are priced starting at $449,900 per acre and are zoned to permit a range of prestige industrial uses such as light to medium industrial uses, business and professionals offices, research and development facilities, contractor yards, and service and custom workshops.
For more information on the Horne Business Park, contact the City of Orillia Business Development Division at 705-325-4900, or visit orillia.ca/hornebusinesspark.