BY CRAIG SAUNDERS
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

As the land crunch in the Greater Toronto Area sends commercial developers farther afield, even those smaller communities are beginning to experience tightness in land availability and vacancies.

And the mayor of one of the hottest destinations for developers is happy about it.
As mayor of Brantford, Mike Hancock has seen the small southwestern Ontario city enter an unprecedented industrial boom.

Brantford has been the big beneficiary, with roughly two million square feet of industrial development in the past year. In addition to P&G and Ferrero, which invested $70-million and $150-million, respectively, the city's location on the 403 also attracted other companies, mostly in warehouse distribution and food manufacturing.

Land is becoming scarce in the city, according to John Frabotta, director of Brantford's economic development department. This is thanks, in part, to Ferrero's acquisition of 162 acres.
The city's 309-acre Northwest Industrial Park, which opened in 2001, now only has 30 acres left. Mr. Frabotta said the city is bringing another 76 acres on line near the 403 highway, then "we're out of land municipally." However, two parcels of private land totalling just over 200 acres will be available.