Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is on track to welcome two significant data storage projects as two major American firms have made substantial land purchases exceeding $90 million in the area.
Prologis, the biggest industrial real estate investment trust globally, has recently gained conditional approval from the city of Mississauga to establish a data storage facility on what used to be the last operational farm in Mississauga. Prologis acquired the 40-acre site known as 0 Tenth Line West for $92 million last December, according to Co Star data.
Prologis is seeking to build on this site in Mississauga, Ontario. (City of Mississauga)
The data storage sector has increasingly caught the attention of Canada’s real estate market following the federal government’s announcement of a $2-billion initiative aimed at helping companies build and access data storage facilities. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Evan Solomon as the new minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Solomon mentioned to the Globe & Mail this summer that he welcomes foreign investments in the data sector-a real estate category projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.26% from 2023 to 2029, leading to an estimated market value of $9.04 billion by 2029 according to a report from Encor Advisors last October.
This land was part of a family-owned farm spanning over 52 acres for more than 170 years. In 1957, provincial authorities took some portions of it for a highway project, after which the family transitioned the farm primarily into an egg production operation.
The farm sits in northwest Mississauga and is bordered by Highway 401 and an off-ramp leading onto Highway 407. Provincial authorities had previously shown interest in acquiring more property here for another highway project.
Prologis will need to proceed with its data storage plans while adhering to guidelines set by local municipal authorities, as stated by a city official who communicated with Co Star News via email.
“A zoning bylaw amendment application will be required to allow any new uses, including a potential data centre,” said the representative. “The applicant is aware of this requirement and is working with staff on a submission.”
A representative from Prologis noted that their project in Mississauga is still at an early stage.
“It’s still very early in the process, and we are looking at a range of potential development options for the site that would benefit the Mississauga community,” said a company representative in an email.
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Equinix Joins Toronto Land Development
In another recent transaction, Equinix became the second San Francisco Bay-area firm to invest over $90 million into acquiring land around Toronto dedicated to data storage development. Equinix purchased 21.1 acres on Orlando Avenue’s north side from Winnipeg-based Canada Life Assurance Co., paying $94 million according to Co Star data. The site is conveniently located near Highway 404 and 16th Avenue in Richmond Hill, Ontario-about 30 kilometers north of downtown Toronto. No immediate responses were received from Equinix representatives or officials from Richmond Hill regarding future plans for this location. The greater Toronto area tops Canada with its number of data storage facilities-86 total-followed by Montreal with 58 and Vancouver with 30 according to datacentermap. com The Alberta government has also implemented policies recently aimed at attracting more data storage facilities into their province-adding onto Calgary’s existing count of 16 facilities and Edmonton’s total of 15 sites.Source link
