CIM Group, in partnership with fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty (“1547”), has announced the acquisition of a 42,000-sq-ft operating data center situated on 3.5 acres in Markham, ON which is part of the Greater Toronto Area. I.C.E Datacenters (Interconnection & Colocation for the Enterprise) sold the property to the partnership and will leaseback a significant portion of the data center. This acquisition adds to CIM Group's portfolio of diverse, infrastructure investments that includes renewable energy, urban parking facilities, water supply infrastructure, and waste solutions, and marks 1547’s first international data center location.

Located in the technology capital of Canada, just 20 miles outside of downtown Toronto, the Markham facility at 105 Clegg Road was originally purpose-built as an enterprise supercomputer site, and over the last year was redeveloped into a multi-tenant Tier III data center by I.C.E Datacenters. The property consists of the existing, fully-built 2 megawatts facility, and includes entitlements for up to 60,000 sq ft of data center space, with an additional 6 megawatts (MW) of available power. The existing data center features two private and independent fiber paths connecting to the leading downtown interconnection hub at 151 Front Street, providing access to robust fiber infrastructure as well as immediate proximity to international and primary U.S. network and cloud peering points.

“Our portfolio expansion with CIM Group into one of Canada’s most robust data center markets will bring much needed multi-tenant wholesale data center capacity online to service the growing demand,” states J. Todd Raymond, CEO of 1547. “Additionally, we’re looking forward to working with the team at I.C.E Datacenters and its sister company, Metro Optic, to expand opportunities for both organizations.”

I.C.E Datacenters and the new owners will jointly market the data center, with 1547 focused on the wholesale market and I.C.E Datacenters on retail colocation and connectivity to all major networks, carrier hotels and cloud providers. Additionally, CIM and 1547 have begun marketing the entitled expansion to potential tenants and pursue development with pre-leasing.

“We are excited to have CIM Group and 1547 as our new property owner and partner,” said Michael Bucheit, CEO of I.C.E Datacenters and Metro Optic. “Their presence in key U.S. markets and deep expertise in wholesale data centers, combined with our relationships and knowledge of the local Toronto and broader Canadian markets, create material synergies that will enable both companies to excel in this location and beyond.”

“Our relationship with I.C.E Datacenters will enable us to service a range of customer requirements, from pure, single cross-connect interconnection through multi-megawatt turn-key and build-to-suit deployments,” adds Raymond.

CIM started its investment activities in Canada through SkyPower Global, which has become one of the biggest solar developers, with offices in more than 30 countries and a pipeline of projects adding up to 250,000 MW. This is CIM’s second acquisition in Toronto, and its second investment with 1547. Earlier this summer, the joint venture marked its first data center acquisition with 400 Paul Avenue, a 7.3-acre property planned for a 240,000-sq-ft data center campus.