Ascent Launches Its First Toronto Data Center

Two months after acquiring its first facility in Toronto, Ascent says its 270,000 square-foot campus—aimed at cloud and edge deployments with plug-and-play data center space—is now open for business.

Known as the Ascent TOR1 data center, it is located in Ontario’s rapidly growing Information Communication Technology (ICT) Corridor, between Waterloo and Toronto, in the City of Cambridge.

Spanning 66 acres with the potential for 100+ MV, the existing building sits on a 41-acre parcel with 15 acres of pad-ready expansion ground, according to the company. The building is comprised of multiple enterprise class data halls with immediate availability. Another 120,000 square feet of empty turnkey warehouse space exists on the campus, capable of fast IT deployment and providing up to 30 MW of power. The site also has separate 25-acre parcel available where a customer can leverage the existing infrastructure but may require its own dedicated facility.

See also: Ascent Acquires Data Centers in Atlanta and Toronto

As one of the top five most populous cities in North America, home to the Toronto Internet Exchange and five of the nation’s largest banks, and base for nearly 15,000 technology businesses, Toronto is quickly growing as a data center market.

“In close collaboration with the City of Cambridge and Waterloo EDC, we were able to grow our colocation portfolio with this first class TOR1 Data Center in a community known for its innovation and startup ecosystem,” said Phil Horstmann, CEO of Ascent, in a press release.  "Local universities, startups, and companies, from large Canadian tech companies to major global businesses, continue to expand and invest heavily in the region. Ascent TOR1 is well positioned to support the increased demand in this fast-growing economy.”

With multiple data center facilities in Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta, the addition of the Greater Toronto site enhances Ascent’s colocation portfolio with the ability to support immediate capacity needs as well as accommodate larger scale data center deployments.

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said he sees the new data center as a way to strengthen the Toronto-Waterloo Region corridor’s value proposition. "With access to Highway 401 and top education and talent, Cambridge is a great place to invest, grow or expand a business.”

The acquisition of the Toronto data center by Ascent came at the same time as another in Atlanta. They were both made possible by a partnership with TowerBrook Capital Partners and the raising of $3.3 million, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.

See also: 2016 Was a Record Year for Data Center Acquisitions, but 2017 Will Be off the Charts