Equinix Plans Major Expansion in Toronto

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Inside a data hall in an Equinix data center in Silicon Valley. The company continues to expand its data center footprint. (Photo: Equinix)

Equinix is preparing a major expansion in Toronto, where it has leased substantial space in a new building on Front Street, not far from the company's existing facility, housed in the city's primary telecom hub at 151 Front Street. The company disclosed its plans in an SEC filing late last week.

The new data center will be a 220,000 square foot facility, and the first phase will include 137,000 square feet of data halls, and will be supported by an initial 8 megawatts of power, with the option to expand to 20 megawatts.

The expansion in Toronto is part of Equinix' ongoing focus on providing colocation space and interconnection centers in leading financial markets. Toronto is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the largest financial exchange in Canada.

The site is part of a larger tract known as the "First Parliament" property that was the original location of Canada's Parliament buildings, which occupied the land from 1798 to 1824. The parliament buildings were burned in an American attack during the War of 1812. The site currently houses a car wash and car rental agency. The data center project was included in a land exchange deal between the city of Toronto and the Bresler development firm. City documents indicate the building at 271 Front will also include a new branch of the city library.

Equinix has signed a lease for 15 years, with options to renew for longer terms. with a total rent obligation of approximately $141 million over the initial term. Equinix expects to invest approximately $42 million to build Phase 1 of the new data center, which will create capacity for more than 675 cabinet equivalents in Phase 1. Equinix expects the new data center will open in the fourth quarter of 2014.