On August 7, 2025, Nokia Canada Inc. (“Nokia Canada”) closed the credit-tenant-lease financing and development arrangements supporting the construction of its new innovation campus in Ottawa's Kanata North Tech Park. The cross-border transaction underpins the build-to-suit development of a next-generation research and development campus on Nokia's existing 26-acre site between March Road and Legget Drive in the heart of Kanata North, a designated special economic district and Canada's largest technology cluster. Broccolini will serve as developer and landlord under a long-term build-to-suit lease with Nokia Canada as credit tenant. The financing was provided through a credit-tenant-lease structure in which UMB Bank N.A. acted as lender and trustee, with Fairways acting as financing partner. Nokia officially broke ground on the project on November 25, 2025.
The new campus will span approximately 750,000 square feet and consolidate Nokia's Ottawa-area operations, which support more than 1,900 research and development professionals locally and more than 2,500 nationwide. The campus is expected to drive breakthroughs in AI-powered networks, data centre networks, quantum-safe infrastructure, advanced optics, and next-generation 6G technologies. Sustainable design features include LEED principles, renewable and resilient energy systems, and low-carbon materials. The project forms part of a broader investment program first announced in 2022, under which Nokia has committed more than $340 million between 2023 and 2027, supported by approximately $72 million in combined funding from the Government of Canada (through the Strategic Innovation Fund), the Government of Ontario (through Invest Ontario), and the City of Ottawa (through Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc.). The City of Ottawa also approved a related agreement to design and build a local watermain along Legget Drive servicing the campus, with the city reimbursing Nokia for project costs of up to $2.5 million.
BLG acted as Canadian counsel to Nokia Canada, with a team led by Jamison Young and Jessica Sheridan (Real Estate) that included Benjamin Anstess and Colleen Rhodes (Real Estate); Rachael Belanger (Financial Services); and Emma Blanchard (Municipal).
Liechty McGinnis (Dallas) and McCarthy Tétrault LLP (Toronto) acted as counsel to Fairways.
Mayer Brown LLP (Chicago) and Blake,Cassels & Graydon LLP (Toronto) acted as counsel to UMB Bank N.A.
Loopstra Nixon LLP (Toronto) acted as counsel to Broccolini.