The North American data center market is red hot, according to JLL’s new 1H 2023 North American Data Center Report. Basically, the demand for data center capacity in major markets and even in most secondary markets is beginning to outpace supply as cloud providers and enterprises compete for rapidly diminishing colocation space.
What’s driving this? It’s a myriad of factors, of course. From a bigger picture perspective, enterprise and hyperscale interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning as well as other high-performance computing (HPC) applications is creating demand for more colocation and connectivity capacity. From a regional, Vancouver perspective, the trends are just as exciting. The growth of the city’s tech sector, continued investments in the region by some of the biggest names in the hyperscale world and increased consumer demand for mobile data is combining to create demand for new, robust, modern interconnection and colocation space.
Together with Harbour Centre, the Spencer Building team is answering this call with readily available, new Meet-Me-Room space called MMR5 that comes with an additional colocation component aptly named Colo5. Read on to learn how both are set to reshape the digital landscape of Vancouver for years to come!
Growth of the Vancouver Market: The Future is Bright
According to the Vancouver Economic Commission, the city continues to be an attractive hub for startups and global tech giants. In many ways, technology is critical to the provincial economy, supporting Vancouver’s growth into an ecosystem for cleantech, life sciences, digital entertainment, and game development as well as virtual, augmented, and extended reality. From agriculture to artificial intelligence, the region continues to influence the wider world around it, attracting top talent and global brands like Microsoft, Amazon, Mastercard, Electronic Arts, Fujitsu, Samsung and others.
In fact, Vancouver was North America’s fastest-growing city in terms of tech employment in 2022 with 9.1% of jobs in Metro Vancouver involved in tech. This kind of strength is exactly what Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, was celebrating on her five-day trade mission to the U.S. back in March 2023. According to the most recent Labor Market Outlook, out of the potential one million job openings in BC in the next decade, over 11% of those jobs will be in science and tech. Most importantly, all this innovation will impact every industry as technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and automation influence workloads.
Even with all the most recent news about some of the world’s largest tech companies cutting back their workforces, according to CBRE, Vancouver remains one of the most attractive hubs for tech talent in North America. As Ken Sim, Vancouver’s mayor says, “Vancouver is emerging as a global hub for technology, innovation and creativity.” All this means one thing – that demand for vital connectivity and mission-critical colocation services in the city will only continue to surge.
That said, it’s not just the tech sector that is creating demand for new connectivity and colocation space. From a population standpoint, Metro Vancouver (including all of its municipalities and local jurisdictions) could reach a population of just over 3 million people by the end of this year. This kind of growth here in Vancouver, as well as in other Canadian cities, is leading some analysts like PwC to assert that Canadian carriers will have to increase capital expenditures for their 5G and fibre networks by 2% per year in order to keep up with growing demand.
For growth-minded carriers, cloud providers, content distribution network operators and other service providers already within Vancouver or considering expanding into western Canada for the first time, access to new connectivity and colocation space is paramount, especially in a city known for tight supply. That’s where we at Spencer Building come in, together with our Harbour Centre partners.
Introducing MMR5 and Colo5 at Spencer Building
Since 1977, Harbour Centre has been Vancouver’s primary connectivity gateway between western Canada, the U.S., and the APAC region, creating a rich ecosystem for carriers, cloud providers, CDNs and a wealth of service providers. Now, as the digital economy of the region continues to grow, we’ve added more connectivity space in Spencer Building, part of the Harbour Centre complex, to meet the needs of one of the fastest growing tech markets in North America.
Fully integrated with Harbour Centre’s existing connectivity capacity and located right next door, Spencer Building’s new Meet-Me-Room, called MMR5, provides you with the room you need to unlock your full potential in Vancouver’s growing digital market. Picture a world where every connection is a gateway to opportunity. That’s the reality we’re crafting at Spencer Building. It’s the pairing of the strong legacy of Harbour Centre with the rich potential of Spencer Building as the future focal point for the ongoing growth of vital, digital infrastructure in the city. To learn more about MMR5, download our data sheet here.
To make it even easier for our customers to establish their footprint and grow at the forefront of our region’s ongoing transformation, we’ve also established Colo5, the mission-critical space needed for the servers and networking equipment you’d like connected into MMR5. Phase 1, featuring 100kW capacity, has 12 full-size cabinets and 2 quarter cabinets, with 50% of them already spoken for. With Phase 2 set to roll out in Q4 2024, featuring the same capacity, the possibilities for your growth are just getting started!
MMR5 and Colo5 together represent real, immediately available connectivity and colocation space for you to chart your course to success. And this is only just the beginning of the plans we have for Spencer Building – plans you can leverage to meet your goals. If you’d like to learn more, we’d love to hear from you. Simply contact Scott.despot@spencerbuilding.com for more information.
