Nokia’s new 750,000-square-foot innovation campus in Ottawa will begin to get vertical in fall 2026, says Broccolini’s vice-president of development.

As Connect reported, Broccolini broke ground on the facility in North Kanata Tech Park recently. James Beach said in an interview that the current construction activity involves earthworks has begun.

“There’s some blasting going on just to remove the rock,” he said. “It’s on a bedrock surface, so very hard rock, just to remove material for the foundation.

“And then footings will start, the foundations will start and you’ll see the project coming vertical. So a lot of the infrastructure, surrounding infrastructure, water-main extension, some of the upgrades required to the municipal systems around the facility are being done right now as well, just proactively.”

Broccolini is serving as development and construction partner for the research-and-development facility.

Project teams, trades and partners now mobilized on site. The campus is being designed to high sustainability standards, incorporating LEED principles, low-carbon materials and resilient energy systems, said Broccolini.

Beach said the project will seek to obtain LEED Silver certification.

Because of its multi-use nature, the project will take waste heat from some of the lab and R&D spaces and use it to heat the office building. As a result, the heat will be reused instead of being released into the atmosphere.

Nokia has also strived to ensure that the office building will have plenty of amenities, he added.

“What we’ve learned to understand as we’ve worked with this client for a couple years, they really do take their employees and put them up on a pedestal,” said Beach. “So, the level of recreational facilities and amenities within the building are exemplar, certainly far greater than we’ve seen previously. And from a transportation perspective, the bicycle-storage areas are going to be pretty tremendous with shower facilities and really catering and encouraging people to use alternate transportation.”

The project’s other amenities are still being finalized. The brownfield development is being built on a parking lot adjacent to Nokia’s exu

While initiating the development, Broccolini is expanding its Ottawa presence by hiring across development, construction and project delivery to support the Nokia campus and a growing pipeline of work in the region. Beach said the company has been hiring for several months already.

“[For] this project, we’re well-staffed now with our existing team, but we’re always looking for new talent,” he said.

“So really, we’re going to be hiring across the range, both on the real estate development side and on the construction side of the business. So project coordinators, project managers, project directors, and aligned on the development team’s same level of positions. So, a full range.

“Ottawa has been a strong market for Broccolini for 20 years, and we have ebb and flowed a little bit, but we’re looking to solidify our position in Ottawa for now and for future years to come.”

Upon completion, the R&D innovation campus will comprise 300,000 square feet of workplace and community amenities and 450,000 sf of lab space.

Previously, Broccolini said the project further strengthens its portfolio of large-scale developments across Canada.

“We love these large-scale projects,” said Beach. “I mean, this is what we’re built for. Our team has a lot of experience in these larger-scale, more complex projects. So what it means for us, I think it just reaffirms that this is what we love to do. This is what we’re great at doing. And our clients recognize that, obviously, when they trust us with a project of this scale and complexity.”

Beach declined to disclose the value of Broccolini’s construction construct but said the overall project value is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The new innovation centre is expected to be completed in 2028.

“We intend to have Nokia staff moving in end of 2028,” said Beach. “There’s almost a full year of moving into the building [involved.] So throughout 2029, the building will become fully occupied and fully operational.”

Montreal-based Broccolini provides integrated investment, development, construction and property- management services across the industrial, residential, commercial and office real estate sectors.

Pictured: Nokia’s future innovation campus development site in Ottawa’s North Kanata district.

Photo: Courtesy of Broccolini