MaRS Discovery District has raised $290 million by way of the issuance of 19-year bonds by Phase II (West Tower) Investment Trust. Proceeds of this transaction will be used to repay most of the Ontario government’s interest-bearing loans to MaRS almost three years ahead of schedule.
Manulife, Sun Life Financial and iA Financial Group led the financing.
“We are grateful that the Government of Ontario stepped up to help us solve an unforeseen problem, and we are delighted to welcome Manulife, Sun Life and iA Financial Group as financing partners. MaRS has incredible momentum and is well positioned to build on this successful foundation for many years to come,” said Gord Nixon, chair of the board of directors at MaRS.
“The West Tower is fully leased, and will soon generate the annualized net operating income required to be entirely self-sustaining, putting MaRS on stable footing for decades to come. Canada now has an urban innovation hub at a scale that is fully competitive with any global counterparts,” said Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS.
Notable West Tower tenants include Autodesk, Johnson & Johnson’s JLABS (housing over 40 biotech and health startups), Facebook, Merck, PayPal, Etsy, Airbnb, IBM, CIBC, RBC, League, Synaptive Medical, Deep Genomics, Interface Biologics, Highland Therapeutics, Datifex, NRStor, Triphase Accelerator, Real Ventures, BDC, Blueline Bioscience, Emerald Technology Ventures, ArcTern Ventures, Cycle Capital, and research groups from the University of Toronto (which owns a 20% stake in the West Tower), University Health Network (including Princess Margaret Cancer Centre), Ryerson University, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and Public Health Ontario.
photo credit: MaRS