< Previous26 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION NORTH AMERICAN REPORTS New York Semiconductor Facility Gains Boost G lobalFoundries is heading back to its Malta, New York, operations to construct a fi rst-of-its-kind Advanced Packaging and Photonics Center. The new $575 million facility ensures semiconductors produced at the site can be manufactured, processed, packaged and tested solely in the U.S., in line with growing demands for the company’s silicon photonics. These and other essential chips are vital to markets within AI, automotive, aerospace and defense as well as communications. “The New York Advanced Packaging and Photonics Center will be unique in our industry and will play a vital role in the continued growth of the Empire State’s world-class semiconductor manufacturing and innovation ecosystem,” said GlobalFoundries President and CEO Dr. Thomas Caulfi eld. The project, which will create 100 new jobs, additionally entails a $186 million investment into R&D capabilities over the next decade. Stardust Found in Muskogee I n January, Oklahoma offi cials, including Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell, joined Stardust Power Inc. to celebrate the groundbreaking of the battery manufacturing company’s new 66-acre site in Muskogee. The $1.2 billion lithium refi nery at the Southside Industrial Park will soon produce up to 50,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium per annum. “With the land acquired and necessary construction permits secured in 2024, we are excited to break ground and begin construction,” said Stardust Power Founder and CEO Roshan Pujari. “With continued support from the State of Oklahoma, we are moving forward with becoming one of the country’s leading suppliers of battery-grade lithium. Stardust Power is proud to play a key role in safeguarding America’s critical mineral interests and supporting Oklahoma’s economy.” The site, located in proximity to the Port of Muskogee, will be constructed over two phases. The initial phase will introduce a production line that will have a capacity of 25,000 metric tons per annum. The state will provide up to $20 million for the project while the U.S. Department of Commerce will provide $75 million in direct funding. Photo courtesy of GlobalFoundries Stardust Power says its project will create an established U.S. base of critical materials manufacturing, reducing reliance on imports from foreign countries. Photo courtesy of Stardust Power Inc. by ALEXIS ELMORE alexis.elmore@siteselection.com MARKET COUNT Manhattan 24 Washington D.C. 16 Dallas/Fort Worth 6 Silicon Valley 6 Chicago 5 Boston 5 Atlanta 4 San Francisco 4 Houston 3 Seattle 3 CBRE’S TOP MARKETS FOR 100 LARGEST OFFICE LEASES OF 2024 SITE SELECTION MARCH 2025 27 As American as Apple Pie I n a move that marks Apple’s largest investment to date, the tech giant has committed to invest $500 billion throughout the U.S. by 2029. Investment activity will drive initiatives across artifi cial intelligence, silicon engineering and skills development for new and existing talent pipelines. “We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our longstanding U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook on February 24. “From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund, to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing.” In Texas, Houston will gain an advanced manufacturing facility making Apple Intelligence servers. Apple will house a new manufacturing training academy in Detroit, Michigan. With this activity in motion Apple anticipates creating 20,000 new roles within the next four years focused on R&D, silicon engineering, software development, AI and machine learning. In addition to investments in Houston and Detroit, Apple plans to scale operations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina and Washington. Photo courtesy of Apple Drinks on Alabama D iageo North America aims to strengthen its supply network by establishing a new manufacturing and warehousing facility in Montgomery, Alabama. The $415 million investment will bring a 360,000-sq.- ft. facility to life producing a number of the company’s popular alcohol beverage brands, with a multi-million-case annual production capacity. The strategic location enables Diageo to distribute its products faster while reducing carbon emissions. “The new facility will not only bring our business closer to our customers and distributors in the South but also enable our broader supply network to operate more effi ciently and sustainably,” said Diageo North American Supply President Marsha McIntosh. “This investment underscores our commitment to building greater resiliency into our supply chain across North America.” The site is anticipated to become operational in late 2025, creating 100 new jobs. Mesa’s Got Data I n February 2025, Novva Data Centers was approved to move forward with plans for a $3 billion data center campus in Mesa, Arizona. The project will be constructed on a 165-acre site the company won with a $62.7 million bid at a state land auction in 2023. Plans include fi ve data centers and an offi ce building encompassing over 1.1 million sq. ft. in total. Each center will be around 250,000 sq. ft., while the offi ce building is expected to cover over 150,000 sq. ft. on the campus. Novva has stated that the fi rst of the fi ve planned data centers is anticipated to come online in late 2026. The company’s project will join a suite of companies setting up data center operations in the Phoenix metro, including the likes of Google and Amazon. Diageo Montgomery will cater to future company growth and simplify logistical needs. Rendering courtesy of Diageo North America Novva Data Centers’ Arizona campus will join its portfolio of data center locations in California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Rendering courtesy of Novva Data CentersA straZeneca’s R&D hub in Mississauga, Ontario, is adding more than workers to the roughly , employees already on site. In January, the U.K.-based pharmaceutical and life sciences company announced a $ million investment aimed at strengthening its R&D clinical trial design work in oncology, immunology and infectious diseases. (All monetary fi gures are U.S. dollars.) In , AstraZeneca acquired Hamilton, Ontario–based Fusion Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in radiotherapy for cancer patients. “AstraZeneca’s continued investment in Ontario is crucial to advancing innovative medicines that treat, prevent and may one day cure complex diseases like prostate, lung and breast cancer, as well as rare diseases,” said Gaby Bourbara, president, AstraZeneca Canada, in a statement. “AstraZeneca’s investment, alongside the Government of Ontario’s contribution by MARK AREND mark.arend@siteselection.com ONTARIO Life Sciences Giants Expand R&D, Informatics 28 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION AstraZeneca is adding 700 employees to its R&D hub in Mississauga. Image courtesy of AstraZenecaM any of yesterday’s industrial parks are no longer designed and equipped to meet the needs and wants of businesses today and tomorrow. The same could be said for most industrial projects that are being developed right now. For Canada’s industrial inventory and the businesses that use that space, that’s just not going to cut it. The team behindKingJane Business Parkin King City, Ontario is working on an immense industrial development featuring next-generation design technology for the growing number of tenants and users that must have scale, convenient access, top-shelf amenities, flexibility and a certified zero-carbon footprint. KingJane Business Park is the largest Carbon Zero Certified industrial development underway in the GTA. The campus, located at the crossroads of King Road and Jane Street, with direct access to Highway 400 Interchange, will soon offer five state-of-the-art industrial buildings ranging from 124,000 square feet to 560,660 square feet. Construction has begun, with foundations currently underway. The first phase of the 1.7 million-square-foot campus is set to open to occupiers in early 2026. Zero-carbon is becoming a corporate must “We’re not only looking at the initial lease-up of that site, but what the future tenants will need as well,” saysNick Stryland, Vice President, Asset Management, Nicola Institutional Realty Advisors (NIRA), which is developing the property for Nicola Wealth Real Estate and two large institutional clients. “Zero-carbon certification is central to future-proofing industrial assets,” he says. “We’re providing buildings that align with companies’ ESG goals, and our own sustainability programs, which are increasingly evolving from net zero carbon-ready, to certified.” To achieve net-zero certification, KingJane has several elements that eliminate the use of gas and reduce energy consumption, saysMinesh Dave, Vice President, Development at NIRA. “One of the key elements is the building envelope.” That includes using thicker insulated metal paneling, higher insulation value for the roofing, and insulated dock doors. The power system will use no gas, instead relying on electricity supplemented by heat pumps and solar power. Market demand is pushing for zero-carbon 2030 is just around the corner and 42% of Fortune 500 companies have a target to achieve net zero by then, saysColin Alves, Vice Chairman with Colliers, the firm leading the leasing and marketing of KingJane. Specifically, Apple, Toyota, Nestlé, Unilever, Ikea, Maersk and Colliers all have pledges to achieve net-zero carbon by 2030. In Canada, 50-75% of Fortune Global 500 companies have net-zero mandates by 2050, according to Colliers data. “The list of occupants that are going to be seeking these types of facilities is going to grow exponen- tially,” Alves says. Employee experience needs to be elevated in an industrial setting The experience of tenants and workers in Cana- da’s industrial buildings must be elevated, Stryland says. “Industrial workspaces have really been behind what office workers expect from their environments, and employee attraction and retention is more of a priority now in the industrial sector.” At KingJane, that will mean attractive and comfortable amenity spaces outside, and natural light and fresh air inside. “We’re basically enhancing everything that we can to ensure that when you show up to work, that facility will give you the best possible experience for your entire shift,” Dave says. “Centre-ice” location provides logistics opportunities The KingJane location to the north in King City has become centre ice for logistics companies that need to move products in and out of the region smoothly. “When this site became available, it ticked all the boxes,” Stryland says. “It has amazing access to Highway 400, and that means connections to labour and other distribution corridors. More than 1.9 million workers live within a 30-minute commute of the KingJane site.” Stryland says KingJane, with its expansive footprints, 40-foot clear heights, large staging bay and generous truck access will help companies unite all of their operations under one roof. Manufacturing companies will also fit in well at KingJane due to the facility’s broad column spacing and floor load capacity, Dave says. Alves adds that Toronto is North America’s largest food and beverage production market outside of Los Angeles and the team expects demand from companies in that sec- tor. How NIRA is getting this done Collaboration and synchronization are keys to getting a project like this done, in the right way, Dave says. “Together, we must continually ask ourselves what is possible, and then figure out together how to get it done.” The industrial market isn’t going to wait around as other developers search for the answers to those questions. Why Nicola Institutional Realty Advisors is Building the GTA’s Largest Zero Carbon Certified Campus ADVERTISEMENT32 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION through Invest Ontario, will strengthen the province’s life sciences strategy, driving economic growth, and foster innovation that benefi ts patients in Canada and around the world.” e province is contributing an $. million Invest Ontario Fund grant to the project. Ontario already is home to the largest concentration of clinical trials with of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies by revenue conducting trials in the province. Approximately , life sciences companies — nearly half of all such companies in Canada — operate in Ontario employing more than , workers. e province generates nearly % of Canada’s revenue in the life sciences sector. Also in Mississauga, Hoff mann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada) is adding up to new jobs in such areas as artifi cial intelligence (AI), machine learning, computational biology and data analytics. e company says it’s investing $ million to establish Roche Canada as one of the top fi ve informatics technology hubs supporting the Roche global business. e province is contributing $. million to the project. Collaborative Partners Are Key “Investments like these are possible because we have collaborative partners across public, private and not-for-profi t sectors willing to address health care challenges more eff ectively, together,” said Brigitte Nolet, president & CEO, Roche Canada Pharma, at the November announcement. “Transformative technologies like artifi cial intelligence are reshaping health care, off ering new solutions for improving access and altering how companies operate in the sector,” added Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Corporation in November broke ground on a new lithium-ion battery separator manufacturing facility in Port Colborne, Ontario. Image courtesy of Business WireRoche Canada Mississauga Informatics Site Lead Brian Mereweather. “ e expansion of our Informatics division right here in Ontario will enable us to leverage unique approaches and technologies to enable data-driven decision- making, allowing us to analyze data much more quickly and enhance various aspects of health care.” Mississauga isn’t landing all of Ontario’s recent life sciences capital investment. irty miles to the south, in Hamilton, OmniaBio Inc. in October opened a cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing and AI center of excellence. e facility occupies , sq. ft. where employees work. It is Canada’s largest contract development and manufacturing organization dedicated to CGT. e overall project investment is $ million; the province provided a $ million loan through the Invest Ontario Fund. Beyond Financial Support “ e Invest Ontario investment in OmniaBio was primarily a fi nancial investment, but it really went beyond that,” says Mitchel Sivilotti, OmniaBio’s president and CEO, in an Invest Ontario case study video. “ ey had the ability to help us share awareness about our organization, but also getting the industry excited about what’s happening in Ontario. In Ontario, there’s just great value. ere’s a very healthy talent pool, and there are great academic institutions that are producing highly skilled staff that would go either into research or into manufacturing. “Another element of Ontario that we found over time is the access to government support that supported research development programs, development of our major departments within our organization, and also to build out that infrastructure that we’ve been working on in Hamilton here for a few years now,” adds Sivilotti. “ e technologies that we’re working on today are going to have a major impact, and we’re going to change lives together in this.” Not all recent capital investment projects in Ontario are life sciences related. e province is supporting companies in a variety of industries: Linamar Corporation, headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, is investing more than $ million in six projects that will create more than , jobs. e manufacturer of vehicle powertrain solutions and green automotive technologies is retooling multiple facilities in Ontario to meet the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) demand for auto and EV parts in North America. Ontario is providing a $ million grant; the federal government is contributing $ million through its Strategic Innovation Fund. Tokyo-based Asahi Kasei began construction in on its $. billion manufacturing facility in Port Colborne, in the Niagara region, where it will produce lithium-ion battery separators, a key component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. e company has a joint venture with Honda Canada Inc. to oversee construction and production activities at the Port Colborne plant. Earlier in , Honda announced plans to establish Canada’s fi rst In Ontario, there’s just great value. ere’s a very healthy talent pool, and there are great academic institutions that are producing highly skilled staff that would go either into research or into manufacturing.” — Mitchel Sivilotti , President and CEO, OmniaBio Inc. In Ontario, there’s SITE SELECTION MARCH 2025 3334 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION comprehensive electric vehicle supply chain with four new manufacturing plants including this separator plant in partnership with Asahi Kasei. With phase one expected to be complete in , the separator plant is projected to produce enough material to supply approximately million EVs annually and create more than jobs in the region. According to Invest Ontario, since , the province has attracted over $ billion in EV and battery investments from companies including Honda, GM, Ford and Stellantis. Goodyear Canada Inc. is investing $ million to expand its facility in Napanee, in eastern Ontario, where it produces original equipment (OE) and replacement EV and all- terrain tires. e expansion will add jobs, bringing the facility’s workforce to more than ,. e province is contributing $ million to support innovative technologies and skills training. e federal government is investing $ million through its Strategic Innovation Fund. Semiconductor Supply Chain A lmost before he’d moved into his offi ce, newly installed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was leaving it behind as he made his way to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic on his fi rst international trip in the presidential cabinet role. e message? Putting America First includes putting the Americas fi rst. “Covid exposed the fragility of America’s dependence on far-fl ung supply chains,” Secretary Rubio wrote. “Relocating our critical supply chains closer to the Western Hemisphere would both boost our neighbors’ economic growth and safeguard Americans’ own economic security.” Near-shoring and friend-shoring in the Americas already has been underway for some time, including the U.S. State Department’s own $ million International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund (funded by the CHIPS and Science Act of ) to expand and diversify segments of the semiconductor supply chains such as critical materials and assembly, testing and packaging. rough ITSI, the State Department has established partnerships with Costa Rica, Panama, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Mexico. In March , Costa Rica announced a national semiconductor strategy focused on a subsector it knows well: back-end assembly, test and by ADAM BRUNS Adam.bruns@siteselection.com CENTRAL AMERICA SITE SELECTION MARCH 2025 35 Progress Doesn’t Pause packaging. Panama followed suit in May , including the announcement of an Advanced Semiconductor Technology Center. However, the ITSI portal was put on pause on the inauguration day of U.S. President Donald Trump as part of his Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, which places a temporary pause on foreign assistance pending review. at doesn’t mean projects are on pause in the sector, however. One of Costa Rica’s multiple projects in the chip sector is a new facility in another strong sector: global business services. Applied Material is establishing a new -job global services offi ce in Heredia, which follows the company’s pledge to invest $ million in semiconductor manufacturing in Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama. Among the attractions for the company’s fi rst operation in Latin America is the country’s Free Trade Zone regime. “ e company joins other U.S. semiconductor fi rms investing in Costa Rica, such as ServiceNow, which recently set up operations in Heredia’s America Free Zone,” reported Nearshore Americas in November, noting the major presence of fi rms such as Intel (with a major assembly, test and packaging operation), Teradyne, Qorvo, NI, HPE, and R&D Altanova. “Costa Rica represents an exciting new chapter for Applied Materials’ supply chain operations,” said Applied Materials Corporate Vice President of Global Supply Chain Paul Chhabra in an October statement released by Costa Rica’s PROCOMER agency during a visit by Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves to Applied Materials’ home territory in Silicon Valley. “ e country provides a strong foundation for growth, thanks to a great combination of geographic proximity, economic stability, skilled talent and an investment-friendly environment.” Next >